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AHL Tucson Roadrunners

Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Extinguishing the Fire

March 4, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Tucson Roadrunners News Release


Tucson Roadrunners goaltender Matthew Villalta
Tucson Roadrunners goaltender Matthew Villalta
(Tucson Roadrunners)

Upcoming Games (All Times MST)

Tuesday, March 5, Tucson vs. Calgary, 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 6, Tucson vs. Calgary, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 9 Tucson @ Coachella Valley, 7:00 p.m.

Roadrunners Record Through 52 Games: 30-18-2-2 (64 points), third place in the Pacific Division, fourth place in the Western Conference.

Putting Out The Flame:

The Roadrunners enter another three-game week starting with a midweek two-game series on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7 against the Calgary Wranglers; a team Tucson has not seen since November 21 and November 22. The previous and only time these two teams played, Tucson split the series against the Wranglers, who were the top team in the early season Pacific Division at 11-2-1-0 while the Roadrunners were 7-5-0-1. Since that series, Tucson has gone 23-11-2-1 with a third-place spot in the Pacific Division while Calgary has gone 17-16-3-2; losing its first-place hold in the division; dropping to fifth place. The Roadrunners and Wranglers are only separated by two points in the standings entering the series. Tucson then travels to Coachella Valley for the second to last game of the season series vs the Firebirds. This season the Roadrunners are undefeated in Acrisure Arena at 2-0-0-0 and are 3-2-0-1 overall versus the top ranked team in the Pacific Division.

Rattling Raty:

Forward Aku Raty is quietly having a tremendous rookie season for the Roadrunners despite missing a combined total of 14 games this season. Since returning to the lineup on February 24 after missing seven-straight, Raty has put up seven points (3 goals, 7 assists) in the last five games including six points (3 goals, 3 assists) on the recent three-game road trip. On that trip, Raty had points in three-straight; scoring two goals in Bakersfield on February 24, a goal on Friday March 1 in Henderson and three assists in Tucson's 5-2 victory over the Silver Knights on Saturday, March 2; becoming just the second Roadrunner this season with three assists or more in a game. The last time Raty missed six games back in the end of November, he went on a tear of 13 point in 10 games in December; which granted him as Tucson's leading point getter of the month. Now in the first two games of March, Raty leads the way with one goal and three assists for four points. Overall, Raty is second on the team in scoring with 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 38 games played which is a better point-per-game average (.79) than leading team scorer Josh Doan (.73), who has 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 52 games played. He also leads the team in power-play points with three goals and eight assists for 11 points. In the first 10 games of the season, Raty only had two points, but in his last 28 games, he has notched 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists).

Oh Captain My Captain:

Roadrunners defenseman and Captain Steven Kampfer has battled his way to play with his teammates all season; missing a total of 24 games including 20-straight from November 4 to December 29. When on the ice and healthy, Kampfer makes a huge difference not only as a defenseman but also on offense. In the last 12 games, Kampfer has seven assists with five of them coming on the power-play. Those five power-play assists have helped greatly on Tucson's recent power-play run that is 9-for-45 (20%) since January 31. Despite playing just 27 games, Kampfer is second on the team in power-play points amongst defenseman with his five assists.

Road Warriors:

Though Tucson is home for the next two games, another road game in Coachella Valley is vital just for the fact that the Roadrunners away record of 17-8-2-1 is the sixth best in the AHL. That has come mainly from the help from Josh Doan, Jan Jenik and Aku Raty. Combined, the three have 59 points (30 goals, 29 assists) on the road this season. Doan leads the way on the road with 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists), Jenik is second with 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) and Raty is third with 18 points (10 goals, 8 assists). Overall, the Roadrunners are averaging 3.10 goals per game on the road this season.

History For Matty:

In Saturday's 5-2 victory over the Silver Knights, goaltender Matthew Villalta earned win number 23 on the year; surpassing former Roadrunners goalie Hunter Miska who had 22 wins in Tucson's Pacific Division Champions run of the 2017-18 season. Also to set the team record in games played by a goalie, Villalta needs to appear in three more games to surpass Adin Hill who played 40 games in 2016-17 and eight to surpass Ivan Prosvetov's franchise leading 45 that was set in 2021-22.

We'll Do It Live:

Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app. This week "Voice of the Roadrunners ‚¬Â Adrian Denny, with Kim Cota Robles Brett Fera are joined by Roadrunners forward Curtis Douglas. In addition, the latest edition of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast dropped Saturday Night for an Overreaction Bus Stop Special after Tucson's win against Henderson. They will deliver the official mid-week Insider Postgame Podcast after Tucson's matchup versus Calgary.

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Images from this story

Tucson Roadrunners right wing Austin Poganski along the bench
Tucson Roadrunners right wing Austin Poganski along the bench
 Tucson Roadrunners forward Aku Raty
Tucson Roadrunners forward Aku Raty
 Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer
Tucson Roadrunners battle the Henderson Silver Knights
Tucson Roadrunners battle the Henderson Silver Knights
 Tucson Roadrunners goaltender Matthew Villalta
Tucson Roadrunners goaltender Matthew Villalta
  



American Hockey League Stories from March 4, 2024


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