Palm Desert, CA – The Tucson Roadrunners (22-17-8-0) bounced back from Friday’s series-opening loss and capped their five-game road trip with a 3-2 victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds (26-16-5-0) on Sunday at Acrisure Arena. Tucson never trailed, scoring two second-period goals to build a 3-1 lead and letting goaltender Jaxson Stauber do the rest. Stauber made a season-high 39 saves to earn his eighth win of the season.
Kevin Rooney led the Roadrunners with two points, recording a goal and an assist. His goal midway through the second period proved to be the game-winner. Cameron Hebig scored the go-ahead goal early in the second to put Tucson ahead 2-1, while Jalen Luypen opened the scoring in the first period with his first goal as a Roadrunner.
Tucson forwards Ty Tullio, Andrew Agozzino and Ben McCartney, along with defensemen Lleyton Moore and Max Szuber, each recorded one assist.
With Sunday’s win, Tucson finished the road trip 3-2-0-0 and split both the weekend and the regular-season series with Coachella Valley. Each team won two of the four contests, including one at home and one on the road.
HIGHLIGHTS
TEAM NOTES
- With two second-period goals on Saturday, the Roadrunners have scored multiple goals in the middle frame in three of its last four games.
- The Roadrunners have outscored opponents 19-7 in the second period in the last 11 games dating back to Jan. 21 vs. San Diego.
- Tucson has scored in the second period in eight of the last nine games, with a total of 17 goals.
- Tucson’s 56 second-period goals this season is the most in the Pacific Division and its +14 goal differential in the second period is the second-highest in the Pacific Division behind Ontario (+16).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Jalen Luypen opened the scoring Sunday, recording his first goal and second point as a Roadrunner in his sixth game with Tucson. Both of Luypen’s points with Tucson this season have come on the road (previous: assist on Jan. 28 at SD).
- Kevin Rooney recorded his third multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist. Sunday’s goal also marked his second game-winning tally of the season (previous: Jan. 10 vs IA).
- Rooney has five points (2g, 3a) in his last three games dating back to Feb. 7 at CGY. He finished the road trip with three goals and six points in five games, tied with Cameron Hebig for the team lead in points and Ben McCartney and Jack Ricketts for the team lead in goals during the trip.
- With Sunday’s assist, Ty Tullio has four points (1g, 3a) in his last four games, dating back to Jan. 28 at SD and five points (2g, 3a) in his last six games, dating back to Jan. 24 at HSK.
- With Sunday’s goal, Cameron Hebig finished the road trip with points in four of five games, posting six points (1g, 5a) in that span, tied for the most on the team.
- Andrew Agozzino tallied an assist for the second-straight game and has three points (1g, 2a) over his last four games dating back to 1/31 vs. COL.
- Lleyton Moore recorded his sixth assist of the season, tying his career high for assists in a single season set in 2024–25. He is now one goal and one point shy of matching his career highs in goals (2) and points (8), also set in 2024–25.
- Ben McCartney recorded his team-high 46th point of the season, tied for sixth in the AHL, with his second assist in the last three games. He also has three goals and five points in his last four games.
- Max Szuber recorded his 14th assist of the season, marking his fourth in as many games. He led Roadrunners defensemen on the road trip in points with four assists.
THE RUNDOWN
FIRST PERIOD
Roadrunners goaltender Jaxson Stauber made a couple of big saves early, including a pair of point-blank stops on Coachella Valley’s Jagger Firkus in the opening minute to keep the game scoreless.
Coachella Valley controlled much of the first half of the period and outshot Tucson 9–3 through the opening 11 minutes.
Despite the early pressure, the Roadrunners capitalized on their first quality chance of the night and opened the scoring at 11:39. Ty Tullio fired a shot from the right circle that was stopped by Victor Östman, but Jalen Luypen jumped on the rebound and buried it into the open left side of the net to give Tucson a 1–0 lead.
The lead was short-lived, as Jani Nyman scored on a two-on-one rush just over a minute later to tie the game 1–1 at 12:41.
Tucson nearly regained the lead late in the frame when Cameron Hebig ripped a wrist shot from the high slot that deflected and changed direction, but Östman tracked it the whole way and turned it aside to keep the game tied heading into the first intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
For the second straight period, the Roadrunners struck first as Hebig regained Tucson’s lead 4:14 into the middle frame. Hebig took an outlet pass from Andrew Agozzino in the neutral zone, drove to the net and deked to his backhand before snapping the puck past Östman’s outstretched pad to make it 2–1.
Just over a minute later, Tucson earned the game’s first power play when Firkus was whistled for hooking, but the Roadrunners were unable to capitalize and extend the lead.
However, Tucson continued to make the most of its five-on-five opportunities and Kevin Rooney scored off the rush at 9:26 to make it 3–1. Ben McCartney fed Rooney with a backhand pass, and Rooney walked in before firing a wrist shot from the left circle past Östman.
The Roadrunners nearly broke the game open with a pair of chances in a one-minute span. Dmitri Simashev carried the puck in off the rush and rang a wrist shot off the crossbar with 8:40 remaining. A minute later, Miko Matikka slipped behind the defense for a breakaway, but his attempt also clanged off the crossbar.
Coachella Valley countered with a pair of grade-A chances during the same stretch, but Stauber stood tall both times. After Matikka’s breakaway hit the pipe, the Firebirds raced back on a three-on-one, but Stauber denied Eduard Šalé on a point-blank attempt. Just 30 seconds later, Stauber turned aside Carson Rehkopf’s one-timer on a two-on-one.
The Firebirds earned their first power play with seven minutes remaining when Montana Onyebuchi was called for tripping, but Tucson’s penalty kill did not allow a shot on goal. The Roadrunners nearly extended their lead shorthanded, as Rooney had a step on the defense before being brought down as he got a shot off, which Östman secured. Moments after the penalty expired, Onyebuchi jumped out of the box, slipped behind the defense for a breakaway, and fired a wrist shot that was turned aside by Östman with under five minutes to play.
Stauber made the save of the night in the final minute to preserve Tucson’s two-goal lead heading into the second intermission. After denying Firkus’ shot from the slot, Tyson Jugnauth pounced on the rebound and fired toward an open net, but Stauber sprawled across the crease and somehow got enough of it to make the stop with 30 seconds remaining.
THIRD PERIOD
Down by two, the Firebirds pressured Tucson early and outshot the Roadrunners 5–2 through the first six minutes. Coachella Valley broke through just under the six-minute mark when David Goyette beat Stauber with a wraparound to cut the deficit to 3–2.
Midway through the period, Stauber made a pair of acrobatic saves to keep the Firebirds off the board. He dove to deny Gustav Olofsson’s rebound attempt from just above the crease with his glove, then seconds later stopped Ty Nelson’s shot from near the goal line. The puck deflected off Stauber’s midsection and trickled toward the goal line, but he smothered it before it could cross.
Coachella Valley’s pressure eased with 6:36 remaining when Zach Uens was whistled for hooking, giving Tucson its second power play of the night. Rooney nearly extended the Roadrunners’ lead, but his wrist shot from just outside the paint was stopped by Östman, and the Firebirds killed the penalty to keep their comeback hopes alive with under five minutes to play.
Stauber continued to stand tall down the stretch, including consecutive stops on Firkus’ wrist shot from the right circle and the ensuing rebound with 3:33 remaining.
The Firebirds pulled Östman for the extra attacker with over two-and-a-half minutes left, but Tucson allowed just one shot on goal the rest of the way and blocked several shot attempts late to hold on for a 3–2 victory.
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners will return home to host the Ontario Reign in a two-game set on Saturday and Sunday.
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