AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Shorthanded Roadrunners Grind for a Point Tuesday Night in San Jose

Published on February 13, 2019 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Icing only 17 skaters Tuesday night, the Roadrunners put together a highly respectable performance in their 2-1 shootout loss to the San Jose Barracuda at the SAP Center, grinding to earn valuable standings point.

"I thought our guys competed hard all night; it wasn't from a lack of effort tonight," said head coach Jay Varady. "I think it was a situation where we got up a goal, took a penalty late in the game, and [the Barracuda] were six-on-four."

Adin Hill matched his season-high single game save total with 39, including 22 in the second period alone, turning away all but one of the 40 shots he faced.

"I thought [Hill] was outstanding tonight, especially in the second period," Varady noted of the 22-year-old goaltender's performance. "He held us in there and did a great job for us all night long."

The game remained scoreless throughout the first 58:41 minutes of play until Jeremy Gregoire, with 1:19 remaining in regulation, buried his second goal in as many games to give the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead.

Gregoire, driving to San Jose's net, got the final touch on a Robbie Russo point shot after Emil Pettersson changed the direction of the puck in the slot, beating Antoine Bibeau to the glove side.

Gregoire (2G) and Pettersson (4A) now have a combined six points registered in the team's last two games.

"Those two guys have been on the score sheet for us a lot since they've come over," Varady added. "They've done great things for our team and for our locker room."

A mere 15 seconds after Gregoire's goal, the Roadrunners went to the penalty kill when Russo was called for a slashing infraction.

With Bibeau pulled for an extra attacker, the Barracuda executed to tie the game, 1-1, with 14.8 seconds left on the clock when Nicholas DeSimone's wrist shot found its way through traffic from the top of the Roadrunners' zone.

Tucson extended to its 10th overtime game of the season; neither team would score during the five-minute sudden death period.

San Jose converted on two of its three shootout attempts, the Roadrunners just once - that coming in the top of the third round off the stick of Jordan Gross, who is now two-for-two in shootout attempts this season.

The Roadrunners will continue their road trip Friday night when they take on the Texas Stars at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, where the puck is scheduled to drop just after 6:00 PM MST.

Check out the Tucson Roadrunners Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central