Tucson, AZ – The Tucson Roadrunners (8-8-0-0) allowed eight unanswered goals and fell 8-2 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds (10-5-0-1) on Tuesday at Tucson Arena. Forwards Cameron Hebig and Andrew Agozzino gave the Roadrunners an early 2-0 lead, but Coachella responded with three goals in the first, two in the second and three in the third
Montana Onyebuchi (Tucson) drops gloves with Ian McKinnon (Coachella Valley) – Photo by Max Williamson
The loss dropped Tucson back to .500 and snapped the team’s three-game win streak. The Roadrunners remain in eighth place in the Pacific with 16 points, while the Firebirds leapfrogged the San Jose Barracuda and moved into second place with 21 points after the victory.
YA GOTTA SEE IT
Hebig scored for the second game in a row in the first period to notch his first point and goal streak of the season. The last time he scored in consecutive games was Apr. 8 and Apr. 14, 2023, against the Texas Stars and Barracuda. Forward Kailer Yamamoto had an assist on the goal and extended his five-game point streak. He owns the team’s longest active point streak and is one away from matching forward Egor Sokolov and Agozzino, who share the team’s longest points streak of the season (six games). Rookie defenseman Artem Duda tallied his fourth point in five games (all assists) on Hebig’s goal. It’s the most points Duda has recorded in any five-game span this season.
Vilalta stops shot on goal – Photo by Max Williamson
DON’T OVERLOOK IT
Agozzino’s first-period power-play goal put the Roadrunners ahead 2-0 and pushed the team’s streak of scoring on the man-advantage to a season-high four games. Russo notched his seventh power-play assist of the season on Agozzino’s goal to pull ahead of Sokolov for the team’s power-play points lead (0-7-7). Sokolov has six points on the man advantage from three goals and three assists. Doan also notched an assist on the play to extend his points streak to three games. He now has five points in his last three games.
Tucson’s Andrew Agozzino brings puck into zone – Photo by Max Williamson
THEY SAID IT
“I don’t think we were quite prepared to play our game for an extended period. We were passive aggressively and emotionally. And honestly there wasn’t a lot of detail in our game.”
Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin on Tuesday’s game against Coachella.
THE RUNDOWN
First Period
The first period was a tale of two halves. The Roadrunners took a two-goal lead in the opening 10 minutes, but Coachella scored three unanswered goals in the back half to take a 3-2 lead at the break. Hebig opened the scoring on Tucson’s second shot 2:38 into the game to put the Roadrunners ahead 1-0. Hebig received a neutral-zone pass from Yamamoto, glided into the Coachella zone, and beat Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka glove-side from above the faceoff circle. Less than seven minutes later, Tucson had its first opportunity on the power play from Coachella Valley forward Jani Nyman’s tripping penalty. Halfway through the man advantage, Agozzino found the back of the net near the slot to make it 2-0 with 9:46 remaining. The Firebirds immediately responded and scored two goals in a 1:06 span to tie the game with seven and a half minutes to go. Firebirds forward Logan Morrison cut the deficit in half and forward Max McCormick found the equalizer. Coachella Valley had all of the momentum and eventually the lead, when defenseman Nikolas Brouillard scored the team’s third goal in a four-minute span to make it 3-2 with 4:30 remaining. The Roadrunners closed the period strong after Firebirds defenseman Gustav Olofsson’s tripping penalty put Tucson back on the power play with three minutes left. The first and second power-play units generated a couple of quality chances but Stezka kept the puck out of his net to keep Coachella’s lead intact. Tucson tallied the final five shots in the period and had a 15-13 shot advantage after the first.
Tucson netminder Mathew Villalta stops breakaway attempt – Photo by Max Williamson
Second Period
The Firebirds outshot the Roadrunners 12-3 and added two more goals in the middle frame to take a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes. Tucson killed an early Firebirds power play, but Coachella Valley continued to put on the pressure and outshot the Roadrunners 6-2 through the opening seven minutes. The sixth shot proved costly, when forward Jani Nyman put home a rebound past Tucson goaltender Matthew Villalta to make it a 4-2 game. After giving itself some extra breathing room, the Firebirds continued to control possession and outshot the Roadrunners 10-3 through the first half of the period. Tucson had its best scoring chance of the period on a tic-tac-toe play from Hebig, Yamamoto and captain Austin Poganski. Hebig carried the puck into the zone, dished the puck down low to Yamamoto, who passed it across the crease farside to Poganski for a one-timed opportunity that went just wide. The Roadrunners couldn’t convert and Coachella Valley quickly broke out on a rush the other way. In the Tucson zone, a blocked shot landed at the foot of Firebirds forward Mitchell Stephens’ stick above the crease and he chipped it over the line to extend Coachella Valley’s lead to 5-2 with seven minutes remaining. Down three goals, the Roadrunners slowly built some momentum after stacking a series of strong shifts to finish the period, including a wraparound attempt from forward Curtis Douglas.
Skirmish along far boards – Photo by Max Williamson
Third Period
Coachella Valley pushed its lead to four goals when its leading scorer Ryan Winterton found the back of the net just over a minute into the third. Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin pulled Villalta after the Firebirds’ sixth goal and goaltender Dylan Wells made his season debut. He made five saves over the final 18:41 of the game and allowed two goals. Coachella Valley forward Jagger Firkus scored with 7:49 remaining to make it 7-2 and Winterton tallied his second of the night with 12 seconds remaining. Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi was Tucson’s most impactful player in the third period with his physicality and offense. He nearly scored in the final couple of minutes when his slapshot rang off the right post. Then in the closing seconds, he dropped the gloves with Firebirds forward Ian McKinnon.
Roadrunners RW Egor Sokolov carries puck into zone – Photo by Max Williamson
Roadrunner’s defenseman Peter DiLiberatore gathers puck in his offensive zone – Photo by Max Williamson
Roadrunners goalie Mathew Vilalta gloves a loose puck – Photo by Max Williamson
Roadrunners goalie Dylan Wells – Photo by Max Williamson
Roadrunners forward Kailer Yamamoto attempts to clear puck from net front – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds goalie Ales Stezka stacks the pads – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds forward Ryan Winterton and Tucson forward Sam Lipkin legs get tied up – Photo by Max Williamson
Montana Onyebuchi (Tucson) drops gloves with Ian McKinnon (Coachella Valley) after late CV goal – Photo by Max Williamson
Eduard Sale of Coachella Valley skates into offensive zone – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds defenseman Nikolas Brouillard skates with puck – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds forward Jagger Firkus shot on goal – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds forward John Hayden skates in on breakaway – Photo by Max Williamson
Firebirds forward Lleyton Roed carries puck into offensive zone – Photo by Max Williamson
Coachella Valley forward Mitchell Stephens attempts to gather puck after falling to ice – Photo by Max Williamson
Coachella Valley forward Jagger Firkus fires shot – Photo by Max Williamson
Collision along boards – Photo by Max Williamson
Coachella Valley netminder Ales Stezka stretches out to make save – Photo by Max Williamson
Coachella Valley netminder Ales Stezka looks for puck through net front traffic – Photo by Max Williamson
Austin Pognaski of Tucson battles for a loose puck with Coachella Valley’s Max Lajoie – Photo by Max Williamson
