The Saskatchewan Rush defeated the Calgary Roughnecks by a score of 14–8 on Friday night to extend their winning streak to six games.
It didn’t look promising for Saskatchewan early in the game. After going down by three, they scored seven straight goals between the first and second quarters to pull away.
Jake Naso got the better of Justin Inacio at the faceoff dot, winning 19 of 26 draws. The man advantage also played a key role in the game. Saskatchewan went three-for-five on the power play, while Calgary was one-for-one.
Austin Shanks led the way for Saskatchewan with four goals and five assists for nine points. Robert Church finished with two goals and six assists and is now two goals away from 400 for his career.
Saskatchewan’s defence had a strong night, allowing only 34 shots, while Frank Scigliano stopped 26 of them.
At the other end of the floor, Aden Walsh had a strong night in Calgary’s goal, stopping 49 of 63 shots. Tanner Cook led the Roughnecks with three goals and an assist, while Tyler Pace chipped in with four assists.
The news went from bad to worse for the Roughnecks as Haiden Dickson left midway through the game with an injury.
It was also Indigenous Celebration Night in Calgary, as the Roughnecks wore special Indigenous-themed jerseys.
First Quarter
Calgary got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 3–0 lead early in the game.
Brayden Mayea opened the scoring 35 seconds in, and former Rush forward Riley Loewen found the back of the net just 22 seconds later.
Cook then put Calgary up by three at the 7:34 mark.
Saskatchewan finally broke the goose egg with 1:38 left in the quarter, as Calgary led 3–1 after the first.
Second Quarter
The Rush made short work of Calgary’s lead, tying the game in the first 44 seconds of the second quarter.
Church made it 3–2 just 24 seconds in, and Shanks followed up 20 seconds later to even things up.
It was all Saskatchewan after that to close out the first half. Zach Manns scored back-to-back goals, with his first coming at the 4:25 mark and another at 10:06.
On the man advantage, Manns threaded the needle with a pass through traffic to Shanks at the side of the net. Shanks scored with 2:02 left in the quarter to make it 6–3 for the Rush.
Ryan Keenan, who stayed hot with seven points on the night, scored with 1:30 left to cap Saskatchewan’s 7–0 run. The Rush led 7–3 heading into halftime.
Third Quarter
Dickson ended Calgary’s 26:04 scoreless drought at the 3:38 mark of the third quarter. However, he would leave the game shortly afterward with an injury.
The Rush quickly stole the momentum back, as Brock Haley found the back of the net at 6:05 to make it 8–4.
Calgary responded with Cook scoring at 7:56 to cut the deficit to three.
However, Saskatchewan began to pull away again. Manns scored on the power play at the 8:00 mark.
Frustration boiled over just 10 seconds later, as two opposing players dropped the gloves. Jake Boudreau and Mathieu Gautier squared off as Calgary looked for a spark.
Shortly after that, Holden Garlent found Mike Messenger for a transition goal at 9:39, putting Saskatchewan up 10–5.
Brett McIntyre rounded out the third-quarter scoring off a pass from Pace with 3:24 remaining, as the Roughnecks trailed 10–6 heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Saskatchewan shut the door on any Roughnecks momentum in the final frame.
Shanks scored on the power play at 2:55, followed by Manns at 4:14, to put the Rush up by six.
Mayea got Calgary back on the board on the power play with 5:12 left in the game.
However, Shanks scored again with 2:10 remaining, followed by Keenan just 20 seconds later, to make it 14–7.
Cook added a goal with eight seconds left, but it was too little, too late. The final score was 14–8 as the Rush extended their winning streak to six games.
Calgary Roughnecks head coach Josh Sanderson shared his thoughts after the game:
Top Scorers
Saskatchewan Rush
- Austin Shanks, 4g 5a
- Robert Church, 2g 6a
- Ryan Keenan, 2g 5a
- Zach Manns, 4g 3a
Calgary Roughnecks
- Tanner Cook, 3g 1a
- Tyler Pace, 4a
- Brayden Mayea, 2g
- Riley Loewen, 1g 1a
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