Roadrunners Round-up: Back at Home

After a successful homestand against the Ontario Reign, the Tucson Roadrunners went on the road to face the San Antonio Rampage.

Over the Weekend

Justin Peters took the net in the first match-up against the Rampage as the team tries to figure out their goal tending situation. While Peters let in four goals the Roadrunners escaped with 2 points capturing a 5-4 OT win. It would be Christian Fischer’s third goal of the night that would end OT in the Roadrunners’ favor. Fischer’s hat trick would also be the first hat trick in franchise history.

Marek Langhamer would get the nod in the second game of the weekend as the Roadrunners looked to sweep the series. It would be Langhamer’s fifth start of the season after spending some time in the ECHL. With a 2-1-1 record, Langhamer would go on to save 30 of 34 shots, before eventually being pulled for Justin Peters in the third period. In the 4-2 loss, there were two bright spots. Garret Ross scored his first goal of the season 18 seconds into the game and with just 18 seconds left Fischer would score his fourth goal of the weekend and his fifth in just three games.

Player of the Week

No surprise that the player of the week goes to Christian Fischer. With offensive forces like Brendan Perlini and Tony DeAngelo up with the Coyotes and other like Tyler Gaudet cooling down Fischer has stepped up. Five goals and six points in three games is no small feat. If the Coyotes continue down their current path it would not be unrealistic to think he might earn himself a call-up to the NHL in the new year.

Movements

• Jamie McBainn missed game one against the Rampage due to the flu, but returned to the lineup for game two.
• Mark Cooper and Dysin Mayo have been assigned to the ECHL Rapid City Rush.
• Stefan Fournier skated in full on Monday for the first time since December 3^rd. He has been out due to a lower-body injury.
• Today the Banner University Medical Center had some tremendous news about Craig Cunningham: he’s on pace to be released from the hospital this week. The full press release is here:

Looking Forward

Now before a small break for the holidays, the Roadrunners are looking to grab four much-needed points against the Bakersfield Condors.

This is the fifth of eight meetings between the Condors and the Roadrunners. Tucson is 2-1-1-0 heading into this matchup. The last time these two teams faced-off was on the California road trip that saw the Roadrunners slide from their spot atop the Pacific Division. The Condors shut out the Roadrunners 5-0 in their first shut out of the season.

This will be the first time that the two teams will play in Tucson however, and should be a heated match-up as the two teams carrying in momentum from their last encounter and look to take home four points the next two nights.