Tonight the Toronto Rock (4-4) will face off against the Edmonton Rush (7-0). This is the first game of back to back for the Rock as they spend the weekend in Alberta.
So far not a single team has been able to put a dent into the armor of the Rush. Since 2013 the Rush are 11-1 on the road during the regular season, and just 5-6 at home (2-6 last year). The Edmonton defense has been very solid all season. Led by goaltender Aaron Bold’s 7.97GAA and 81.20% saves you can see why they are undefeated. The combination of Mydske(12FT), Rubisch (14FT) and Thompson(12FT) will cause fits for any offense. On the offensive side of the ball, Knight (15G) , Matthews (14G) and Greer (12G) lead the offense, while players Riley Loewen (9G) and Davis (7) are coming up with key goals when needed.
The Rock will not be an easy push over. The record may be 4-4 with some inconsistent play as of late. After their 20-10 romp of the Wings they lost to the Knighthawks 17-9 (at home), and just hung on last week 14-12 over the Swarm after giving up a 13-4 lead. Leblanc (22G), Doyle & Billings (16G) are the top three scorers for the Rock followed by Beirnes & Hellyer (12G), Sanderson (11G). On defense, Jesse Gamble & Chapman will cause fits for the Rush offense along with goaltender Nick Rose. Rose comes into the game with a 12.16 GAA and a 76% saves. But don’t let that fool you IF Rose starts putting up a wall, it will be very hard for anything to get by him.
What’s going to determine the winner is one of the following. Since January 17 Edmonton has only scored more then 10 goals one time (last week at Minnesota 14). If the Rock start making this a high scoring game, can Edmonton stop the rolling Rock?
Or will we see Edmonton play a stingy defense and keep it low scoring, and frustrate the Rock and take them completely out of their game?
Game time 9pm eastern on ESPN3 and TSN.
