The Tucson Roadrunners are back home with some momentum and a familiar Pacific Division problem waiting at the door.
After taking both games from San Jose last weekend, Tucson comes into its first home series of the season at 2-2-0-0 and ready for a two-game set against the San Diego Gulls at Tucson Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
AZT on Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17.
The Roadrunners did their damage on the road, beating the Barracuda 7-4 on Friday and following with a 4-1 win on Saturday. Across the two games, Tucson piled up 11 goals while allowing five, a strong response as the club looks to keep building early-season traction in front of its home crowd.
San Diego arrives at 2-2-1-0 after a 3-2 home loss to Ontario and has dropped three of its last four. But recent form only tells part of the story here.
The Gulls have been a thorn in Tucson’s side at Tucson Arena, winning all four meetings there last season, with two of those victories coming in overtime. Tucson finished 3-3-2-0 overall against San Diego in 2025-26, but the home ice edge belonged to the Gulls.
That makes this weekend more than just a routine early-season series. It’s the first chapter of a bigger stretch between the two teams, who will meet eight times during the 2026-27 regular season. Tucson is also trying to end a home losing streak against San Diego and earn its first home win over the Gulls since Dec. 18, 2024, when then-Roadrunners assistant captain Andrew Agozzino posted a goal and two assists.
There’s also roster movement on the other bench. San Diego will be without rookie Roger McQueen, 20, after Anaheim recalled him Tuesday.
The 10th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft made his NHL debut that night against Calgary after leading the Gulls with three goals. Anaheim sent defenseman Travis Mitchell down in a corresponding move, and he made his San Diego debut Wednesday against Ontario.
Mitchell has five NHL games with Anaheim this season, his first in the organization after four professional years in the New York Islanders system, mostly with Bridgeport.
Tucson’s young core has been doing plenty of the heavy lifting lately, and that group is starting to look dangerous. Rookie Vadim Moroz leads the team with three goals and has scored in three straight games, going back to Oct. 4 against Colorado.
He also put together his first multi-point AHL game on Saturday with a goal and an assist. Rookie Caleb Desnoyers matched that with his own first multi-point effort, also finishing with a goal and an assist while scoring in back-to-back games.
Rookie Yegor Borikov has added a point in three straight, including his first career AHL goal and his first multi-point game on Saturday against San Jose. Together, the three rookies have combined for nine points over Tucson’s last two games.
Special teams have been part of the surge as well. The Roadrunners’ power play has clicked at 3-for-7 over the last two games, a 42.9% rate that has helped push Tucson to third in the Pacific Division at 21.4% on the season.
The penalty kill has also held up, erasing 12 of 15 chances over the last two games and 9 of San Jose’s 10 power plays on Saturday alone. Tucson is tied for fourth in the Pacific with an 87.5% penalty-kill percentage.
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