Tucson Roadrunners' goalies Villalta, Wells combine for team's all-time shutout mark

Across a couple countries and over a week, Tucson’s netminders set a Roadrunner record for not allowing a goal. The total count: one hour, 49 minutes and six seconds.

The previous record was 1:34:05, set in 2018.

Villalta got a shutout in Tucson’s 4-0 win at Abbotsford on Friday, and Wells got a shutout in the Roadrunners’ 4-0 win at Chicago on Jan. 6. The streak started in their 4-1 loss to the Wolves on Jan. 5 and lasted until the second period Saturday night.

“Both of them have been awesome,” Tucson center Ryan McGregor told Roadrunners’ communications staff after the 5-2 loss at Abbotsford on Saturday. “Obviously, Matty’s an all-star, Matty’s been unbelievable all year and Wellsy’s been great ever since he’s been here.”

The Roadrunners (21-11-1-1) host the Iowa Wild (13-18-1-2) on Monday at 6 p.m.

Home sweet home

Tucson finished its five-game San Jose to Chicago to Abbotsford, British Columbia, road trip with a record of 2-3-0-0.

“We’ve been on the road for a while now and now,” Tucson right wing Josh Doan said. “It’s a little tiring at times. ... We get back at Tucson on Monday so we gotta get our heads right and focus on the next one.”

The Roadrunners now have six home games in a row, five of which are on the weekend or a holiday.

In addition to the five-game road trip, Tucson just finished a stretch where 10 of their last 14, 15 of their last 21 and 18 of their last 26 were away games. The Roadrunners went 9-5-0-0 in their last 14 games, 14-6-1-0 in their last 21 games and 16-9-1-0 in their last 26.

After their current homestand, Tucson goes on the five-game Gem Show road trip.

The Roadrunners are 13-6-1-0 on the road, earning 27 points, tied for third best in the league with Coachella Valley and one point behind Cleveland and Providence, who both have 28.

Holiday freebie

Monday night’s game is Kids Free Night. Fans under 12 are admitted free with a paying adult at the Tucson Arena Box office.

Gone Wild

In addition to Tucson hosting the Iowa Wild this week, the Arizona Coyotes beat the Minnesota Wild 6-0 on Saturday.

On Thursday the Coyotes play at the Vancouver Canucks a few days after the Roadrunners went to southern British Columbia to play Abbotsford.

Räty bragging rights

Though Tucson settled for the split in Abbotsford, Roadrunner right wing Aku Räty scored Tucson’s first goal Saturday. He had two points in the series and three (two goals) in the season series with the Canucks despite missing one of the four games.

His brother Aatu Räty, a center for the Canucks, had one point against the Roadrunners, an assist in Tucson in December.

Aku has 16 points in his last 19 games.

Even Steven

With another split with Abbotsford, Tucson finished the regular season series with the Canucks 2-2-0-0, again.

The Roadrunners’ all-time record against the Canucks fell to 6-6-0-0 though the Roadrunners picked up their first-ever win in Abbotsford on Friday. That came after the Canucks notched their first-ever win in Tucson in December.

Baby, it’s cold outside

On Saturday, the Charlotte Checkers beat the Rochester Americans 5-2 in the AHL’s latest outdoor game.

The Checkers hosted the game at Truist Field in Charlotte, where the Charlotte Knights (AAA baseball) play. The game was attended by a standing-room-only crowd of 11,031.

The last AHL outdoor game was in March when the Cleveland Monsters hosted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

The last AHL outdoor game in the Pacific Division was in January 2017, when the Bakersfield Condors hosted the Ontario Reign.

There have been 12 outdoor AHL games, with the trend beginning in 2010. Tucson hasn’t played in one yet.