Roadrunners Rally Past Barracuda 6-4 as Huntington Posts Gordie Howe-Type Explosion

Scott Perunovich’s breakaway with 2:32 remaining gave the Tucson Roadrunners a 5-4 lead and Cameron Hebig’s earlier strike helped fuel a three-goal third as Tucson rallied for a 6-4 win over the San Jose Barracuda at Tech CU Arena. Kevin Rooney iced the game with an empty-netter at 18:35 to finish the scoring.

San Jose exploded early. Michal Kunc opened the scoring for Tucson when Ty Tullio’s counterattack set up Sam Lipkin to find Kunc for a one-timer past Matt Davis at 5:34 of the first period for Kunc’s fifth of the season. The Barracuda then answered with a multi-goal stretch that built a 3-1 advantage before intermission; San Jose credited Jimmy Huntington with a massive opening stretch. As the Barracuda put it, “Jimmy Huntington recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick in the first period and finished the night with two goals, an assist, and a fight — all within the opening 21:33.”

The middle frame saw momentum swings and physicality. Tucson’s team report says the Roadrunners erased a 3-1 deficit with two goals in a 4:24 span midway through the second, including a Daniil But power-play strike and a Cameron Hebig goal to knot the game at 3-3. Tucson’s recap also notes that Lucas Carlsson scored on a San Jose power play with a one-timer from the slot to give San Jose a 2-1 lead with 6:28 remaining in the period. After those quick goals, Tucson defenseman Kevin Connauton “dropped the gloves with Huntington just over a minute later to give the Roadrunners a shot in the arm,” the Roadrunners’ release said.

Accounts diverge on exact timing for some tying strikes. San Jose’s game notes place But’s tying goal at 7:07 of the third when a right-point shot deflected in to level the game at 4-4, while Sports Radio Service’s third-period recap timestamps Hebig at the 12:47 mark and credits Austin Poganski and Montana Onyebuchi with assists on that play. Regardless of timing discrepancies, Tucson poured in three unanswered goals in the third to complete the comeback.

Scott Perunovich finished with the decisive tally on the breakaway; Jack Ricketts and Dmitri Simashev drew assists on the game-winner. Kevin Rooney’s empty-net goal, shown as his 12th of the season in team scoring blocks, sealed the 6-4 final. Tucson outshot San Jose 37-32 and went 1-for-4 on the power play while San Jose was 2-for-2.

The loss snapped San Jose’s three-game winning streak and ended a six-game point streak for the Barracuda. San Jose’s release also noted it was their first regulation loss when leading after 40 minutes this season and their first defeat while scoring four or more goals, statistical claims the club included in its postgame notes. Tucson improved to a reported 24-20-8-0 (56 points) while San Jose’s mark was listed as 31-16-2-2.

The night featured multiple altercations captured in team notes and media captions: Sports Radio Service ran a photo caption of Anthony Vincent fighting Sam Lipkin in the first period, San Jose’s release credited Huntington with a fight as part of his big opening stretch, and Tucson’s report highlighted the Connauton-Huntington bout. For Tucson, upcoming home and road dates were included in the team release and ticket information remains available through the team line at 866-774-6253. San Jose’s postgame notes directed fans to NBC Sports California and the Sharks Audio Network for coverage.