What a difference two weeks can make.
When the Calgary Roughnecks stepped off the turf on February 3rd, they’d just dropped both games of a double header and plummeted to 15th in the standings – last place. You did not want to look at the power rankings if you were a Roughnecks fan.
Following those two losses, it seemed like Josh Sanderson saw something the rest of us didn’t when he stated, “We play like this, we got a chance to beat anybody.” To his credit, the very next week the Roughnecks went on the road and beat the Toronto Rock 11-10.
Fast forward to Sunday and the red-hot Halifax Thunderbirds were in town to take on Riggers. Winners of their last four contests, including a win against Buffalo just two days prior, the T-Birds were looking to sweep their own double-header. Two hours and a whopping 94 penalty minutes later, it was the Calgary Roughnecks running away with a 17-11 victory.
The first half of the game was an old fashioned shoot-out. The teams combined for 22 goals including a hat trick from Tyler Pace, staking his Roughnecks to a 13-9 lead. With the amount of firepower on display it was inevitable the game would develop an edge. Tanner Cook and David Brock started jawing at each other just four minutes into the contest while Jordan Trottier decided to trade hands with Haiden Dickson. Trottier pulled Dickson’s jersey over his head and landed some shots, but the blinded Dickson managed to score an impressive take down.
The pace of the third quarter slowed considerably with the teams combining for just three goals. Of those, it was Dawson Theede’s goal at 5:36 that was the highlight of the night. Theede posted up Harrison Matsuoka and then threw an underhand shovel shot that eluded Christian Del Bianco making the score 13-11. Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Thunderbirds would come. A four-goal Roughnecks’ run and 52 minutes in fourth quarter penalties was too much for the weary Halifax team to overcome.
Over the course of their double-header, Clarke Petterson led all Halifax scorers with 13 points. Austin Shanks finished with 12 points and Ryan Benesch put up 11 points. After Jake Withers’ perfect night at the face-off dot against Buffalo, he went 19/31 against Justin Inacio.
For much of the season, the Calgary offense had shown signs of how good they could be, but struggled with consistency – something former coach Curt Malawsky use to say typically takes longer to develop. On this night, Calgary shooters reminded us why they were a playoff team just a year ago. Jesse King led the way with a hat trick and nine points. Both Josh Currier and Tyler Pace also had hat tricks.
During the last two games, and perhaps sensing a critical juncture in Calgary’s season, Zach Currier has elevated his game into the stratosphere. In Toronto, he was absolutely everywhere scooping loose balls and gaining extra possessions. That play continued against Halifax with Currier stalking his prey and generating possession after possession. His ability to know where the ball will be is unmatched. It’s no coincidence that Currier’s performance has been a huge factor in the last two wins.
Week 13 in the NLL will have the fourth-place Thunderbirds (6-4) taking on the Saskatchewan Rush (3-4) in Saskatoon while Calgary (4-5) will host the Philadelphia Wings (3-5) with both teams on the cusp of the playoff picture.
