Toronto has fallen back in love with the Rock and it’s all thanks to Nick Rose.
A dismal opening to the 2016 has been erased with the great play of Rose, who made 46 saves Sunday afternoon en route to defeating the visiting Vancouver Stealth 9-6 at the Air Canada Centre. Vancouver and Toronto are both last in their respective divisions. The win was just Toronto’s third of the season, but also their third in four games. All three Toronto wins have come with Rose in net.
“Rosey… the last four or five games has been stellar,” praised Brett Hickey. “He’s played some consistent lacrosse. He was the key to our win tonight—look at all the five-on-threes and power plays that they had. He made unbelievable saves in key parts of the game especially early on and he’s been the backbone of this defence and team.”
Rose and counterpart Tyler Richards in the Vancouver net were both named stars of the low scoring affair. It took 10 minutes for the first goal to be scored, even after an extended Vancouver power play which included over a minute of five on three time. Rose came up big with Billy Hostrawser and Brock Sorensen, two important defenders, in the box at the same time.
Rob Hellyer opened the scoring at 10:06 on a Rock power play, and Brett Hickey followed that up 33 seconds later with a power play goal of his own for a 2-0 Rock lead after the first quarter.
Two power play goals to open the game was a welcome relief for the Rock who stumbled on special teams Friday night.
“We struggled a little bit against Calgary but tonight we had a focus on getting some movement, getting everybody touching the ball and it ended up in the back of the net a few times so we’re happy about that,” Hickey said.
Rhys Duch and Corey Small evened the score early in the second quarter before Hickey scored another to restore the Toronto lead. Logan Schuss and Hellyer traded goals later in the period for a 4-3 Toronto lead at the half.
Sorensen scored 1:04 into the third quarter on a transition play. Colin Doyle increased the Toronto lead before Corey Small got one back for Vancouver, who trailed 6-4 after three.
The fourth quarter was all special teams. Garrett Billings scored a pair of power play markers for the Stealth sandwiched by power play goals from Hellyer and Hickey. Brodie Merrill, who missed a shot at an empty net in the third, iced the game for Toronto with Richards pulled with 1:34 left to play.
“That’s a great team and a great defense, they’re big and tough and strong; they battled the whole night and they made us earn that win for sure,” Hickey said of the Stealth.
The Rock were 4/7 on the power play and the Stealth were 3/5. Statistically speaking the Rock penalty kill wasn’t great, but five on five the team was far superior to the Stealth and they looked like a much better team than the one that faced Calgary.
Rose spoke highly of the defensemen in front of him Sunday.
“I think we did well at limiting them to outside shots,” he said. “They didn’t see much of the middle of the floor and that’s a credit to our defense. Obviously, we had a pretty good effort on the penalty kill all night so I think those kinds of things pay off in the end.”
Rose, a fan favourite in Toronto, has been in the league for seven years and on Sunday dressed for his 100th career game. He began his career as a backup in Boston before dressing in five games for Calgary in 2012. He was subsequently traded to Toronto where he jumped into the starter’s role.
Rose was unaware of his milestone before hearing it announced in the arena.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “Anytime you can get to 100 games that’s a lot. Longevity is a tough thing to come by in any sports league so to get to 100 by the time I’m 30, that’s something I’m pretty proud of.”
