The Tucson Roadrunners managed to salvage a point in their playoff positioning series with the Henderson Silver Knights in a 13-goal overtime game on Wednesday.
The Silver Knights beat Tucson 7-6 to move ahead of the Roadrunners in the standings.
Henderson swapped goalies 6:21 into the game, and Tucson did for the third period. Tucson goalie Matthew Villalta made 16 saves and gave up six goals in 40 minutes, and Jaxson Stauber made seven saves and gave up one goal in the third and overtime.
Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin said coaching a team in a game like that “really forces you to be patient and not run with your emotions.”
“You can’t let those emotions kind of get the best of you, and you gotta be able to make sure you hold the guys accountable for what's happening, and you also have to keep your mind on the end prize, right?” Potvin said. “You want to win games, you want to do what you can to encourage the guys and sometimes you have to hold them accountable and sometimes you have to encourage them with positivity, I think in this type of scenario.
People are also reading…
Roadrunners' goal Jaxson Stauber made seven saves and gave up one goal in the third and overtime during Tucson's game against Henderson.
“The way the game went and we had a chance at the end, we're trying to do what we can to fire on all cylinders be positive.”
The Roadrunners (25-23-9-0) close out their four-game home stand by hosting the San Jose Barracuda (35-16-2-2) for a two-game series on Saturday and Sunday. The Barracuda are the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks.
After losing 5-0 to Henderson on Tuesday, Tucson gave up a goal 3:15 into the game, but then scored four goals in about a two-minute span in the first period on Wednesday.
“It was nice that the floodgates kind of opened up there for us; we were not being rewarded for the hard work we were putting in with the previous two games,” Potvin said. “I thought we'd put ourselves in some really good positions. We were alone with the goaltender, I just thought we were a little bit more aggressive at the net front, and I think there was a little bit more behind our shots.
“I think the guys did a really good job of putting an emphasis on getting to the net, trying to create second opportunities, talked about that in the room and trying to do what we could to create a little chaos in front of it.”
Injury report
As the season winds down, the Roadrunners are losing some guys to injuries — returning them others.
Defenseman Artem Duda appears to be out for the season with a lower-body injury.
“At this point it doesn't look promising that he'll be able to play games,” Potvin said. “He's one of those guys that takes his recovery seriously.”
On Wednesday, however, forward Julian Lutz returned to the lineup, getting an assist and a goal in his first game action since Feb. 22.
“I was so excited to get back, it’s always tough when you’re injured and you see the guys battle,” Lutz said. “You just want to be part of that and I was just excited to go and I think you could see it in the first period, tried to go as hard as possible.”
Potvin said they anticipate forwards Ben McCartney and Sammy Walker to return for the trip to play the Manitoba Moose on Mar. 21. McCartney leads Tucson in scoring with 47 points in 49 games.
On Wednesday, forward Julian Lutz, seen here greeting his team, returned to the lineup, getting an assist and a goal in his first game action since Feb. 22.
“It’s good to get your lineup back, you need that internal competition, I think it always makes it good for the guys and you're playing with a little bit more of an edge,” Potvin said. “But I can’t say that our guys haven't been giving it all and I think there's a real strong belief of who we're playing with right now to win games and like I said, I think most of the time and most of this game in (Tuesday’s) game, I felt like we were in control.”
Playoff picture
After heading into the Silver Knights series tied with them, Tucson slipped to three points out of the playoffs.
Going into Tuesday’s game, Henderson and Tucson were tied for seventh, which is the final playoff spot, with 58 points. With the four points they got at the TCC, the Silver Knights moved into a tie for sixth with the San Diego Gulls, and Tucson dropped to eighth.
While Tucson plays a pair against third-place San Jose, San Diego plays four in a row against the second-place Colorado Eagles. The Gulls are three points ahead of the Roadrunners with a game in hand.
“It’s pretty much every game’s a playoff game already, so just give it everything we have,” Lutz said. “We have a good group of guys, everyone wants to make the playoffs, everyone wants to play, we try our best to make them.”
Tucson’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 36 points.
“I think we do look at the standings, you have to be aware, right? You have to know what's happening and anticipate what's next,” Potvin said. “But I think the best thing for us is, this week, I think we really understood who we are and what we need to do to be able to have success, we are what we are.
“We need to get the puck 200 feet, we need to be able to just be relentless with that type of approach where we're gaining zones and adding every shift and trying to tip the scales, that's the key to our success and we have to have that conviction about it, just buy into to the fact that we have to play a simple game, over time, we're gonna be able to break teams.”
First responders and St. Patrick’s Day
On Saturday, the Roadrunners will host their annual First Responders’ Night.
They will wear special jerseys that they will auction off post-game. A ticket to the AHL game grants admission to the Tucson Police Department and Tucson Fire Department game at 4:15 p.m.
On Sunday, the Roadrunners will have a “St. Patty’s Celebration.” Before the game, they will host a patio party at 1:30 p.m. featuring a live concert by ZNORA, food, beverages, including green beer and games with Rowdy and Dusty.
Schaffer to the Mammoth
On Thursday, former “Voice of the Roadrunners” Jonathon Schaffer announced on X (Twitter) that he is joining the Utah Mammoth as Associate Producer for the Mammoth Daily Podcast.
Schaffer served as the Roadrunners’ pregame host, radio announcer, post-game host, podcast host, and produced videos and interviews last season. He joined Tucson in 2023-24 and last year replaced Adrian Denny, who joined Utah’s NHL Broadcast Team after working for the Roadrunners from 2018-24.
