Roadrunners Earn Point in Overtime Loss to Gulls, Winning Streak Snapped at Three

Roadrunners Recap: 10/17/2026

Game #6: Tucson Roadrunners (2) vs San Diego Gulls (3) OT

SOG: TUC (30) – SD (27)
PP: TUC (1/5) – SD (1/5)

SAN DIEGO SCORING: Nico Myatovic (3, 4), Matthew Phillips (3)
TUCSON SCORING: Tomas Lavoie (1), Yegor Borikov (2)

TUCSON, AZ – The Tucson Roadrunners (3-2-1-0) saw their three-game winning streak snapped win a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Diego Gulls (3-3-1-0) on Saturday at Tucson Arena.

The Roadrunners never held a lead but overcame a pair of one-goal deficits to force overtime and earn a point for the fourth consecutive game.

San Diego’s Nico Myatovic opened the scoring just 1:13 into the game before rookie defenseman Tomas Lavoie recorded his first career AHL goal and point with 1:17 remaining in the first period to even the score at 1-1.

Matthew Phillips put the Gulls back in front with a power-play goal at 6:34 of the second period before rookie Yegor Borikov tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play goal of his own at 8:32 of the third.

Myatovic scored his second goal of the night in the opening minute of overtime to seal San Diego’s 3-2 victory and snap Tucson’s winning streak.

Roadrunners captain Austin Poganski recorded an assist for the second consecutive game, while assistant captain Ben McCartney extended his point streak to five games with an assist. Rookies Gregor Biber and Tij Iginla also recorded assists.

Tucson goaltender Jaxson Stauber started in net and finished with 24 saves.

HIGHLIGHTS

TEAM NOTES

• – Tomas Lavoie became the fourth Roadrunner to score his first career AHL goal this season, joining Vadim Moroz (Oct. 4 vs Colorado), Caleb Desnoyers (Oct. 9 at San Jose) and Yegor Borikov (Oct. 10 at San Jose).
• – Lavoie’s first-period goal marked the fifth consecutive game Tucson has scored in the first period, dating back to Oct. 4 vs Colorado.
• – Matthew Phillips’ second-period power-play goal marked the first time the Roadrunners have surrendered a power-play goal on home ice this season.
• – Yegor Borikov‘s third-period power-play goal marked the first time the Roadrunners have scored a power-play goal on home ice this season.
• – Saturday marked Tucson’s first overtime game of the season. Last year, the Roadrunners played in 23 overtime games, the third-most in the AHL, posting a 13-0-10 record. Tucson recorded a franchise-record 11 overtime wins, the second-most in the AHL, and 13 total wins in extra time, including shootouts, tied for the most in the league.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• – Captain Austin Poganski recorded an assist for the second consecutive game and now has three assists in his last four games dating back to Oct. 9 at San Jose.
• – Rookie Yegor Borikov scored his first career power-play goal in the AHL, his second overall goal of the season, marking his fifth point (2g, 3a) in his last five games dating back to Oct. 4 vs Colorado.
• – Assistant captain Ben McCartney recorded his team-leading seventh assist of the season on Borikov’s third-period goal to extend his point streak to five games (2-7-9) dating back to Oct. 4 vs Colorado. It also marked his second power-play assist of the season and 98th assist of his career.
• – Rookie Tij Iginla tallied his second assist of the Borikov’s third-period goal, marking the first power-play assist of Iginla’s AHL career.

THE RUNDOWN

FIRST PERIOD
The Roadrunners needed just 30 seconds to generate a grade-A scoring chance when Julian Lutz broke free on a breakaway. The 22-year-old German forward raced into the San Diego zone with no defenders in front of him, stickhandled and fired a low forehand shot toward the open right corner of the net, but Gulls goaltender Damian Clara kicked it aside with his left pad.

San Diego responded on the next shift when Nico Myatovic scored off the rush, dangling through the Roadrunners defense and around goaltender Jaxson Stauber to give the Gulls their first lead of the weekend just 1:13 into the game.

Just over four minutes later, Tucson had an early opportunity to even the score when San Diego’s Cruz Lucius was whistled for tripping. A second tripping penalty against Corey Schueneman gave the Roadrunners a brief two-man advantage, and assistant captain Ben McCartney nearly capitalized with a short-side one-timer from below the right circle. However, his quick shot narrowly missed the open top corner.

Tucson continued to put on the pressure, and halfway through the period, Lutz generated his second scoring chance after outracing a San Diego defender to negate an icing call. The puck bounced off the end boards and landed right in front of Lutz below the right circle, but Clara turned him aside for a second time.

Stauber stood tall at the other end in the latter stages of the frame, robbing Ryan Carpenter on a point-blank opportunity with a highlight-reel glove save to keep Tucson within one.

With just over five minutes remaining, Lutz’s line alongside Brandon Tanev and Kevin Rooney continued to drive play and generate scoring opportunities. Among them, Duda’s point shot rang off the inside of the left post, while Rooney nearly converted a one-timer from the slot.

Despite being unable to capitalize on several quality chances, the Roadrunners continued to press and finally broke through with 1:17 remaining. Tomas Lavoie beat Clara with a hard, low shot to even the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD
San Diego earned its second power-play opportunity of the night when Lutz was whistled for tripping. Midway through the man advantage, the Gulls struck for the second consecutive period, as Matthew Phillips buried a loose rebound to put San Diego back in front 2-1 at 6:34.

Tensions boiled over midway through the frame when Phillips shoved Lutz between the two teams’ benches after the whistle. Brandon Tanev and Kevin Rooney immediately stepped in to defend their linemate, sparking a brief scrum at center ice. Neither team received an additional penalty on the play.

The chippiness continued throughout the remainder of the period, with brief scrums breaking out nearly every time Clara covered the puck for a whistle.

Clara was forced to stand tall late in the frame as Tucson generated a sustained offensive push, outshooting San Diego 8-1 over a four-minute stretch. However, the Gulls weathered the pressure and gained another power-play opportunity when McCartney was whistled for holding with just over a minute remaining.

San Diego carried its one-goal lead into the second intermission, with Tucson looking to rally in the final 20 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD
Tucson killed off the remainder of McCartney’s penalty from the end of the second period and nearly found the equalizer moments later. Just 55 seconds into the frame, McCartney emerged from the penalty box, found the puck on his stick and broke free on a breakaway. He slowed his approach and attempted to deke to the near side, but Clara turned aside his backhand attempt to preserve San Diego’s lead.

The Roadrunners were handed a golden opportunity to even the score with two power-play chances in a three-minute span. After failing to convert on their first opportunity, Tucson capitalized on the second to knot the game at 2-2 at 8:32.

McCartney unleashed a hard slap shot from above the left circle, and rookie Yegor Borikov buried the rebound to pull Tucson even and force overtime.

OVERTIME
San Diego ended Tucson’s comeback bid when Myatovic beat Stauber with a nifty backhander to secure a 3-2 overtime victory for the Gulls.

UP NEXT

The Roadrunners will travel to Henderson to take on the Silver Knights in a two-game weekend set at Lee’s Family Forum. The series kicks off Friday at 7 p.m. MST, followed by Saturday’s game at 6 p.m. MST. Fans can watch both games live on AHLtv on FloHockey.