The Vancouver Warriors completed the sweep in a heated series with the Rochester Knighthawks, picking up a 16–15 win on Saturday night at Rogers Arena.
The bad blood from the previous game carried over into Saturday night’s matchup. The fireworks started even before the opening faceoff, as Tyler Biles and Jackson Suboch got into a fight during warmups and were each handed game misconducts.
The two teams combined for 57 penalty minutes as they looked for retribution from the previous week.
Although he was handed a one-game suspension for his hit on Steph Charbonneau last week, Rylan Hartley did get the start for Rochester, signaling that he is appealing the suspension. It wasn’t a great night for Hartley, as he gave up 11 goals on 27 shots. Riley Hutchcraft came in relief and stopped 14 of 19 shots.
Connor Fields had a 10-point night in the loss for Rochester, followed by Ryan Lanchbury, who finished with two goals and seven assists for nine points.
Keegan Bal led the Warriors to victory with an 11-point night, recording three goals and eight assists, while Curtis Dickson added seven goals and an assist.
Christian Del Bianco got the start for Vancouver and stopped 36 of 51 shots to earn the win.
First Quarter
Rochester got on the board quickly, with Jacob Piseno scoring off a feed from Taylor Jensen just 14 seconds into the game.
Vancouver responded to tie it up when Marcus Klarich found the back of the net at 1:45.
The Knighthawks retook the lead with a three-goal run. Lanchbury finished a feed from Connor Fields at 3:56, and just 20 seconds later, Graydon Hogg made it 3–1.
Ryan Smith rounded out the run at the 5:01 mark.
Dickson got Vancouver back on the board at 6:19, but Fields replied just 29 seconds later to make it 5–2.
Vancouver took control late in the quarter, going on a 5–0 run as part of a seven-goal stretch spanning the first and second quarters.
Jesse King scored a natural hat trick, opening his run at 9:41 and adding another 1:03 later. With 2:29 left on the clock, King struck again to tie the game 5–5.
Dickson scored his second of the game with 1:31 remaining, then added a power-play marker with 49 seconds left as the Warriors led 7–5 after the first quarter.
Second Quarter
The Warriors began to pull away in the second quarter, scoring four power-play goals.
Bal converted on the man advantage off a feed from Dickson at 3:16. Dickson followed with a power-play goal of his own at 3:54.
Rochester answered on the power play at 5:43, with Ryan Smith finding Fields to make it 9–6.
It took Vancouver just 10 seconds to respond, as Charbonneau set up Dickson to restore a four-goal lead.
The Knighthawks cut the deficit to 10–7 when Hogg scored at 6:14.
Vancouver closed the half on a three-goal run. Dickson started it with a power-play goal at 10:41.
King followed by converting off a pass from Bal on the power play with 3:57 left.
Dickson struck again 35 seconds later as the Warriors carried a 13–7 lead into halftime.
Third Quarter
Rochester opened the second half with two quick goals. Fields scored 23 seconds into the third quarter, followed by Smith just 34 seconds later to make it 13–9.
Bal scored in transition at 6:20, finishing a play started by Del Bianco and Shane Simpson.
Smith responded at 9:44 on a pass from Lanchbury to trim the lead to four.
Simpson rounded out the third-quarter scoring with a transition goal off a feed from Owen Grant with 3:07 left, giving Vancouver a 15–10 lead heading into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
Rochester outscored Vancouver 5–1 in the final frame, but the comeback fell just short.
Fields opened the scoring just 10 seconds in. Lanchbury followed with a power-play goal at the 0:54 mark to make it 15–12.
Adam Charalambides found Bal for his hat-trick goal at 5:23, putting the Warriors back up by four.
The Knighthawks made a late push with a three-goal run. Thomas McConvey scored at 7:39, followed by Kyle Waters at 3:57 to cut the deficit to two.
Fields scored unassisted with 1:50 remaining, but Rochester couldn’t find the equalizer as the Vancouver Warriors took game two of the heated series, 16–15.
Vancouver Warriors head coach Curt Malawsky gave his thoughts after the game:
Top Scorers
Vancouver Warriors
- Keegan Bal, 3g 8a
- Jesse King, 4g 5a
- Curtis Dickson, 7g 1a
Rochester Knighthawks
- Connor Fields, 5g 5a
- Ryan Lanchbury, 2g 7a
- Ryan Smith, 3g 2a
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