It was Roc the Rink Saturday night in Rochester, New York, as the Knighthawks hosted the Halifax Thunderbirds. Rochester sported some sweet custom uniforms honoring and representing the Flower City. The last time the Knighthawks wore some custom uniforms, they had an offensive explosion, but this game was a bit different.
Halifax jumped out to an early lead and kept pace the rest of the way, matching anything Rochester did to maintain their advantage, ultimately coming out with a 12-9 win.
The first four goals of the first quarter were every other, with Aaron Woods and Dawson Theede scoring for Halifax and Curtis Knight and Ryan Smith for Rochester. Halifax rattled off a pair to end the quarter, one from Cody Jamieson on the power play and the other from Theede in the final seconds. 4-2 T’Birds after one.
Rochester used the momentum from their home crowd to fuel a bit of a wakeup in the second quarter, as they scored the first three goals in only 3:40. Scorers were Thomas McConvey, twice, and Connor Fields. Jamieson stopped the bleeding, only to be answered by Fields. Ryan Benesch closed out the frame with a power play goal to tie the game back up. 6-6 at the break.
“We’re playing against a great team,” said Fields. “We knew this game was going to be difficult, that they’re going to come out flying, I think we have to play our game, stick to it, and we’ll have a good outcome.”
The third quarter wasn’t exactly what the Knighthawks had as their game plan, as Halifax outscored them 5-1 in the quarter. Turner Evans registered the lone Knighthawks goal, which was right in the middle of Halifax’s. The first three from Halifax were scored by Theede on the power play and Clarke Petterson twice. The last two were by Jamieson and Woods. Blink your eyes and we sat at 11-7 Halifax after three.
Rochester attempted to mount a comeback in the fourth, but ultimately came up short. They outscored Halifax 2-1 in the frame, but obviously that wasn’t enough. Smith on the power play and Ryan Lanchbury scored for Rochester and Benesch on the power play for Halifax. That gave us our final from Blue Cross Arena, 12-9 Thunderbirds. One of the bigger stories in the fourth quarter was that goal by Benesch, as he took over sole possession of fourth all time in career goals scored. Awesome stuff for the tenured veteran.
Players of the game for Rochester were Smith (2+3), Fields (2+2), and McConvey (two goals). The goaltender situation was a bit messy, as Riley Hutchcraft stopped 24 of 33 in 40:30 and Doug Buchan stopped 7 of 10 in his 19:30 relief. For Halifax, Jamieson (3+3), Theede (3+3), and Benesch (2+5) led the way. Warren Hill was a mad man all game long, stopping 45 of 54 in total.
“It’s an incredible feeling for sure,” said Benesch on the accomplishment. “The guys on that list are the best that’s played this game, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. It’s a love thing. I love the sport, I love being around the guys. It keeps me young.”
Halifax (9-7) needed that win to keep pace in the standings. They look to build on it as they travel to Vancouver (6-9) this Friday at 10 p.m. Rochester (6-8) now sees themselves on the outside looking in for the playoffs. Their next game is a big one, as they host the team that is directly ahead of them, the New York Riptide (7-8). That game is this Saturday at 7 p.m.
