After a painful spell that saw Topeka stumble in back to back games on home ice, the teams pulse has strengthened as they got back to playing true RoadRunner hockey, taking two games in convincing fashion on the road against the first place Wichita Falls Wildcats.
For the second night in a row, the 'Runners scored first and never trailed. At 6:56, Andrew O'Leary snapped home a shot over the blocker side of Wildcat netminder Eric Garavaglia. Then at 8:13, Chris Bond launched a shot from the left point that hit Brian Christie in the leg and popped over the goalies shoulder before bouncing behind him first in the crease and then into the net for a 2-0 lead.
The previous night Wichita Falls overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the second period. They looked to do the same Saturday night when Dakota Klecha snapped a shot that Mikhail Sentyurin redirected on the power play at 7:26. This time, however, Topeka put the foot on the gas and never looked back. Ryan White made it 3-1 when he walked out of the right wing corner and buried a power play backhander at 13:49, and Justin Hussar finished off a perfect feed from Brian Christie on a 2-on-1 power play rush for a 4-1 lead.
Topeka cemented the win in the third on a faceoff play that Ryan White blasted home for the 5-1 lead, his second goal of the night and third of the season. Eric Rohrkemper turned aside 29 shots for the win. Topeka outscored the 'Cats 11-4 on the weekend, killing 14 of 15 penalties and going 4 for 13 on the power play. The losses for Wichita Falls were their first regulation losses of the season, and though they remain a point ahead in the standings, the RoadRunners (.750) have the best winning percentage in the division. Just one point separates the top 4 teams in the South. The victory was the 250th in the Head Coaching career of Scott Langer.
Topeka (7-2-1) will visit the Amarillo Bulls (7-3-1) next weekend for a two game series. Topeka swept the Bulls in two preseason tilts in Topeka. The games will be streamed live online at countrylegends1069fm.com and videocast through FASTHockey.com.