It was a tale of two halves on Saturday night at the impressive Langley Event Centre as the Edmonton Rush came back to defeat the Vancouver Stealth 9-8 after spotting the Stealth a five-goal lead.
The Edmonton Rush came to town to test their 3-0 record against the 2-2 record of the Vancouver Stealth and though they found themselves behind 7-2 after thirty minutes, they strung seven goals together from the start of the second half until Rhys Duch scored his third of the night with just 0:59 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Duch’s goal made it 9-8 Rush, which ended up as the final, but the fact that it was the first Stealth goal in 33:49 of was the story as the Rush improved to 4-0 and Vancouver dropped to 2-3 to start the 2014 National Lacrosse League season.
Why the Rush won
Their defence worked its way back into form in the second half and the five-minute majors that were taken during the game were ones that swung momentum Edmonton’s favour.
Let’s start with the Rush D. They made a big statement on the very first possession of the second half after Tyler Garrison won the draw to start the final 30. Once the Stealth set up in the Rush end, Ryan Dilks angled Cliff Smith down low towards the corner so that Kyle Rubisch could slide in for the double team. As the two Rush defenders converged on Smith, Rubisch swatted the ball out of Smith’s stick for the turnover and Jeremy Thompson, who finished 57 percent in the face off circle, corralled the loose ball after a brief battle between three players from each team. Much of the final half was the same as the Stealth settled for outside looks on Brodie MacDonald, who came in to replace Rush starter Aaron Bold after the fourth Vancouver goal 16 seconds into the second quarter.
As far as the major penalties went, the first ones occurred after the Stealth took a 6-1 lead on an athletic burst to the net and crease dive by rookie Brett Hickey, playing in his first NLL game.
In the midst of the celebration, Smith came back to engage Rubisch after Rubisch knocked him down off ball with a cross check to the back. At the same time, Rush spark plug, Nik Bilic, took exception to Hickey drawing contact on his goaltender while scoring and got in Hickey’s face. A good old fashioned brouhaha broke out, headlined by Rubisch and Smith dropping their buckets near centre while Bilic took on Hickey in the corner. The dust up seemed to wake the Rush up on both sides of the ball because after Ilija Gajic’s goal that came on the power-play created by Bilic’s minor penalty for instigating, the Rush offence pumped seven goals past Vancouver goalie Tyler Richards while the Rush defence held the Stealth to just one goal and 16 shots in the final 30 minutes.
The other five-minute penalty that helped shift momentum in Edmonton’s favour was the high sticking major Rhys Duch took as he came up high while running through the pick of the Edmonton Warrior’s own John Lintz. Another not so friendly exchange between the Western Division rivals ensued after that hit, spurred on by Brett Mydske dropping Duch in response to the high stick on Lintz.
Even though the Rush didn’t score on the three-minute power play that resulted, having the Stealth’s leading goal scorer and most dangerous offensive weapon off the floor for five minutes at such a key time in the game was a huge bonus.
The O-POG
Mark Matthews (2 G, 3 A, 3 LB, 13 Shots)
Four games into the season it is apparent that the Rush offence runs through Matthews on most sets. His playmaking ability, vision and shot makes it important to get him the ball on each offensive touch, but on a night where a larger, more physical Stealth defence seemed to limit his touches, Matthews had a big fourth quarter when his team needed it from him, scoring the Rush’s sixth of the game to bring them within one of the Stealth and he also scored the goal that stood to be the game winner.
The D-POG
Brodie MacDonald (4 GA, 23 Saves, 0.852 Save Percentage)
MacDonald looked at home because he was. As the starter for the Langley Thunder of the Western Lacrosse Association, his record over the last two seasons at the new Langley Event Centre is 12 wins, 2 losses and 2 ties according to a mystery tweet that Jake Elliot, the Stealth’s play by play announcer on The Lacrosse Network quoted during the broadcast.
While his team got their legs under them and confidence in both ends of the floor, MacDonald settled in and provided them with the big saves they were looking for during their second half comeback.
Next Game – The Champs Are Here!
Edmonton Rush (4-0) vs. Rochester Knighthawks (4-1), Saturday, February 1, 2014. 7:00pm MT, Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place
This is the measuring stick that the Rush are looking for as they play the two time, reigning NLL Champions a week after the Knighthawks first loss of 2014.
