Game #37: Tucson at Abbotsford

Regular Season Game #37 –Tucson Roadrunners at Abbotsford Canucks

8:00 p.m. MST, Abbotsford Centre, Abbotsford, British Columbia

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Referees:  Adam Bloski (94) Brett Roeland (59)

Linesmen: Mitch Hunt (62) Tommy Hughes (92)

The Tucson Roadrunners continue their road trip north of the border Monday night when they take on the Abbotsford Canucks for the first of two midweek matchups at the Abbotsford Centre. Tucson will look to make it three wins in their last four contests, as well as remain undefeated on the season against the Canucks in their inaugural season. The Roadrunners are coming off a 5-4 road victory against the San Diego Gulls on Saturday night that saw three different players record three points.

Three Things
1) The Roadrunners will visit Abbotsford for the first time in franchise history this week, after hosting the Canucks at the Tucson Arena for a pair of home games November 26 and 27. Tucson took the series with back-to-back come-from-behind victories with Mike Carcone, Matias Maccelli and Cameron Hebig each scoring a pair of goals over the weekend. Maccelli (2g 4a) totaled six points across the two games, while Hebig and Carcone each notched two goals and an assist. Tucson scored nine goals across the pair of wins, including two while on the power-play. Ivan Prosvetov was between the pipes for the first game of the series, stopping 29 shots while only allowing one goal.

2) Three Roadrunners players posted three-point performances in Saturday night’s 5-4 win over the San Diego Gulls. Leading the way was forward Mike Carcone with his fourth career AHL hat trick, which he achieved 12:36 into the second period. Assisting on each of the Roadrunners first three goals was defenseman Cam Dineen, marking the 23-year-old’s first-ever three-point night of his AHL career. Rounding out the list was forward Matias Maccelli with a goal and two assists, good for his fifth appearance with three points or more in his rookie campaign. The Roadrunners have had 12 individual performances of three points or more this season by seven different players. Maccelli and fellow rookie JJ Moser are the only players to record multiple three-point games with five and two, respectively. Ben McCartney, Hudson Fasching, Jan Jenik, Cameron Hebig and Mike Carcone have each accomplished the feat once on the year.

3) A key contributor to the Roadrunners success this season has been the ability of their power-play unit. 10 of Tucson’s 14 total victories have featured at least one goal while on the man-advantage, with 16 total power-play strikes in winning efforts. The Roadrunners have scored multiple power-play goals in five of their wins, including a November 27 matchup against the Abbotsford Canucks that saw rookies Matias Maccelli and JJ Moser each cash in on special-teams.

What’s The Word?
Roadrunners forward Cameron Hebig on Tucson’s ability to create and sustain momentum within close games:

“Momentum is huge in a game. Once you get the train rolling, you just have to keep at it and keep going. That’s a key to our team, when we’re working and rolling all four lines, that’s when we can be heavy and strong on the forecheck.”

Number to Know
4 – The number of hat tricks achieved by the Roadrunners this season after Mike Carcone was the latest to accomplish the feat Saturday night against the San Diego Gulls. Carcone’s trio of goals was the first by a Tucson player on the road, after Ben McCartney, Hudson Fasching and Matias Maccelli recorded hat tricks at the Tucson Arena over the span of five contests at home from October 23 to November 12.

We’re Doing It Live
Today’s game will be broadcast on AHLtv, as well as on the radio on Fox Sports 1450AM, or on the iHeartRadio app. Coverage begins at 7:45 p.m. MST with Roadrunners Warm-Up, as Jimmy Peebles gets you ready for the game before “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny has the call at 8:00 p.m. live from the Abbotsford Centre.