Game #30: Tucson Roadrunners (4) vs San Jose Barracuda (6)
Game #30: Tucson Roadrunners vs San Jose Barracuda
SOG: TUC (35) – SJ (38)
PP: TUC (1/3) – SJ (2/4)
SAN JOSE SCORING: Danil Gushchin (10), Nathan Todd (7), Cole Cassels (4), Scott Sabourin (7), Danil Gushchin (11), Artem Guryev (1)
TUCSON SCORING: Austin Poganski (4), Josh Doan (13), Cam Crotty (1), Victor Soderstrom (7)
Cam Crotty is cooler than the other side of the pillow and has a sniper attached to the end of his hockey stick. This blue line bomb from Crotty was his first goal of the year and tied the game 3-3 in the second period. Crotty was assisted by Jan Jenik and Ben McCartney. San Jose would beat Tucson ending a 5-game win streak for the Roadrunners.
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
ALL FOUR YOU, TUCSON – The Roadrunners picked up 2024 where they left off in 2023; scoring and scoring often. The Roadrunners scored four goals on Wednesday night in San Jose marking the eighth time in their last 12 games they have scored at least four goals. In the month of December, the Roadrunners scored four goals or more in seven of eleven games, and they are perfect in the new year scoring; four in their first game of 2024.
LOOK AT THIS
Tucson goalie Matthew Villalta focuses on stopping a puck coming off the stick of a San Jose skater. Villalta saved all 15 second period shots he faced on Wednesday night and 32/37 on the night. Villalta leads all Western Conference goalies with 15 wins on the season.
THEY SAID IT
I think we were a little bit slower starting this game compared to the last couple. We talked about playing more simple in the third and getting more pucks on net which we did
Defenseman Victor Soderstrom following Tucson’s 6-4 loss on Wednesday night in San Jose
THE RUNDOWN
It would be the San Jose Barracuda defending their home ice and scoring the first two goals of the game at the 4:10 and 12:18 marks of the first period. Tucson, riding a five-game winning streak, was unphased by the hot starts for the Barracuda and cut their lead in half at the 17:44 mark. It was Austin Poganski scoring his fourth of the year on the power-play for Tucson to get the Roadrunners on the board. Poganski was assisted by Max Szuber and Aku Raty. Just under two minutes later it would be San Jose lighting the home lamp for a third time in the frame and giving them a 3-1 lead. But fear not, said Josh Doan, as he scored a goal off the face-off following San Jose’s third goal and cut the lead to 3-2. Doan scored just 12 seconds after San Jose and was assisted by Jan Jenik and John Leonard. With assists for Leonard and Raty in the period both players have four game scoring streaks currently. The goal was Doan’s team-leading 13th of the season.
The second frame would be a back-and-forth battle between the two Western Division foes with San Jose outshooting Tucson 15-9. Tucson netminder Matthew Villalta was fantastic in the period stopping all 15 attempts against him and the Roadrunners. Most of the period was played at 3-2 San Jose until defensemen Cam Crotty ripped a blue line snipe and knotted the game up 3-3. Cam Crotty, who scored his first goal of the season, was assisted by Ben McCartney and Jan Jenik. The final minute and 45 seconds of the second period were played in a 3-3 tie and the game would come down to the final period.
San Jose would start the third frame on the power-play, and they would take advantage of the man advantage. Scoring the go-ahead goal and giving the home team the 4-3 lead. For the next 8:20 San Jose would keep that one-goal lead until Victor Soderstrom would light the lamp for the Roadrunners and tie things up 4-4. Another Tucson penalty would put San Jose on the power-play and the Barracuda would score their second power-play goal of the game and retake the lead 5-4. Tucson would pull goalie Matthew Villalta with just over a minute left, but they would not be able to score and instead would give up an empty netter to San Jose. The 6-4 final would bring Tucson’s five-game winning-streak to an end.
The Roadrunners have two weekend road series ahead of them in both Chicago and Abbotsford before returning home on Monday, January 15th against the Iowa Wild for a Kids Come Free night at the Tucson Arena.
