Saturday night, the Calgary Roughnecks (3-3) play host to the Vancouver Stealth (3-6). It will be the second of four meetings between these two clubs in the 2014 schedule and is critical to both team’s aspirations for the playoffs.
The Roughnecks have had an up-and-down season so far, not yet finding enough rhythm to win consecutive games. They have, however, earned two of their three victories at home, so that gives them a leg up in this contest.
Shawn Evans, the defending league MVP, is once again leading Calgary’s offense, having picked up 36 points so far. His current pace is just a hair behind last year’s 112-point pace, but still puts him in line for another 100-point season. Dane Dobbie has the most goals for Calgary, with 19.
Goaltender Mike Poulin has made some big saves at times, but hasn’t posted great numbers so far. His 13.35 goals against average is the worst among NLL goalies with 200 or more minutes played this season.
Stealth goalie Tyler Richards, by contrast, is right in the middle of the pack for goals against, with an 11.20 average.
Rhys Duch has been Mr. Everything for the Stealth, leading the team in scoring with 46 points and 22 goals, in spite of missing a game last week due to suspension.
In the face off circle, Calgary’s Geoff Snider should have a field day against Tyler Garrison. Snider’s face off win percentage this year is 17 percent better than Garrison’s and that should give the Roughnecks a few more possessions to take advantage of.
If Calgary can stay out of the penalty box like they did last weekend in their win over the Minnesota Swarm they should be fine. But if they start taking penalties, they will have their hands full with a Stealth offense that is desperate to earn back-to-back victories and get back into the playoff hunt.
