For much of this season, the Toronto Rock and Albany FireWolves have been near each other atop the NLL standings. In their final meeting before the playoffs it was the top-seeded Rock who spoiled the retro night party, throwing-back 10 goals from eight different scorers – even goaltender Nick Rose – in a 10-7 victory.
Albany, who wore vintage blue-and-white Attack-themed jerseys after honouring former captain Brett Manney pregame, had 47 of 54 shots saved by Rose for win 106 in a Rock uniform, passing Bob Watson as the all-time franchise leader.
“I’m honoured to be mentioned with him,” said Rose. “He was my favourite goalie growing up. Looking back on that in a lot of years will be special.” But, he added, “The focus is on the rest of the season and trying to stack wins.”
Captain Challen Rogers returned from injury after missing six games. He called Rose the ‘MVP’ of the team saying, “It’s special playing in front of him when he’s playing like that.”
Rogers opened the scoring six minutes into the game when he beat his man in the corner and broke to the net, switching hands to score his fifth of the season. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said with a smile. “What a pleasure to play with the boys tonight.”
“He’s our ultimate leader for a reason,” said Rose. “He plays like a he’s a fourth-liner in hockey with how he grinds.”
A pair of goals from Chris Boushy book-ended a 6-1 second quarter for the Rock. He and Mark Matthews (2 goals, 2 assists) were the only Rock players with multiple goals. Even Rose himself found the back of the Albany net. Jumping up after a late save, he tossed the ball over everyone, it bounced twice and into the back of the empty net for his fourth career goalie-goal (his most recent since 2017).
Even with 10 goals, as seems to be the case every game, Rose and Rogers credited the defence. Rose called them ‘dog-like’ saying, “Our ‘D’ really clamped them up from the get-go.” Rogers said they’re the “Backbone of this team. It’s what we’re used to at this point.”
Rogers, Rose, the defence and the rest of the Rock will play their final regular season home game on Saturday when they host the Rochester Knighthawks (6-9).
