Losing Austin Shanks in free agency to the Saskatchewan Rush has turned into the Halifax Thunderbirds’ worst nightmare.
After scoring the overtime winner in last year’s NLL semifinal to end Halifax’s season, Shanks once again played the villain — scoring the game-winner with just over a minute left as the Rush defeated the Thunderbirds 10–9 on Saturday night.
It was a back-and-forth battle in a penalty-filled game that featured 14 power plays. Saskatchewan went 4-for-8 with the man advantage, while Halifax finished 2-for-6.
It was also nearly even at the faceoff dot, with Jake Withers coming out slightly ahead, winning 12 of 23 draws.
Frank Scigliano and Warren Hill put on a goaltending clinic. Scigliano stopped 32 of 41 shots, while Hill faced 54 shots and turned aside 44.
First Quarter
Dawson Theede opened the scoring for Halifax at 4:44 with an outside shot on the power play.
Saskatchewan answered back at 8:17 as Jake Boudreau sent Matt Acchione in alone on a fast break to tie the game.
Ryan Terefenko restored the Halifax lead at 10:26, but Zach Manns replied on the power play with 2:26 left, sending the teams to the first intermission tied 2–2.
Second Quarter
The Rush came out flying in the second. Acchione went coast-to-coast for his second transition goal of the night just 47 seconds into the frame.
Saskatchewan then jumped out to a two-goal lead when Ryan Keenan scored on the power play at 4:45.
Halifax responded with a two-goal run of its own. Randy Staats scored at 5:53, followed by Cody Jamieson at 6:40 to even the game at 4–4.
Just over a minute later, Josh Zawada scored to restore Saskatchewan’s lead, and the Rush took a 5–4 advantage into halftime.
Staats gave his thoughts heading into the second half of the game:
Third Quarter
It didn’t take Halifax long to pull even.
Withers won the opening faceoff and Jamieson scooped up the ball, racing down the floor to score just eight seconds into the quarter on the power play.
Saskatchewan regained the lead at 3:33 when Manns scored on the power play. Eighteen seconds later, Staats replied to tie it 6–6.
The lead changes continued. Mike Robinson scored at 5:30 to put Halifax ahead 7–6.
Shanks answered from the wing with 4:34 left, beating Hill to level the game 7–7 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
The million-dollar question: would Saskatchewan suffer another fourth-quarter collapse?
It didn’t start well. Theede scored 48 seconds into the final frame to put Halifax back in front.
But this time, the Rush held firm. Mike Messenger found Keenan in transition at 1:20 to tie the game. Then, on the power play, Robert Church fired through traffic at 3:07 to give Saskatchewan the lead.
Staats completed his hat trick with 7:21 remaining as the back-and-forth battle continued.
With just over a minute to play, Scigliano made a key shoulder save to keep the game tied. Jerret Smith grabbed the rebound and sprung Keenan, who fed Shanks — and Shanks floated the ball over Hill’s shoulder for the game-winner. The Rush sealed a 10–9 victory.
Top Scorers
Saskatchewan Rush
- Ryan Keenan — 2g, 4a
- Austin Shanks — 2g, 1a
- Robert Church — 1g, 2a
Halifax Thunderbirds
- Randy Staats — 3g, 3a
- Clarke Petterson — 4a
- Dawson Theede — 2g, 1a
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