The RoadRunners completed the three game sweep of the Atlanta Capitals this past weekend and as former ST. Louis Jr. Blues head coach Chris Flaugher stated to Coach Beavis in a message “Beavis has the boy’s Buzzing!” Buzzing is the right word for how the Runners are playing in the early stages of the NA3HL season. With a record of 8-0-0-1 over nine games the teams only blemish is a shootout loss to El Paso.
TX RoadRunners 5 @ Atlanta 1 – Jaron Ketterman scored twice to help the RoadRunners keep their lead atop the South Division thanks to a 5-1 road win in Atlanta. Ketterman opened the scoring in the 2nd period. Atlanta tied the game later in the 2nd period with their lone goal from Kirill Nikulichev. The RoadRunners then rattled off four straight goals to pick up the 5-1 win, which included a 2nd period goal from Matthew Edestrand and three goals in the 3rd period from Ketterman, Jack Klunk, and Tyler Love. Nash Wilson made 25 saves in the win and Paul Jarvis made 52 saves in the loss.
TX RoadRunners 4 @ Atlanta 1 – Three goals in the first period sparked the RoadRunners to an eventual 4-1 lead over the Capitals on Saturday. Derek Boutin led Texas with two goals, joining Jack Herron and Tyler Love in the goal column, while Kaleb Miller grabbed Atlanta’s lone goal. Alexander Opalacz turned aside 35 of 36 shots between the pipes for Texas, while Coleman Garner stopped 44 of 48 shots for Atlanta.
TX RoadRunners 3 @ Atlanta 1 – The RoadRunners improved their season record 8-0-1 thanks to a 3-1 win in Atlanta on Sunday, which completed a weekend road sweep of the Capitals. The RoadRunners jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Tim Marsico and Derek Boutin. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Caps cut the lead down to 2-1 early in the 3rd period with their lone goal from Nick Mumford. Late in the 3rd period, the RoadRunners got some insurance thanks to a goal from Eitan Geralnik. Hunter Hein made 26 saves in the win, while Brendan Smith made 60 saves in the loss.
The Runners outshot the Capitals 165 to 89 over the three games despite spending much of the three games in the penalty box. The RoadRunners penalty kill is an impressive 90% which is good enough for 3rd overall in the league while the powerplay sits at 37% which is sitting at the number 5. “I felt we were good on the PK this weekend and we certainly had our share of work especially on the 5 on 3 but that tends to happen when games are called tightly. Our power play was not as good as it should have been but in relation to all the special teams that were needed the guys were getting a bit gassed. All in all a win is a win and we will take the points for sure.” States Coach Mike Beavis
The Runners are second in the league standings after this past weekend. The team will get back to work again on Tuesday morning with a bit of an extender training camp style conditioning week. “We just feel that the conditioning is a bit lacking in the guys right now and with so many three game weekends we feel that some heavy conditioning is still needed and with the next two weekends as off weekends we feel the guys should be good with the extra work both on and off the ice. States Coach Caleb Fitzpatrick.
The Runners will have the next couple weekends off before traveling to Austin to take on the Ice Bats October 29th -30th and 31st at ‘Chaparral Ice ” The Crossover in Austin, TX.