Zack Manns took over the game in the fourth quarter, leading the Saskatchewan Rush to a 9-8 come-from-behind win over the Halifax Thunderbirds on Saturday night. Manns scored four-straight goals to bring the Rush to within one and then notched the overtime winner as well to seal the deal.
Saskatchewan improves to 2-0 on the season while the Thunderbirds drop to 0-2.
Halifax opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game, when Mike Robinson sniped an outside shot past Rush goalie Frankie Scigliano. The Rush answered back a little over two minutes later on the power play to tie the game, but the Thunderbirds responded with three straight goals to round out the first quarter.
Saskatchewan closed the gap to two goals early in the second quarter, but again Halifax answered, scoring two more times in the period and taking a comfortable 6-2 lead into halftime.
Both teams tightened up their defence as the third quarter began, and Thunderbirds goaltender Warren Hill made some big saves along the way—neither team was able to score for the first 12 minutes of the quarter. Finally, Halifax’s Dawson Theede earned his fourth goal for the night, quickly followed by Manns scoring his first.
In the fourth quarter, Halifax extended their lead to 8-3 early, but Manns picked up where he left off late in the third. He scored the next four goals in a row to bring the Rush back to within one, setting the scene for Levi Anderson to tie the game at the 9:19 mark on a crease dive. Neither team was able to put the game away in the final five minutes of regulation, leading to the second consecutive overtime game for the Rush.
In overtime both goalies made clutch saves to extend the game. But the Rush found themselves on the powerplay seven minutes in. Manns was able to step into a mid-range shot just a few seconds later to beat Hill and earn the victory.
At no time in regulation did the Rush have the lead, chasing the Thunderbirds for more than 53 minutes, before finally going ahead with the game winner in OT.
Manns had a sock trick plus two assists to lead Saskatchewan while Halifax was paced by Theede, with four goals and two assists. At the other end of the floor, Scigliano made 29 saves to get the win while Hill stopped 41 for Halifax.
Both teams return to action on Saturday. The Rush travel to Rochester to face the Knighthawks while the Thunderbirds visit the Colorado Mammoth.
