After dropping a devastating 16-4 loss to the Toronto Rock on Friday night at the Excel Energy Centre, the Minnesota Swarm entered Saturday night’s contest with the Toronto Rock looking for revenge. And while the Minnesota Swarm did put forth a much better effort at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night, the result was unfortunately the same for them, as the Toronto Rock would end the weekend home and home series by picking up a 14-9 victory.
The Swarm would get off to the start they wanted on Saturday night, opening the scoring just a minute into the game when Ladner, BC native Logan Schuss beat Toronto goaltender Nick Rose. However following the Schuss marker, veteran Kasey Beirnes would respond for the Rock with back to back goals at the 6:46 and 7:18 mark of the first quarter. With two quick tallies it looked as though the Rock could go on a lengthy scoring run as they did in Friday night’s game, but Kiel Matisz and Miles Thompson put a quick halt to that idea, as they scored back to back goals just a minute apart to give the Swarm a 3-2 lead. With just a minute remaining in the first quarter and the Rock down a goal, Stephan Leblanc was able to capitalize on a pass from Brodie Merrill to knot the game up a three apiece heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Rock took over. Stephan Leblanc would bury his second of the game just 20 seconds into the quarter. Leblanc’s marker would be followed by tallies from Rob Hellyer and Kevin Ross just moments apart to give the Rock a 6-3 lead. Following Kevin Ross’s goal, Swarm Head Coach Joe Sullivan would yank starting goaltender Zack Higgins in favour of Brodie MacDonald. Jordan MacIntosh would put a stop to the Rock’s string of four consecutive goals when he picked up his seventh goal of the season. However as was the case most of the night, the Rock would answer Minnesota’s goal almost immediately as Hellyer would beat MacDonald just 49 seconds after MacIntosh narrowed the Rock lead to two goals. The teams would close the second quarter by trading goals, as Kiel Matisz picked up his second of the game for the Swarm, while Brett Hickey picked up his first of the night for the Rock. After outscoring the Swarm 5-2 in the second quarter, the Rock would take an 8-5 lead into the second half.
The third quarter was a tight checking one, as just four goals were scored. Swarm captain Andrew Suitor, who was arguably the best player on the floor for the Swarm on Saturday night, would beat former Junior teammate Nick Rose at the 2:01 mark of the third quarter to narrow the Rock’s lead to 8-6. With the Swarm in striking distance, things got a little tense at the ACC as the play went back and forth with little happening at the offensive ends. Hickey would relieve the Rock faithful, when he potted his second of the game, on the power play to restore the Rock’s three goal lead. Stephan Leblanc would then give the Rock some much needed breathing room with his third of the game, burying a shorthanded marker at the 9:22 mark of the third quarter. With the game seemingly slipping out of the Swarm’s grasp, rookie Shane MacDonald would complete the Gordie Howe hat trick, scoring his first of the game, after already picking up a fight and an assist earlier on in the game. As the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter, the Rock held a narrow 10-8 lead.
As the fourth quarter opened, Josh Sanderson wasted little time extending the Rock’s lead to 11-8, when he converted on a feed from Hellyer on the power play, just 1:01 into the quarter. While Logan Schuss would respond just over a minute later for the Swarm, to once again bring Minnesota within two goals of the Rock, it was a case of too little, too late. As the Rock would go on to score three straight goals after the Schuss marker, to put the game out of reach. With Toronto up 14-8 and the clock winding down, Schuss would complete his hat trick, but the goal would have little meaning as the Rock would capture the game by a final score of 14-9.
With the win the Rock move to 6-1, and extend their lead for first place in the East Division to 2.5 games. Meanwhile the Swarm’s back to back losses have dropped them to last place in the East Division with a record of 3-4, which places them a full three games back of first place Toronto.
Stephan Leblanc and Josh Sanderson both turned in seven point efforts for the Rock, with Leblanc picking up three goals and four assists, while Sanderson would record a goal and six assists. Rob Hellyer and Kevin Ross would also have strong offensive nights with Hellyer picking up two goals and four assists for six points and Ross recording two goals and three assists for five points. Shayne Jackson was the high scorer for the Swarm as he recorded five assists in the matchup. Kiel Matisz would also have a strong offensive showing for the Swarm, as he picked up two goals and two assists for four points. Logan Schuss was the leading goal scorer for the Swarm on Saturday, as he found twine on three occasions.
Nick Rose was stellar in net for the Rock, as he picked up his second win of the season, making 40 saves on 49 shots. Zack Higgins got the start in goal for the Swarm, but was relieved of his duties 18:08 into the game after allowing six goals on 18 shots. Brodie MacDonald played the remaining 41:52 of action, allowing eight goals on 36 shots.
The Rock next see action on Friday February 20, when they take on the New England Black Wolves at the Air Canada Centre. The Minnesota Swarm have the bye week, next week and will next see action on February 28 when they travel to Vancouver to take on the Stealth.
