In what could likely be a first round West Conference playoff preview, the Calgary Roughnecks defeated the Panther City Lacrosse Club 13-12 on Friday night at Dickies Arena.
It was a powerful come-from-behind win for the Roughnecks, who sit in second place in the West, with PCLC in third. It was the last regular season game for both clubs as the season dwindles to its conclusion, and Calgary, who can finish no lower than second, wasn’t content to just sit back on their heels.
“You want to be playing well going into playoffs,” said head coach Curt Malawsky in a post-game scrum posted to Twitter. “We know we got a bye week so we don’t want to be sitting on it, picking up bad habits.”
Whether they finish in first or second, and whether PCLC finishes in third or fourth, depends on San Diego and Colorado, respectively.
Calgary goaltender Christian Del Bianco struggled through the first half, but rebounded in the second half, dishing out an important assist (his 19th of the season) on Jeff Cornwall’s goal, and then stopping Callum Crawford on a penalty shot with 22 seconds left. Had Crawford scored it would have tied the game.
And it was a big night for Riggers’ milestones. When the game concluded, Del Bianco had set a new record for minutes played in a single season at 1080, breaking his own record of 1074.
Captain Jesse King hit 100 points in a season for the first time in his career, finishing with 42 goals and 58 assists.
“I know those things aren’t as important to the guys but as you get older and as a coach you get to appreciate things like that, so you want to be pulling for the guys to get those milestones,” Malawsky said. “It’s not something they’re going to be excited about right now but they’ll look back at it. Jesse got to stay healthy and his leadership was great. He stepped up in the second half and he put the offense on his shoulders.”
The Roughnecks also set their own team record for wins in a season with 13.
“At the end of the day you’re not playing for a regular season record, we play just to get better. You don’t end up going 13-5 if you’re not learning lessons and getting better throughout the season,” said Malawsky.
PCLC led 8-5 at the half with eight different scorers beating Del Bianco. By the time the fourth quarter started, Calgary trailed by a single goal, down 10-9. King tied it up less than a minute into the period, shooting over a defender. Curtis Manning then cut to the net in transition to give the Riggers their first lead since the first minute of the game.
Phil Caputo responded 22 seconds later, getting lucky on the crease, after he dropped the ball but picked it up, to tie the game at 11.
Calgary roared back with goals less than a minute apart from Tanner Cook and Haiden Dickson for a two-goal Calgary lead. Nathan Grenon scored a twister with 1:28 left to get PCLC back within one.
King led the Roughnecks with three goals and three assists while Josh Currier tallied up six assists. Del Bianco made 36 saves. Jonathan Donville led PCLC with two goals and four assists. Nick Damude took the loss but made 40 saves along the way.
Malawsky summed it up thus: “The trials and tribulations at the beginning of the year really culminated at the end of the night [tonight]. We just stuck with it; we battled, we’ve done it all season long.”
