Three things to know
Ticking clock
On Sunday against Colorado, Tucson again found the back of the net late in each of the first two periods. Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi opened the scoring with less than two minutes remaining in the first, while Kevin Rooney scored Tucson’s second goal with 52 seconds left in the middle frame. During the preseason, rookie defenseman Cal Thomas scored the game-winning goal against Texas with 56 seconds remaining.
Return of Ricketts
The last time the Roadrunners and Barracuda met, forward Jack Ricketts scored his fourth goal of the season and added two assists across the two-game series. Ricketts finished the 2025-26 season with five goals and 10 points.
New kid on the block
On Sunday, rookie Vadim Moroz tied the game with Tucson’s third goal of the night, marking his first professional goal in North America. Moroz previously played in the Kontinental Hockey League with Dinamo Minsk, where he was named a 2026 KHL All-Star. He also finished the 2024-25 season first among Dinamo skaters in goals and second in game-winning goals.
Numbers to know
3 – During Sunday’s game against Colorado, three rookies recorded their first AHL career points. Forward Yegor Borikov and defenseman Gregor Biber both assisted on Kevin Rooney’s goal with 52 seconds remaining in the second period. Moroz then scored his first AHL goal just shy of three minutes into the third period.
79 – Defenseman Montana Onyebuchi scored Tucson’s first goal of the season after spending time in the box for dropping the gloves with Colorado’s Yanick Turcotte. Although he fell an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick, Onyebuchi recorded his lone Gordie Howe hat trick in the AHL while playing for San Jose on Nov. 25, 2022, against the Henderson Silver Knights. He shared the ice with his former Roadrunners teammate, who is now his assistant coach, Andrew Agozzino.