Michael Carcone’s 50-50 stat line a rarity entering back half of Roadrunners’ slate

So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that even as Carcone has raced to the top of the AHL’s scoring charts, he’s also spent a decent amount of time in the penalty box this season.

Through 36 team games, Carcone not only is just the fifth Roadrunner to ever reach 50 points in a season — he did it with an assist Monday in a 5-2 road loss to the Coachella Valley Firebirds — he also has exactly 50 penalty minutes.

Extrapolate those out for the season and Carcone, should he play every game the rest of the way, would finish with 108 points and 108 penalty minutes.

How rare would that be? Well, no AHL player has scored that many points in a season in 15 years. And only once in the last six seasons has a player been in the top 10 in scoring and topped 100 penalty minutes the same campaign.

Carcone’s 50-50 stat line so far is, to some degree, by design: The majority of Carcone’s time in the box has come due to fights or some other kind of skirmish (as opposed to minor penalties for tripping, hooking, cross-checking, etc.).

“You definitely have to have a balance,” Carcone said. “If I want to be successful … I need to mix it up and find ways that are going to keep me in the NHL, or get me to the NHL.

“It’s not just all about goal scoring. It’s also about your defensive details. I’m not going to get bullied, and I’m not only in it to get points. It’s just part of the game.”

Entering the Roadrunners’ next matchup, an 8 p.m. Wednesday faceoff at the Henderson Silver Knights, Carcone is riding a nine-game point streak. He has nine goals and 20 points over that span. He also has stayed out of the box with only two penalty minutes in that stretch.

A coincidence? Carcone thinks so.

“It’s a long season,” he said. “You may have three major penalty minutes in a row, or maybe I won’t get another penalty for 15 games.

“I know we’ve been taking a lot of penalties (as a team) recently, so that’s kind of been our thing in the room. I think just staying out of the box has been a focus, not only for myself, but for everyone.”

With Carcone registering that 50th point in his 31st game played, he’s reached that mark faster than anyone in club history.

Entering the finale of the Roadrunners’ three-city, three-game road swing, Carcone maintains his AHL scoring lead by eight points over second-place Matthew Phillips of the Calgary Wranglers.

Carcone is on pace for 43 goals, 65 assists and 108 points. All three would be team records.

The current single-season team marks are 24 goals (set by Carcone last season), 48 assists and 67 points — the latter two carded by Chris Mueller in the club’s inaugural season of 2016-17.

Carcone also leads the AHL with 11 power-play goals, while his 126 shots on goal are tied for second entering Wednesday.

• Few players in the AHL have had as hot a stretch this season as Carcone’s last nine games, but former Roadrunner Lane Pederson was one. Traded early this season from the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes to the Vancouver Canucks, Pederson was assigned shortly to the Abbotsford Canucks. In 18 games in Abbotsford, Pederson scored 17 goals. That pace means he likely won’t be on Abbotsford’s roster when the Canucks visit Tucson this weekend; he’s understandably up with Vancouver at the moment (recalled Dec. 17).

• The Roadrunners debuted new white Kachina jerseys earlier this season — matching the cult-favorite-turned-everyday-kit worn by the Coyotes. Replica versions of Tucson’s jersey, at $160 each for adult sizes, went on sale to the public just before Christmas. Fans can now purchase them online at shop.tucsonroadrunners.com or in person at Roadrunners’ home games at the team shop in the Tucson Arena breezeway near the arena’s main entrance.

• Wednesday’s matchup at Henderson is a big one for Tucson if it wants to pad its current playoff positioning. At the moment, the Roadrunners are in sixth place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with 34 points. The San Jose Barracuda also have 34 points but have played three more games. Henderson is eighth with 31 points. The top seven teams in the Pacific earn postseason bids.