The Tucson Roadrunners scored a quick overtime goal on Saturday night to stretch their win streak to six games.
Tucson (9-2-2-0) knocked off the Coachella Valley Firebirds (5-5-3-1) by a score of 3-2 to earn their second straight series sweep.
“This one I give credit to the guys in the room, they have high expectations of themselves, they have high expectations of the team,” said Tucson head coach Steve Potvin. “I don’t think they met the expectations with hard work (Saturday) at the start of the game and when you start like that, you can get behind and we did and what I liked about it is they found mental resilience to really find a way to elevate their game.
“And we were starting to take it over at the end again, credit to the guys in the room, the leadership,” he added. “We didn’t go in the third period, they just took it upon themselves and made it work, made it made found a way to do it; it’s really encouraging to see when your team can step up like that.”
Defenseman Zac Jones scored the game winner 23 seconds into overtime, assisted by forwards Austin Poganski and Daniil But. Jones is in his first season with the Roadrunners after playing for the Rochester Americans and from 2021 to 2025 he split time with the New York Rangers and their AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
“He’s just always a high spirited person, he just shows up the same way every day and you know exactly what to expect, it’s nice to have predictability and I think when players see certain players behave certain ways and they get results,” Potvin said. “There’s a reason for it, they show up daily and they’re competitive, but this guy keeps his thoughts light and he’s able to be very consistent.
“So we’re lucky to have them and we’re expecting big things from him.”
The win extended Tucson’s winning streak to six games and their points streak to 11. The win streak is the longest active run in the AHL and the points streak is the league’s longest.
As of Sunday afternoon, Tucson leads the Pacific Division with 20 points, which is tied for the third best in the league with the Manitoba Moose. The Grand Rapids Griffins has the most with 22 and second is the Laval Rocket with 21.
Saturday was But’s third game for the Roadrunners this season. The Russian has played 13 games for the Utah Mammoth this year but was sent back to Tucson on Halloween.
At 13:10 in the second period, Tucson forward Cameron Hebig scored a power play goal, assisted by Poganski and Jones. Hebig is the reigning Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week.
The goal was Hebig’s 200th point as a Roadrunner.
Hebig leads the team in goals this season, which is tied for second most in the AHL as of Sunday afternoon and he is two goals shy of 100 goals as a Roadrunner.
Potvin said the difference between this year and last season (where they missed the playoffs by a tiebreaker) is the depth and that their young players are pushing for NHL spots already. He compared Tucson’s older, leaders like Hebig to third and fourth line players, used to fighting for roster spots against the highly touted prospects.
“So I kind of relate a little bit to when you watch the first round of the playoffs, the third and fourth lines always really make a significant impact because they’ve done it all season, they’ve worked hard all season long and the first the first line and second lines, they don’t have the same, grind and work ethic that the third and fourth lines often do and so teams really shut them down and it’s hard for those star players to to play,” Potvin said. “Of course, they have the work ethic, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just a little different and so when I look at our leadership group and the guys that have been around here, they’ve been working for so long, for so hard, that now it just seems like they’ve got a little support and they’re they’re able to gain momentum and gain energy and I think they’re they’re building some enthusiasm and they’re having some fun.”
About a minute after Hebig’s goal, CV defenseman Ty Nelson scored to tie it up.
Just before the end of the second, Tucson forward Yegor Borikov scored, with assists from forwards Vadim Moroz and Kevin Rooney.
Moroz, who is from Minsk, Belarus, has been in the AHL for 13 games after the Coyotes drafted him in the third round in 2023. He spent the last four seasons playing for Minsk Dynamo in the KHL, the Russian league.
“It’s a good league, brilliant, struggle to compete,” Moroz said about the AHL. “I think it’s a big difference between Russia and this league, but I think we’re good, trying to compete here.”
Coachella Valley tied it up with 8:44 left with a goal from Mitchell Stephens that survived a replay review. The Roadrunners had a couple goals disallowed after reviews.
Roadrunners goalie Michael Hrabal (5-1-1) had 24 saves and as of Sunday afternoon was tied for the fourth-most wins in the AHL.
On Friday Tucson opened the home stand and the series with a 3-1 win over the Firebirds. Forward Tij Iginla, left wing Joshua Roy and forward Brandon Tanev scored the Roadrunners’ goals as Tucson goalie Jaxson Stauber made 22 saves to improve his record to 4-1-1.
Potvin said they have a nice mix of veterans and prospects. Like Stauber has 114 AHL games played and Hrabal has played 12.
“You have to have young players that are able to also push the pace and influence themselves to be able to be leaders also because they create a ripple effect that spreads through the room, no matter if they’re able to influence themselves the best way or the right way, it’s just going to be a ripple effect,” Potvin said. “So we’ve come to the conclusion that you cannot do it without leadership and you cannot do it without top elite prospects and this is just a good blend of players right now.”
Up next for the Roadrunners is the Texas Stars (the Dallas Stars’ AHL affiliate) at home on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Saturday is Military Appreciation Night and Sunday is Hockey Fights Cancer.
“The message this season has been about building an instinct for winning, so that’s what we plan on doing, we’ve got to be able to absorb, reflect and refine on the weekend and understand exactly what we’re lacking, where we need to improve and attack it and that’s going to take a certain mindset,” Potvin said.
“And I think they’re starting to really understand that, we mean it, that we’re gonna try to do what we can to build an instinct for winning and whatever we need to do to help and to make sure that the guys have certain clarity on what it is, then we’re gonna keep after it.”
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