The Rochester Knighthawks face-off against the Calgary Roughnecks for the first time in 9 months. The last time these teams met, the Knighthawks made NLL history by becoming the first team to ever three-peat after coming from behind in the mini-game after being down 2-0 by scoring the final three goals in just over a minute.
But now things are a bit different. Calgary comes into the game at 1-6, getting their first win last weekend. While the Knighthawks struggled in the early going but have rebounded to a 5-3 record.
The Roughnecks are led by Shawn Evans (19G/32A), Curtis Dickson (22G/17A), seven of those goals caame in last weeks victory over Vancouver.
But Calgary will be without Dane Dobbie (16G/15A), as he will start to serve his two game suspension for a high-sticking incident against the Stealth a couple weeks ago. So other player will need to step up to pick up the void left by Dobbie.
Rochester is coming off a huge overtime wine over the Bandits last week, giving them a season sweep over the Bandits.
For the Knighthawks, they are led by Cody Jamieson (17G/29A). But Jamieson isnt the only one who has this Knighthawk team flying. Their are five other players who have 10+ goals. Jordan Hall (10), Dan Dawson (11), Joe Walters (12), Craig Point (15), Cory Vitarelli (16). These players also range in points from 24-41. With fire power like that, the Roughnecks will have their hands full.
Matt Vinc who has been stellar since starting slow is 4-3 with a 10.93 GAA and a 77.7 save percentage.
For Calgary, Frank Scigliano is 1-4 and carries a 12.85 GAA with a 74.6 save percentage.
Calgary will need to click on all cylinders, and make very little if any mistakes if they plan on making it two in a row in the win column. A loss by Calgary could really put another nail in any post season chances (depending on Vancouver game).
For Rochester, they can not take this game lightly, and can not get caught up in the Hall of Fame Ceremony for Casey Zaph. Rochester can take advantage of their opponents missing a key cog in the offense. They can not afford to get into any type of unnecessary penalties against Calgary, especially if the game is in hand.
Should be an exciting game, possibly similar to the championship game from last year; depending on what Calgary team shows to play.
