LOVELAND, CO. – Tucson forward Cameron Hebig netted a pair of goals, while goaltender Jaxson Stauber turned aside 35 of the 37 shots he faced, as the Roadrunners defeated the Colorado Eagles 5-2 on Friday. Eagles forwards Chase Bradley and Ivan Ivan each lit the lamp in the losing effort. Tucson dominated the specialty teams battle, going 1-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Trent Miner suffered the loss in net, allowing four goals on 24 shots.
A breakaway for Tucson defenseman Scott Perunovich would lead to the game’s first goal, as Perunovich beat Miner with a wrister, putting the Roadrunners up 1-0 at the 11:14 mark of the first period.
Colorado would answer back just 1:27 later when Ivan lit the lamp with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right-wing circle, evening the game at 1-1.
Tucson would jump back on top when forward Michael Kunc buried a shot from between the circles, giving the Roadrunners a 2-1 edge with 2:27 left to play in the opening frame.
A Tucson rush to the net would set up Hebig to stuff home a rebound from the top of the crease, extending the Roadrunners lead to 3-1 at the 7:45 mark of the second period.
Again, the Eagles would generate a response, as Bradley followed up his initial shot by flicking a rebound past Stauber, trimming the deficit to 3-2 with 9:07 remaining in the middle frame.
Still leading 3-2 as the puck dropped on the third period, Tucson would take advantage on a power play, as defenseman Max Szuber fired a shot from the top of the left-wing circle that would bounce its way across the goal line, pushing the Roadrunners advantage to 4-2 at the 7:04 mark.
As time wound down, Colorado would pull Miner in favor of the extra attacker, but it would be Hebig who would capitalize with an empty-netter, rounding out the 5-2 score with 2:06 left to play.
