Game #53: Tucson Roadrunners (6) at Chicago Wolves (2)

SOG: TUC (21) – CHI (30)

PP: TUC (1/2) – CHI (0/3)

TUCSON SCORING: Will Reilly (1), Curtis Douglas (4), Cameron Hebig (6), Mike Carcone (25 PP), Ryan McGregor (7, 8)

CHICAGO SCORING: Jack Drury (8), Josh Melnick (11)

ROADRUNNERS SCORE SIX GOALS IN ROAD WIN OVER CHICAGO WOLVES SATURDAY

Chicago, Illinois – The Tucson Roadrunners defeated the Chicago Wolves 6-2 on the road Saturday night for their third-straight multi-goal win over the defending Calder Cup Champions. Tucson also clinched the four-game season series against the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes with the win, as four different Roadrunners notched multiple points. Forward J.S. Dea led the way on offense with the first four-assist performance of his career, while backstop Ivan Prosvetov made 28 saves for his third-straight win and career high 16th victory of the season. Tucson and Chicago meet for the final time in 2022-2023 Sunday afternoon from the Allstate Arena, as the Roadrunners will look to earn their fourth consecutive win.

YA GOTTA SEE IT

Roadrunners forward Mike Carcone made team history Saturday night when he netted his 25th goal of the season for a new Tucson franchise record. Carcone previously set the Roadrunners single-season goals record in 2021-2022 when he lit the lamp 24 times to lead the team for the second-straight year. The 26-year-old is atop the American Hockey League in both power-play goals (13) and total points while on the man-advantage (31), with his 13 power-play tallies matching a Roadrunners record.

DON’T OVERLOOK IT

NEVER LETTING UP – Tucson found the back of the net at least once in all three periods Saturday night against the Wolves to extend their active streak to nine consecutive periods with a goal scored, which dates back to the opening frame of their 3-2 win over Henderson on Saturday, February 18. The Roadrunners have posted four multi-goal periods through three contests with Chicago on the season, while winning all three matchups by at least three goals. In addition, Saturday’s series opener marked the eighth time this year that Tucson scored at least six goals and the second time doing so on the road.

PHOTO OF THE GAME

Saturday’s series opener between the Roadrunners and Wolves marked Tucson’s first trip to the Allstate Arena in Chicago since March 2020, when they earned back-to-back wins over a Wolves team that was then the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. In all, the Roadrunners have won five-straight contests against Chicago dating back to their meeting on March 5, 2020, and have outscored the Wolves in three matchups this year by a count of 15 to four.

THEY SAID IT

“We’ve been working hard all week and it was nice to get the results. It’s going to be tight until the end, so it’s huge to get those points whenever we can.”

Roadrunners forward J.S. Dea on Tucson earning their third-straight win Saturday night in Chicago. Dea recorded a career high four assists in the Roadrunners 6-2 victory over the Wolves.

THE RUNDOWN

The Roadrunners jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of goals 3:49 apart through the midway point of the first period. Defenseman Will Reilly opened the scoring 8:09 into the contest with his first tally of the season, which was followed up by forward Curtis Douglas lighting the lamp for the fourth time on the year. Tucson’s quick goals marked the only scoring of the opening 20 minutes, as the Roadrunners fended off Chicago’s only power-play of the period late in the frame and goaltender Ivan Prosvetov stopped all 11 shots faced. The Roadrunners offense kept rolling early in the second period with an even quicker pair of goals scored 47 seconds apart by Cam Hebig and Mike Carcone for a 4-0 Tucson advantage. Hebig netted his sixth goal of the season with 3:38 gone by in the frame, before the Roadrunners drew their first power-play of the night on their next shift. Forward Mike Carcone found the back of the net 27 seconds into that man-advantage for his league-leading 13th power-play score and Roadrunners franchise record 25th tally of the season. Ryan McGregor got in on the action with 4:21 remaining in the period, as his seventh goal of the season gave Tucson a 5-0 lead. Chicago avoided a shutout when they got on the board just eight seconds later to send the Roadrunners to Saturday’s third period still up 5-1. The four-goal middle frame was capped off by a fight between Tucson forward Curtis Douglas and Chicago’s Joseph LaBate for Douglas’ fifth time dropping the gloves this season as a Roadrunner. With three Roadrunners having already recorded multiple points through the first 40 minutes of play, Ryan McGregor became the first player with multiple goals on the night when he extended Tucson’s lead back out to 6-1 with 6:16 gone by in the third period. With his fourth assist of the contest on McGregor’s third-period score, forward J.S. Dea joined Mike Carcone as the only Roadrunners players to record a four-point performance this year. The Wolves answered back 2:11 later to make it a 6-2 game with 11:33 to play, but Prosvetov denied Chicago’s final six shots to guide Tucson to a 6-2 win in the series opener from Allstate Arena.

(Photo Credits: Chicago Wolves)