The Saskatchewan Rush established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on Saturday night, as they matched the Albany Firewolves goal-for-goal through regulation time and then took the win in overtime, winning 10-9 in their season opener.
The Rush didn’t make the playoffs last year, while the Firewolves were the runners-up in the championship series to the Buffalo Bandits, so this outcome wasn’t necessarily expected.
Ethan Walker opened the scoring for Albany on the power play, five minutes into the contest. The Rush would eventually knot things back up late in the first quarter when Ryan Keenan also picked up a power play goal.
The see-saw battle would carry on in the second quarter, with the teams taking turns scoring goals. By halftime, the score was tied at 3-3 with neither team able to establish the upper hand.
The Firewolves finally showed some momentum early in the third period, scoring twice in the first five minutes to take a two-goal lead. However, Saskatchewan fought right back, scoring three unanswered goals to tie things back up and take their first lead of the game. A late power play goal by Albany evened things up once again, taking the teams to the final quarter tied at 6-6.
Once again, the teams took turns lighting the lamp, exchanging 3 goals each, including a dramatic game-tying goal by Tye Kurtz with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation time, spinning off a defender and sniping the goal.
Overtime saw both goalies make big, clutch saves before Austin Shanks finally put the game away for the Rush with a quick catch-and-shoot from the left side.
Zach Manns, Robert Church, and Brock Haley all contributed five points to the Rush attack while Albany’s offense was led by Alex Simmons who had a seven-point night.
Frankie Scigliano made 49 saves to earn the win while Doug Jamieson stopped 43 shots in the loss.
Saskatchewan gets a week off after their victory while Albany travels to Mississauga on Saturday to face the Toronto Rock, who also started their campaign with a loss.
