Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Eyes On The Prize

Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Eyes On The Prize

Upcoming Games (All times MST)

Wednesday, April 5: Tucson at Henderson, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, April 7: Texas at Tucson, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 8: Texas at Tucson, 7:00 p.m.

Who’s On The Schedule

The Tucson Roadrunners wrap up their six-game road trip Wednesday night with the eighth and final matchup of the season against the Henderson Silver Knights. Tucson enters the week with a 3-1-1-0 record to begin the trip, sitting five points above the AHL playoff line with five games remaining and each of their last four contests taking place on home ice. The Roadrunners have a 4-3-0-0 record against the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights through seven meetings this season with wins in each of their last two contests on February 18 and 19 at the Tucson Arena. Following the midweek outing from The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, the Roadrunners will return home to host the Texas Stars for a two-game series Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8. Tucson and the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars have not faced off since December 31, 2022, while the Roadrunners have not hosted the Stars at the Tucson Arena since October of 2021.

#CarconeMVP

The Roadrunners officially began their campaign for Mike Carcone as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player on Sunday with the hashtag #CarconeMVP. Carcone enters the week as the leading scorer in the American Hockey League with 31 goals, 48 assists and 79 total points. He also ranks in the top five in the AHL in goals (3rd), assists (4th), power-play goals (2nd), power-play points (2nd) and shots on goal (1st). The 26-year-old possesses the longest scoring streak in the AHL this season at 15 games, which is the longest the league has seen since December 2019, and is the only player in the AHL to rank in the top five in both goals and assists. The Roadrunners will employ the hashtag on their social media accounts throughout the final two weeks of the regular season, with fans encouraged to get involved and show their support for the third-year Roadrunner. To see Carcone’s latest stats and progress, visit TucsonRoadrunners.com/CarconeMVP.

Two With Texas

The Roadrunners open their final home stand of the season on Friday, April 7 with Tucson is Everything Night, featuring $3 Hot Dogs and $3 Draft Beers. As part of Tucson is Everything, Roadrunners players will be donating game tickets to some of their favorite local non-profit organizations and taking a postgame picture with the organization. The series finale on Saturday, April 8 is Autism Acceptance Night Presented by Intermountain Centers. The Tucson Arena will have a Sensory Room available at the game that night for those in the audience that would like to take a break from the crowd and hockey action, while fans are encouraged to leave their cowbells at home. The Sensory Room is also courtesy of Intermountain Centers, an Arizona-based nonprofit with more information available on their website at IntermountainCenters.org. Player-signed Autism Acceptance Mystery Pucks are available to purchase for $20, along with bid to win opportunities for themed Roadrunners Locker Room Name Plates on the DASH app and at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Community, with all proceeds benefitting Roadrunners Community Efforts in Southern Arizona. The fourth meeting of the season with the Stars is the sixth and final Roadrunners game to be broadcast live in Southern Arizona on The CW Tucson, with Tucson.com’s Brett Fera joining “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny on the call. Rudy’s Texas B-B-Q Family Packs are available for Saturday’s series finale that include 4 tickets, 4 hats, and a gift card to Rudy’s Texas B-B-Q at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Rudys. The Roadrunners will host the San Jose Barracuda for a two-game series the following weekend to close out the regular season, with information on the full homestand available at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Fun.

It All Comes Down To This

The final weekend of the 2022-2023 regular season will see the Roadrunners host the San Jose Barracuda for a two-game set at the Tucson Arena. The series opener on Friday, April 14 is the third El Lazo de Tucson Night of the season Presented by the City of Tucson. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive a free “El Polvo” Bobblehead courtesy of KOLD, “El Polvo” is the alternate El Lazo identity of Roadrunners Mascot Dusty. The Roadrunners are hosting a Tacos and Tequila Event at Dusty’s Party Nest in the Tucson Arena starting at 6 p.m. MST and lasting through the duration of the game. A special package is available that includes a game ticket, a t-shirt, four tacos, a churro, and discounted tequila tastings at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Tacos. The final El Lazo de Tucson game of the year also features Dusty’s Cheering Section Presented by Arizona Bilingual and Proforoma for the first time hockey fan that includes one game ticket, a Roadrunners Rally Towel and a pregame edition of ROADRUNNERS HOCKEY RULES. Finally, game number 72 to close out the regular season on Saturday, April 15 is Fan Appreciation Night Presented by the Arizona Daily Star, with a Player Poster Giveaway courtesy of AMR. For full information on the Roadrunners remaining home games and to purchase tickets, visit TucsonRoadrunners.com/Fun.

Jenik’s Hot Streak

Forward Jan Jenik has taken the ice for four of the first five games on Tucson’s road trip after missing 37-straight games with an injury, totaling two goals and six assists with three consecutive multiple-point performances. His streak of four-straight multi-point outings from December 18 to March 31 is tied with Mike Carcone for the longest on the Roadrunners this season. The 22-year-old posted back-to-back three-point nights for the first time in his AHL career by registering a goal and two assists in two-straight outings against the Colorado Eagles and San Diego Gulls Saturday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 29. Jenik led the Roadrunners in scoring last April with eight points (1g 7a) in five outings, finishing the 2021-2022 campaign on a five-game scoring streak.

Taking Home The Trophy

A highlight of Tucson’s current road trip saw the Roadrunners clinch the I-8 Border Trophy over the San Diego Gulls with a 6-5 overtime win against the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, March 29. In that game, six different skaters lit the lamp for the Roadrunners for their third-straight comeback win to open the trip that was capped off by defenseman Steven Kampfer’s overtime game-winning goal. With the win, Tucson finished the eight-game season series against San Diego with a 4-2-2-0 record and entered April as winners of five of their last seven games with a 6-3-3-0 mark for the month of March.

Did You Know?

The Roadrunners went to overtime in three-straight games against three different opponents during their current road trip, matching the longest streak in team history for the second time this season. Tucson won two of the three overtime matchups from Sunday March 26 to Friday, March 31, after previously going past regulation three games in a row from December 4 to December 10 this year. In addition, their active streak of four-straight games decided by one goal is tied the longest of the season, which was first set from February 26 to March 10. The Roadrunners franchise record of consecutive one-goal contests is seven, a streak that began in their second ever game on October 21, 2016, and lasted through November 5, 2016.

Roadrunners Roster Moves

Friday, March 31: Forward Nathan Smith was assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners after appearing in four games with the Arizona Coyotes.

Tuesday, March 28: The Roadrunners signed forward Micah Miller to a two-year AHL contract out of St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

A Milestone At Mullett For Milos

Forward Milos Kelemen lit the lamp at Mullett Arena Saturday night for the first goal of his NHL career, scored in the third period against the San Jose Sharks. Kelemen previously recorded the first hat trick of his professional career with the Roadrunners on November 19, 2022, against the San Jose Barracuda. Earlier in Arizona’s matchup with the Sharks, former Tucson skaters J.J. Moser, Matias Maccelli and Victor Soderstrom combined on a power-play goal to put the Coyotes on the board in the first period. In addition, forward Nathan Smith returned to the Roadrunners after appearing in four NHL contests with Arizona and tallied an assist in his return to the Tucson lineup on Saturday, April 1.

On The Air

Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app. This week, co-hosts Brett Fera and Kim Cota-Robles will be joined by forward Colin Theisen and TucsonRoadrunners.com’s Jimmy Peebles to preview Wednesday’s matchup against the Henderson Silver Knights. In addition, a new episode of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast released on Sunday, as “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny and TucsonRoadrunners.com’s Jimmy Peebles heard from Arizona State University products Josh Doan and Colin Theisen, before taking a deep dive into the #CarconeMVP Campaign. The podcast can be found on the iHeartRadio App or at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Podcast.