The Toronto Rock look to extend their win streak to three when they host the Edmonton Rush at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday afternoon. These teams haven’t seen each other since week 2 when the Rock pulled out a 10-9 squeaker victory at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
The Rock are on a roll as of late but the Rush haven’t been slouching either; they’ve won six of their last seven and are bringing a four game win streak with them to Toronto. It’s always a battle when these two teams meet and we will expect nothing less on Sunday. Toronto has won the last three meetings against Edmonton and are 10-4 lifetime versus the Rush.
Look for Toronto Rock forward Scott Evans to be extra fired up for this game as he faces his former team in front of the hometown crowd. He had two goals in their first meeting this year and was the best player on the floor that night in Edmonton. Evans played a big role for the Rush during the last year’s regular season but they decided to make him a healthy scratch for the playoffs. They still went on to the finals but lost to the Rochester Knighthawks and many feel that if Evans were dressed it would have given Edmonton the spark to win the Champion’s Cup.
Edmonton’s Mark Matthews had 5 points (3g 2a) the last time these teams played and has only gotten better since that week 2 meeting. The rookie sits second in Rush scoring with 51 points (31g 21a) in 11 games and has scored a goal in every game played this year. His best performance was in week 7 when he recorded a 6 goal sock trick against the first place Washington Stealth.
Goaltending will play a huge factor once again as we expect to see another dual between Toronto’s Nick Rose and Edmonton’s Aaron Bold. Rose is on fire as of late and has averaged 43 saves per game in Toronto’s last two victories. Bold on the other hasn’t had to face many shots during Edmonton’s four game run which is a testament to the Rush’s strong defense. That’s not to take anything away from Aaron Bold though; he’s been a key factor in their impressive win streak.
Toronto has some of the best offence in the league while Edmonton has one of the strongest defensive cores in the NLL; that formula should result in the best game of the weekend. Game time is 3pm on Sunday from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
