For the first two games of the season, the Calgary Roughnecks agonizingly teased fans with the potential of how good they could be. In a Rochester, a scintillating offensive put up 10 first half goals before stalling in the second half and allowing the Knighthawks to squeak out a win. A four-goal effort by Tyler Pace in San Diego was wasted when the team went cold in the fourth and lost by three to the Seals. However, in front of 13,405 fans who showed up for the home opener, the Necks’ put together a full 60 and emerged with a 17-11 victory over the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
Calgary’s offence was commanded by their captain Jesse King. Although he’d put up some great looking numbers in the previous two contests, King elevated his game to another level against the Dogs. Calgary’s offense flowed through King where he continued to distribute at a world-class level. King added six assists on the night giving him 18 on the season and putting him one behind the league leader Dhane Smith.
Las Vegas came into the game with a 1-2 record and were looking to rebound after getting routed 17-5 by Saskatchewan the previous week. Goals from Casey Jackson and Jack Hannah put the Dogs out to an early 2-1 lead. Calgary responded with three in a row and from there on out, the two combatants went toe-to-toe for the rest of the first half. A couple of late goals staked Calgary to a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Roughnecks opened the third frame with four straight goals bringing their run to six in a row. From that point on, the Calgary defence and Christian Del Bianco limited the Desert Dogs to just four second half goals while the offence closed out the game with three more tallies in the final quarter.
Calgary got goals from seven different forwards including four from Haiden Dickson. Their transition was equally as effective with strikes from Shane Simpson, Liam LeClair and Seth Van Schepen proving how dangerous this team can be no matter who has the ball.
Veteran Rob Hellyer and second year man Jack Hannah each put up five points for the Dogs. Casey Jackson was the leading goal getter with a hat trick while Tor Reinholdt and Conner Kirst each collected an impressive 13 LB’s.
Las Vegas (1-3) will host the San Diego Seals (2-1) at Michelob Ultra Arena on January 12. A day later, Calgary (1-2) flies to Vancouver to take on the Warriors (1-3) for a much-anticipated game against their old coach Curt Malawsky.
