The Saskatchewan Rush gave their fans something to cheer for early in their home opener on Saturday, grabbing a quick 2-0 lead. But the visiting Rochester Knighthawks had other plans, fighting back over the rest of the game to take a 16-14 victory.
The win keeps the Knighthawks at the top of the league standings, with a perfect 2-0 record, while the Rush fall to 0-2.
Goals by Zach Manns and Nathaniel Kozevnikov put the Rush up by two early in the first quarter, but Rochester came right back with two of their own from Connor Fields and Ryan Lanchbury. The Rush would get one back with three seconds left in the quarter and one more early in the second, but the Knighthawks came right back again, going on a three-goal run to take the lead.
From there, the teams would exchange goals for the rest of the second quarter, heading to the locker room deadlocked at 7-7.
Saskatchewan came out for the third quarter once again sniping two early goals and retaking the lead. And once again Rochester battled right back, going on another three-goal run. Another goal each was scored to end the quarter, leaving the K-Hawks ahead by one.
The final quarter opened yet again with the Rush scoring, tying the game, but Rochester responded just 20 seconds later with a tally of their own. Just a minute after that, Saskatchewan tied it up yet again. Only nine seconds later, they grabbed the lead for the fourth time on the night. The Knighthawks would not be denied, however. After an even middle to the quarter, Rochester erupted for three goals late in the period to grab the lead once more and seal the deal.
Fields led all offensive players with 11 points on the night (4 goals, 3 assists), while the Rush were paced by Manns (3 G, 3 A). On the other end, Riley Hutchcraft made 36 saves for the Knighthawks to earn the win while Franke Scigliano stopped 40 shots in the loss.
While the final result wasn’t what the home crowd of 8,708 fans would have wanted, they were treated to a great game, with the lead changing 11 times in the see-saw battle.
Next up, the Rush head to Las Vegas on Friday to face the Desert Dogs while the Knighthawks don’t play again until Dec. 23, when they host the Vancouver Warriors.
