Rookies Shine as Roadrunners Roll Past Gulls 5-1 to Close Road Trip
AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Rookies Shine as Roadrunners Roll Past Gulls 5-1 to Close Road Trip

Published on April 16, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


SAN DIEGO, CA - The Tucson Roadrunners (32-28-10-0) led from start to finish to close their road trip with a 5-1 victory over the San Diego Gulls (33-25-8-4) on Wednesday at Pechanga Arena.

Tucson jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind goals from Jalen Luypen and Michal Kunc in the opening period.

San Diego's Matthew Phillips cut the deficit to one just 27 seconds into the second period, but the Roadrunners responded immediately. Rookie defenseman Brandon Holt scored his first career AHL goal just 16 seconds later to restore the two-goal cushion and spark a run of three unanswered goals for Tucson. Rookie forward Owen Allard added a pair for the Roadrunners to put the game out of reach.

Allard recorded his first career multi-goal game and three-point performance (2-1-3), while Holt added an assist for his first career multi-point outing in just his third AHL game. Rookie defenseman Max Pšenička, who signed an ATO on Tuesday, made his AHL debut and picked up his first career assist.

Goaltender Michael Hrabal stopped 23 of 24 shots to earn his second AHL victory in his fourth start, and also recorded his first career point with an assist.

In total, five Roadrunners rookies combined for three goals and eight points, including an assist from Daniil But.

Forward Ty Tullio also contributed three assists, marking his first three-assist performance of the season.

TEAM NOTES

Rookie defenseman Max Pšenička became the ninth Roadrunner, and fourth defenseman, to make his AHL debut this season, joining fellow rookies Brandon Holt, Dmitri Simashev, Daniil But, Owen Allard, Terrell Goldsmith, Jack Ricketts, Michael Hrabal, and European import Michal Kunc.

Wednesday's 5-1 win tied the team's largest margin of victory of the season.

Roadrunners goaltenders now have four combined points this season (0-4-4), including two assists from Matthew Villalta and one from Jaxson Stauber.

The Roadrunners have opened the scoring in three straight games since Apr. 10 at Colorado and in five of their last six contests dating back to Apr. 3 at Henderson.

Tucson has scored in the first period in five of its last six games, outscoring opponents 8-5 over that span.

The Roadrunners have recorded multiple first-period goals in two of their last three games since Apr. 10 at Colorado (five total goals) and in three of their last six contests.

The Roadrunners have scored in the third period in each of the team's last five games since Apr. 4 at Henderson, outscoring opponents 7-5 in that stretch.

Tucson finished the season series with a 3-3-2-0 record against San Diego, including a 3-1-0-0 mark on the road.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Jalen Luypen scored his fifth goal of the season, and fourth with Tucson. Three of Luypen's four goals with the Roadrunners have been game-opening tallies, tied for the second-most on the team.

Michal Kunc netted his eighth goal of the season, extending his scoring streak to two games since Apr. 10 at Colorado. He has also recorded three goals in his last four games (3-0-3) dating back to March 23 at Manitoba.

Rookie Owen Allard recorded his seventh and eighth goals of the season along with his 11th assist, earning his first career multi-goal game and three-point performance, as well as his fourth multi-point outing of the year.

Brandon Holt led all skaters with a plus-four rating, tying the team's season high for plus-minus, matching Dmitri Simashev's +4 on Dec. 13 vs. Bakersfield.

Rookie defenseman Max Pšenička is the second Roadrunner to register a point in their AHL debut this season, joining Owen Allard who scored his first career goal in his AHL debut on Oct. 10 at Ontario.

Lleyton Moore recorded an assist for the second straight game to extended his single-season career high with his 10th assist and 11thpoint of the season. He has four assists in his last six games, dating back to Mar. 11 vs Henderson.

Daniil But recorded his 20th assist of the season to extend his point streak to three games, dating back to Apr. 10 at Colorado, totaling 1-2-3 in that span. He now has six points (3g, 3a) in his last six games since April 3 at Henderson, and a team-best 15 points (7g, 8a) over his last 11 games since Mar. 14 vs. San Jose.

Austin Poganski has assists in back-to-back games after extending his single-season career high with his 32nd assist of the year, which leads Roadrunners forwards. He has six points (2g,4a) in his last six games since Apr. 3 at Henderson and 16 points (8g, 8a) in his last 14 games since Mar. 11 vs Henderson. The Roadrunners captain also has a team-high 29 points (13g, 16a) in his last 33 games since Jan. 20 at SD and sits three points shy of 250 career AHL points.

Ty Tullio recorded his 12th, 13th and 14th assists of the season, marking his first three-assist game, second three-point performance and fifth multi-point outing of the year. With Friday's trio of helpers, Tullio reached 51 career assists and surpassed his single-season career high for assists set during his rookie campaign with Bakersfield in 2022-23 (13-13-26 in 63 games). He now needs just three more points to match his career-high 26-point season.

Roadrunners rookie goaltender Michael Hrabal celebrates with Maveric Lamoureux after earning his first career road victory on Wednesday against the Gulls in San Diego. (Photo: San Diego Gulls)

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST PERIOD

A tight-checking start saw both teams limit chances early, with just one shot on goal apiece through nearly six minutes before the game opened up. Jalen Luypen broke the deadlock at 5:50, snapping a quick wrist shot from inside the left circle to give Tucson a 1-0 lead. Owen Allard (primary) and Ty Tullio (secondary) each picked up an assist on the play.

The Roadrunners nearly doubled their advantage less than three minutes later. At 8:30, Maveric Lamoureux fired a shot from the point that created a rebound scramble in front, but San Diego netminder Damian Clara turned aside back-to-back chances from Sam Lipkin and Michal Kunc to keep it a one-goal game.

Kunc capitalized on his next look. The Czech forward carried the puck into the zone and, despite tight pressure from a Gulls defenseman Roman Kinal, wired a wrister into the top corner to extend the lead to 2-0 with 6:48 remaining. Rookie defenseman Brandon Holt (primary) and goaltender Michael Hrabal (secondary) each recorded their first career AHL assist and point on the goal.

Austin Poganski was assessed a hooking penalty with 1:41 left in the period, giving San Diego its first power play of the night. Hrabal stood tall, stopping both shots he faced as Tucson killed off the opening 100 seconds of the penalty and carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD

After two goals in the opening 20 minutes, the second period wasted no time getting going. Tucson killed off the remainder of San Diego's power play 20 seconds in, but Gulls forward Matthew Phillips struck just moments later, finishing a quick chance at the top of the crease to cut the deficit to 2-1 only 27 seconds into the frame.

The Roadrunners answered right back. Just 16 seconds later, Holt carried the puck into the zone and wired a wrister from inside the left circle past Clara for his first career AHL goal, restoring the two-goal lead and making it 3-1 at 0:43. Poganski (primary) and Daniil But (secondary) each recorded an assist on the play.

Tucson kept its foot on the gas. Just over three minutes later, the Roadrunners struck off the rush again as Owen Allard sped into the offensive zone and snapped a shot glove side from above the faceoff dot to extend the lead to 4-1 at 3:53. Rookie defenseman Max Pšenička picked up his first career AHL assist (primary), while Tullio added his second helper of the night (secondary).

San Diego pushed back over the remainder of the period, outshooting Tucson 9-4 over the final 10 minutes and earning another power play opportunity. Hrabal stood tall, turning aside everything he faced to preserve the Roadrunners' 4-1 lead heading into the second intermission.

THIRD PERIOD

The Roadrunners were held without a shot through the first five minutes, but Allard pounced on a rebound off Lleyton Moore's point shot to extend Tucson's lead to 5-1 and complete his three-point night. Moore (primary) and Ty Tullio (secondary) each recorded assists, with Tullio collecting his third helper of the evening.

Tucson was whistled for three penalties over the final 10 minutes, but the penalty kill stayed perfect, finishing 6-for-6 on the night as the Roadrunners closed out a 5-1 victory.

UP NEXT

The Roadrunners will close out the 2025-26 season with a two-game set against the Henderson Silver Knights at Tucson Arena on Friday and Saturday. Both matchups are slated for 7 p.m. AZT.

Fans can listen live on FOX Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app, watch on AHLtv on FloHockey and secure their seats online at Ticketmaster.com.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 16, 2026


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