Roadrunners recap: 9/27/2026
Preseason game No. 2: Tucson Roadrunners (3) vs. Texas Stars (2)
SOG: TUC (29) – TX (17)
PP: TUC (1/5) – TX (2/5)
TEXAS SCORING: Emil Hemming (1), Matthew Seminoff (1)
TUCSON SCORING: Julian Lutz (1), Caleb Desnoyers (1), Cal Thomas (1)
TUCSON, AZ – The Tucson Roadrunners closed out the preseason with a 3-2 comeback victory over the Texas Stars on Sunday at Tucson Arena. Rookie defenseman Cal Thomas scored the game-winning goal with 56 seconds remaining to complete the comeback, while fellow rookie Caleb Desnoyers tied the game just over five minutes into the third period in his Tucson debut. Julian Lutz opened the scoring for the Roadrunners in the first period.
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Texas answered with a pair of power-play goals 1:48 apart from Emil Hemming and Matthew Seminoff to erase an early deficit and take a 2-1 lead.
Rookies Tomas Lavoie, Gabe Smith and Yegor Borikov each recorded an assist for Tucson, while Joshua Roy picked up his second assist in as many nights. Austin Poganski and Cameron Hebig also added helpers.
Roadrunners goaltender Jaxson Stauber stopped 10 of 12 shots to earn the victory after replacing rookie Michael Hrabal in the first period. Hrabal stopped all five shots he faced before exiting the game with an injury.
Highlights
Video highlights of the game are available from the team.
Team notes
- Joshua Roy finished preseason as Tucson’s points leader with a pair of assists.
The rundown
First period
The Roadrunners started faster than they did last night and generated the first Grade-A scoring chance of the game when defenseman Zac Jones wired a wrist shot from the right side of the blue line through heavy traffic. The puck deflected off the inside of the left post and trickled across the goal line before Stars goaltender Brandon Halverson smothered it to keep the game scoreless.
Tucson’s pressure helped draw the game’s first penalty eight seconds later when Texas’ Kyle Burroughs was sent to the box for tripping. After a couple of quality looks on the power play, including Joshua Roy’s one-timer from the slot that sailed inches high, the Roadrunners broke through just seconds after the man advantage expired. Rookie Yegor Borikov found Julian Lutz open in the left circle, and the 22-year-old German beat Halverson five-hole with a one-timer to put the Roadrunners ahead 1-0 at 8:51. Rookie defenseman Tomas Lavoie earned the secondary assist on the play.
Just past the halfway mark, starting goaltender Michael Hrabal went down after a collision in the crease with a Stars forechecker and was replaced by Jaxson Stauber, who stopped all four shots he faced to preserve Tucson’s 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes.
Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play, while the Roadrunners outshot the Stars 14-9.
Second period
The Stars scored a pair of early power-play goals 1:48 apart to take a 2-1 lead. Tucson opened the period on its back foot when Zac Jones took a hooking penalty in the opening minute.
Just over a minute later, Emil Hemming fired a wrister from the left dot through traffic and beat Stauber on Texas’ second power play of the night, tying the game at 1-1 at 1:55. Matthew Seminoff then buried a one-timer from the right circle at 3:43 to give Texas its first lead of the night.
The Stars carried the 2-1 advantage into the second intermission and held a 6-5 edge in shots during the period.
Third period
Trailing by a goal, the Roadrunners controlled play early in the third. Near the five-minute mark, Joshua Roy broke free behind the Stars defense and raced in alone on a breakaway, but Halverson turned him away with the glove to keep Texas’ lead intact.
Tucson kept the pressure on and drew a high-sticking penalty on Christian Fitzgerald moments later, giving the Roadrunners their fourth power play of the night. Caleb Desnoyers capitalized at 5:22, burying a one-timer from the right circle after Austin Poganski set him up with a feed to tie the game at 2-2. Roy also picked up an assist on the play.
With the game still tied late, Texas’ Jack Becker went to the box for cross-checking with less than five minutes remaining. Roy recorded Tucson’s lone shot on goal during the ensuing power play, but the Stars killed off the penalty to keep the game tied.
Texas appeared poised to survive regulation, but rookie Cal Thomas had other plans. Thomas wired a hard shot from the left side of the point through traffic and into the back of the net to give the Roadrunners a late 3-2 lead.
