The Tucson Roadrunners ended preseason play the hard way, then the satisfying way.
Down 2-1 after Texas cashed in twice on the power play, Tucson leaned on a third-period push and a late blast from rookie defenseman Cal Thomas to beat the Stars 3-2 on Sunday at Tucson Arena. Thomas scored with 56 seconds left, capping a comeback that also featured Caleb Desnoyers’ tying goal in his Tucson debut and Julian Lutz’s first-period opener.
The win belonged to a group that kept finding answers. Tucson got assists from Tomas Lavoie, Gabe Smith and Yegor Borikov, while Joshua Roy added his second assist in as many nights and finished preseason as the club’s points leader with a pair of helpers. Austin Poganski and Cameron Hebig also set up goals.
The Roadrunners started with pace and pressure. Zac Jones nearly put them in front early when his wrist shot from the right side of the blue line clipped the inside of the left post and slid across the goal line before Brandon Halverson covered it.
Tucson then drew the game’s first penalty, and after the power play expired, Borikov found Lutz open in the left circle. Lutz made it count at 8:51, beating Halverson five-hole on a one-timer for a 1-0 lead.
Tomas Lavoie got the secondary assist.
The period took a turn later when rookie goaltender Michael Hrabal exited after a collision in the crease with a Stars forechecker. Jaxson Stauber came on and stopped all four shots he faced in the opening frame, helping Tucson carry the 1-0 lead into intermission. The Roadrunners outshot Texas 14-9 and both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Texas flipped the game quickly in the second period. After Zac Jones was whistled for hooking in the opening minute, the Stars scored on the man advantage twice in 1:48.
Emil Hemming tied it at 1-1 at 1:55 with a wrister from the left dot through traffic, and Matthew Seminoff followed at 3:43 with a one-timer from the right circle to put Texas ahead 2-1. The Stars took that lead to the break and edged Tucson 6-5 in shots in the period.
Tucson had to chase the game again in the third, but the pressure kept building. Joshua Roy broke in alone on a breakaway near the five-minute mark, only to be denied by Halverson’s glove.
Moments later, Christian Fitzgerald was called for high-sticking, and the Roadrunners made the next power play pay. At 5:22, Desnoyers buried a one-timer from the right circle after a slick feed from Poganski to tie it 2-2.
Roy collected an assist on the goal.
The Roadrunners had one more chance late when Jack Becker was called for cross-checking with less than five minutes left. Roy got Tucson’s only shot on goal during the power play, but Texas killed it off. That only set up the finish.
Thomas stepped into a hard shot from the left side of the point, sent it through traffic and into the net with 56 seconds left, and Tucson had its preseason finale. Stauber finished with 10 saves on 12 shots for the win after replacing Hrabal, who stopped all five shots he faced before leaving with the injury.
In Other News...
Yegor Borikov Is Giving Arizona Fans Real Reason To Dream
Yegor Borikov has already given Arizona something to watch during preseason and rookie showcase events, and that alone makes him a name worth filing away. The former fourth-round pick arrived with the kind of offensive upside that can turn an afterthought into a real part of the conversation, especially for a team always looking for young skill to develop into something more.
Borikov is coming off a productive season in the KHL, and the production has helped feed the optimism around his future. There is still the usual transition to navigate if he settles into the AHL first, and no one is rushing to put a timetable on his NHL arrival, but he has done enough so far to keep Coyotes fans imagining what comes next. [Read more 🡒]