McCartney’s Four-Point Night Powers Roadrunners Past Wranglers 5–2

January 2, 2026

Roadrunners Recap: 1/2/2026

Game #30: Tucson Roadrunners (5) vs Calgary Wranglers (2)

SOG: TUC (43) – CGY (20)

PP: TUC (2/6) – CGY (0/4)

CALGARY SCORING: Rory Kerins (13), Lucas Ciona (3)
TUCSON SCORING: Austin Poganski (8), Cameron Hebig (14), Juuso Välimäki (1), Miko Matikka (2), Ben McCartney (13)

CALGARY, AB – Two power-play goals sparked a four-goal run as the Tucson Roadrunners (13-12-5-0) pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Wranglers (15-12-7-1) on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

After conceding the game’s opening goal, Tucson responded with four unanswered tallies spanning the final minutes of the first period into the third. Calgary briefly cut the deficit to two late in the third, but Ben McCartney sealed the win with a shorthanded goal at 17:25 to restore Tucson’s three-goal lead.

McCartney led all Roadrunners with four points (1g, 3a), six shots, and recorded Tucson’s first shorthanded goal of the season. Scott Perunovich (2a) and Austin Poganski (1g, 1a) also posted multi-point performances in the win.

Poganski and Cameron Hebig each scored on the power play just 46 seconds apart, flipping a one-goal deficit into a one-goal advantage for the Roadrunners.

Defenseman Juuso Välimäki scored his first goal of the season in just his second game with Tucson, beating Owen Say with 15 seconds remaining in the second period to make it 3-1. Fellow Finnish countryman Miko Matikka added his second goal of the season at the eight-minute mark of the third period to cap Tucson’s four-goal run.

In net, Matthew Villalta turned aside 18 of 20 shots to earn his 10th victory of the season (10-5-1) and improved to 3-0-0 against Calgary in the season series. Villalta has won four of his last five starts, including each of his last two.

With the win, Tucson improved to 4-0-1 against the Wranglers this season heading into Sunday’s series finale. The two clubs will meet once more at the Saddledome on Feb. 6 and 7.

NOTABLES

The Roadrunners have scored in the first period in four consecutive games dating back to Dec. 27 vs. Calgary, totaling six first-period goals in that span.
Tucson’s 19 shots in the second period tied the team’s season high for shots in a period (last: 19 in the 1P on 12/19 at ABB).
The Roadrunners tallied a season-best 43 shots on goal, surpassing the previous high of 42 on Nov. 26 vs. San Diego.
Tucson improved its record to 4-0-0-0 on the road and 9-0-1-0 overall when leading after two periods.
The Roadrunners improved to 9-0-2-0 overall when scoring four goals or more.
With 21 points (2g, 19a) in 29 games, Scott Perunovich is tied for third in assists and fourth in points among all AHL defensemen.
Scott Perunovich has 10 points (2g, 8a) in his last nine games dating back to Dec. 6 at San Jose, tied for the second-most among AHL defensemen in that span.
Friday marked Ben McCartney’s second time tallying four points or more in a game (previous 2-3–5 vs Bakersfield on Dec. 13).
Ben McCartney’s 19 helpers mark a new career-high for assists in a season (previous: 17 in 2024-25 and 2021-22).
Ben McCartney leads the AHL with 17 points (7g, 10a) in his last 10 games dating back to Dec. 5 at San Jose.
Friday’s performance extended Ben McCartney‘s point streak to five games dating back to Dec. 20 at Abbotsford with eight points (3g, 5a) in that span. He is the first Roadrunner to record two separate point streaks of five games or more this season (previous 3-4–7 from Oct. 10-24).
Cameron Hebig tallied his 14^th goal and fifth power-play goal (both team highs) and ranks tied for seventh in the AHL in goals.
Dmitri Simashev recorded a point for the second straight game (1g, 1a). His 10 points (4g, 6a) in his last nine games dating back to Dec. 6 at San Jose is tied for third on the team and tied for second among AHL blueliners.
Dmitri Simashev‘s .91 points-per-game pace leads all AHL rookie defensemen.
With 59 wins as a Roadrunner, Matthew Villalta needs seven wins to tie Adin Hill for first all-time in franchise history (66).

Ben McCartney recorded his career-high 19th assist of the season and scored Tucson’s first shorthanded goal of the year Friday at Calgary. (Photo: Calgary Wranglers)

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST PERIOD
Tucson went to the penalty kill just 1:07 into the contest and answered early, holding Calgary without a shot on its opening power play. Villalta stayed sharp throughout the opening five minutes, turning aside all four shots he faced.

Calgary broke through at 7:53 when Rory Kerins slipped behind the defense and beat Villalta’s right pad on a backdoor feed from Dryden Hunt to give the Wranglers a 1-0 lead. The Wranglers continued to control the pace past the 10-minute mark and held the edge in shots.

Looking to spark the Roadrunners, defenseman Dmitri Simashev delivered a big hit in front of the Tucson bench midway through the period. Tucson then seized momentum late after drawing consecutive penalties to earn a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Roadrunners capitalized in a hurry, scoring twice in a 14-second span to take their first lead of the night. Poganski jammed home a rebound from the top of the crease off a feed from Perunovich to tie the game at 1-1. Moments later, Max Szuber found Hebig near the goal line, where Hebig redirected the puck past Say to put Tucson ahead 2-1.

Tucson carried the one-goal lead into the first intermission despite heading back to the penalty kill to open the second period and finished the frame with a 15-9 advantage in shots.

SECOND PERIOD
Calgary pressed early in search of the equalizer, generating several Grade-A looks on the power play, including a bumper chance for Sam Morton that Villalta denied. Tucson killed its second penalty of the game and soon went back to the power play but couldn’t extend the lead.

Despite the missed opportunity, the Roadrunners controlled possession and continued to test Say, building a 23-11 edge in shots past the five-minute mark. Owen Allard nearly made it 3-1 midway through the period, powering his way to the net for a backhand chance that Say turned aside.

Say continued to keep Calgary within striking distance late in the frame, stopping partial breakaways from Hebig and Ty Tulio in the final two minutes. Tucson earned another power play just before intermission and generated multiple quality chances, including a McCartney snap shot that narrowly missed.

The Roadrunners finally broke through in the closing seconds when Välimäki blasted a shot from the top of the left circle past Say’s blocker side to give Tucson a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission. Tucson outshot Calgary 19-4 in the period.

THIRD PERIOD
Three penalties in the opening two minutes sent both teams trading time on the man advantage. Tucson used its power-play opportunities to drain valuable clock and build momentum, outshooting Calgary 5-2 through the first five minutes of the period.

The Roadrunners extended their lead at 8:01 when Matikka jumped on a loose rebound and buried it into an open net to make it 4-1.

Calgary snapped Tucson’s run of four unanswered goals later in the frame as Lucas Ciona cut the deficit to two. The Wranglers then pushed on a four-minute power play, but Tucson’s penalty kill held serve.

Moments after exiting the box, McCartney forced a turnover at the Calgary blue line and broke in shorthanded, beating Say over the shoulder as the puck fluttered into the net to close out Tucson’s 5-2 victory over Calgary.

UP NEXT
The Roadrunners wrap up the series against the Wranglers at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 p.m. AZT. Fans can listen live on FOX Sports 1450 AM and the iHeartRadio app and watch on AHLtv on FloHockey.

HIGHLIGHTS