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Three's A Charm

April 2, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Phoenix RoadRunners split the first four games of their season-ending, season-long seven game road trip grabbing wins at Bakersfield and at Fresno and losing a pair of contests at Stockton. With 59 points, the RoadRunners remain in fourth place in the West Division and eighth overall in the National Conference. With just one week remaining in the regular season, Phoenix is six points ahead of the #9 seed Long Beach Ice Dogs for the final playoff berth in the conference. The Utah Grizzlies have been eliminated from playoff contention. The two wins coupled with a pair of Long Beach losses reduced the RoadRunners' magic number for clinching a playoff spot to three. The top eight teams in the National Conference advance to the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Wednesday, Alexandre Rouleau scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal 5:26 into the third period to lift the Phoenix RoadRunners to a 5-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors and snap a seven-game losing streak before a crowd of 4,262 at Rabobank Arena.

Following a scoreless first period, the RoadRunners (26-35-5) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening five minutes of the middle frame. Brock Hooton got things started when he beat Bakersfield goalie Rejean Beauchemin along the ice at 1:49 of the second for a 1-0 lead. Jeff Kyrzakos made it 2-0 when he snapped the puck over Beauchemin over the right shoulder at 4:31. Rane Carnegie cut the Condors' (40-16-11) deficit in half as he collected Scott Borders' rebound off the end boards and slipped the puck through the pads of Phoenix goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 11:48.

A wild third period saw four goals scored in the first six minutes. Olivier Latendresse gave the RoadRunners a 3-1 lead as he worked the puck around Beauchemin and tipped it into the empty-net at 2:12. The Condors came right back to score twice in a span of 1:45 seconds to tie the contest at 3-3. Mike Hofstrand beat Rudkowsky from the slot off a Phoenix turnover at 2:47 to make it a 3-2 game. Sean Venedam netted the equalizer off Hofstrand's face-off win as he shot the puck off Rudkowsky's body and in from the side of the net at 4:32. The RoadRunners came right back to re-gain the lead 54 seconds later as Rouleau ripped a slap shot past Beauchemin from the left point for a 4-3 advantage. Kyrzakos sealed the win with an empty-netter for his second goal of the night at 19:56.

Phoenix out-shot Bakersfield 50-46. Rudkowsky stopped 43 shots to improve to 9-18-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-5 on the power play and held Bakersfield to 0-8 on the man-advantage.

Friday, Liam Reddox and Jason Beckett each tallied a goal and added an assist and goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped all 27 shots he faced to propel the Stockton Thunder to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before a crowd of 9,234 at Stockton Arena.

Stockton (35-22-10) struck first for the only goal they would need on the night when Nathan Martz banged home Liam Reddox's rebound in front of RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 14:36 for a 1-0 lead.

The Thunder extended their lead to two at 9:13 of the second as Colin Pepperall pounced on Brock Radunske's rebound and slipped it past Rudkowsky for the tally. Jason Beckett later gave Stockton a 3-0 advantage on the power play beating Rudkowsky with a slap shot from the blue line at 14:42 of the period.

Reddox capped the scoring with a shorthanded goal 37 seconds into the third period.

Stockton out-shot Phoenix (26-36-5) 48-27. Rudkowsky stopped 44 shots but fell to 9-19-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 0-8 on the power play and while Stockton was 1-7 on the man-advantage.

Saturday, Lance Monych recorded a pair of goals including a late insurance tally with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to lead the Phoenix RoadRunners to a 4-2 victory over the Fresno Falcons before a crowd of 5,627 at the Save Mart Center.

The RoadRunners (27-36-5) jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead. Olivier Latendresse opened the scoring with a power play goal at 10:52 when he collected Alexandre Rouleau's rebound in front of the net and slipped the puck past Fresno goalie Ryan MacDonald for a 1-0 advantage. Brock Hooton gave Phoenix a two-goal lead with a late period goal beating MacDonald with a slap shot from the right-wing circle at 19:19.

Lance Monych gave the RoadRunners a 3-0 lead at 6:18 of the second period scoring against Scott Stirling on in relief of MacDonald. The Falcons (34-27-8) roared back with two goals 2:53 seconds apart in the final five minutes of the second period to get within a single tally. Brian McConnell got Fresno on the scoreboard as he beat Rudkowsky with a backhander at 14:33. Jason Tejchma made it a 3-2 game when he finished a cross-ice pass from Dave Borrelli tipping it behind Rudkowsky at 17:26.

Monych scored his second goal of the game off a defensive zone breakout as he beat Stirling with a slap shot from the right-wing boards at 15:54 of the third period to seal the win.

Fresno out-shot Phoenix 45-19. Rudkowsky stopped 43 shots to improve to 10-19-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 2-5 on the power play and held Fresno to 0-4 with the man-advantage.

Sunday, Brock Radunske tallied a goal and collected three assists and Colin Pepperall added a pair of goals to lead the Stockton Thunder to a 4-1 victory over the Phoenix RoadRunners before a crowd of 9,567 at Stockton Arena in ECHL action Sunday.

Phoenix and Stockton traded power play goals in the first period. The RoadRunners (27-37-5) opened the scoring at 2:48 on the man-advantage when Justin Aikins re-directed Alexandre Rouleau's slap shot by the stick of Thunder goalie Devan Dubnyk for his team-leading 26th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. Stockton (37-22-10) countered late in the period on their second power play as Nathan Martz fed a streaking Tim Verbeek down the slot, and Verbeek slipped the puck through the pads of RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 18:43 to tie the game at 1-1.

Stockton grabbed a 3-1 with less than six minutes remaining in the second period on a pair of goals from Pepperall. Pepperall tallied his first at 14:37 as Radunske moved the puck from behind the net off Pepperall's body and into the cage to give Stockton their first lead of the game at 2-1. Pepperall then netted his second 2:02 seconds after the first goal scored when he collected Radunske's rebound and snapped it behind Rudkowsky into the net at 16:39 to make it 3-1 after two periods. Radunske and Brendon Hodge assisted on both goals.

Radunske capped the scoring with his 14th goal of the season off his own rebound at 9:51 of the third period.

Stockton out-shot Phoenix 47-34. Rudkowsky stopped 43 shots but fell to 10-20-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-4 on the power play while Stockton was 1-5 with the man-advantage.

AN ASSORTMENT OF SCENARIOS: The RoadRunners can clinch the eighth and final playoff berth in the National Conference with any combination of three points earned in wins or overtime/shootout losses and points surrendered by Long Beach in regulation losses or overtime/shootout losses. Phoenix can clinch with either two wins at Victoria, a win and an overtime or shootout loss at Victoria, a regulation loss and an overtime or shootout loss by Long Beach, or a regulation win at Victoria and either a regulation loss or an overtime or shootout loss by the Ice Dogs. Long Beach will play at Las Vegas Tuesday, host Las Vegas Wednesday, play at Fresno Friday and host Bakersfield Saturday. The Ice Dogs are 2-3-0 this season against Las Vegas, 3-5-0 against Fresno, and just 1-5-1 against Bakersfield.

RUDY HITS 300! RoadRunners goalie Cody Rudkowsky skated in his 300th career game Friday. Rudkowsky, who has started a season-high seven consecutive games, made 40-plus saves in all four starts last week including a pair of 43-save efforts in the wins Wednesday at Bakersfield and Saturday at Fresno. Rudkowsky faced a combined 186 shots last week and made 173 saves, good for an impressive .930% save percentage. The Willingdon, Alberta native and eighth-year professional holds a record 133-114-36 in 302 career games.

ALEXANDRE THE GREAT: Defenseman Alexandre Rouleau tallied the game-winning goal Wednesday and added three assists last week to finish with four points in four games. Rouleau, who was loaned from the San Antonio Rampage on Mar. 22, has a point in four out of the five games since his return to the RoadRunners line-up and leads all Phoenix defensemen with nine goals and 32 points.

NEWS & NOTES: Forward Lance Monych has four goals in his last six games...Center Olivier Latendresse has points in four out of his last six games and three goals and three assists since Mar. 17...Center Tyler Redenbach has two multi-point games and four assists in five games since being assigned to the RoadRunners from San Antonio.

"10 MINUTES IN THE BOX" ON 106.7 KWSS-FM: Join your favorite RoadRunners at 9:10 a.m. each and every Wednesday for "10 Minutes in the Box", a new weekly segment devoted entirely to your Phoenix RoadRunners on 106.7 KWSS-FM and online at www.kwss1067.com. "10 Minutes in the Box" will air weekly as part of the "Driving with Gass" radio show hosted by Kevin Gassman, which can be heard Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

WATCH THE 'RUNNERS LIVE IN '06-07: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2006-07. RoadRunners fans will be able to click the "Watch Online" link at www.phxroadrunners.com to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 RoadRunners home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 25 road games in Alaska, Idaho, Las Vegas, Stockton, Utah, and Bakersfield. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Victoria at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Catch all the action live at www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" 20 minutes prior to face-off. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2007-08 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.



ECHL Stories from April 2, 2007


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