The Calgary Roughnecks defeated the Colorado Mammoth 13-12 on Friday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Roughnecks were led by Dane Dobbie, who scored four times and added two assists. Jeff Shattler also contributed four goals and Geoff Snider added a hat trick.
On the Mammoth side, John Grant Jr. had a six-point night (2 G, 4 A) and Drew Westervelt chipped in with five points (2 G, 3 A).
Colorado got out to a quick start, scoring twice in the first 4:04, but the Riggers were able to respond, evening the score at 2-2 by the end of the first quarter and then scoring twice more in the first minute of the second quarter.
Adam Jones got Colorado back on the board after stripping Mike Poulin of the ball and scoring point blank, starting a three-goal run by the Mammoth which would put them back in the lead.
The final goal of that run was a power play marker by Sean Pollock following a hooking call against Calgary’s Snider, which Snider was not happy about. Once he left the penalty box, he promptly ended the Colorado run by winning the faceoff, charging down the floor and scoring an unassisted goal.
That goal by Snider shifted the momentum back to the Roughnecks who would add four more goals in a two-and-a-half minute span to chase starting Mammoth goaltender Tye Belanger from the game in favor of rookie Dillon Ward.
Colorado would get two goals back before the half ended, but they would not be able to take back the lead in the contest.
In the third quarter Dobbie scored two of his four goals jus 24 seconds apart in the opening 1:03 of the game to restore Calgary’s four-goal advantage. Although Colorado would outscore the Roughnecks 4-2 in the final frame, Calgary was able to hang on and keep the Mammoth from applying and sustained pressure.
Mike Poulin had a terrific game in net for the Roughnecks, turning aside 34 shots and shutting Colorado down for 17 minutes in the second half. He had to be removed from the game for 40 seconds at the end of the third quarter due to an injury to his left leg, but was back between the pipes when the fourth quarter started.
Belanger (9 goals against, 27 saves) has been pulled from all three of Colorado’s games thus far on the season and Ward (3 GAA, 14 SV) has served admirably in relief. The question going into tonight’s game in Edmonton against the Rush is whether or not Ward will get the nod to start.
There were a handful of surprising changes to the Roughnecks lineup as the teams were announced.
Only 10 days after Calgary head coach Curt Malawsky announced that Scott Ranger was out indefinitely with a broken jaw, the Roughnecks quietly revealed on their website Friday that he had been signed to a contract; That evening he was in uniform and contributed an assist to the Riggers’ cause.
Cody Hawkins, who was released by the Roughnecks on Dec 30, 2013, just before the start of the season, was also on the floor for the Roughnecks and also contributed an assist. Meanwhile, Scott Carnegie, who was added to the roster on Dec. 30 to replace Hawkins, was on crutches when he was introduced prior to the game and has apparently been placed on injured reserve.
With the victory, Calgary improves to 1-1 on the season while Colorado drops to 1-2.
The Mammoth have to regroup quickly after the loss as they travel north to Edmonton to play the Rush Saturday night while the Roughnecks get the rest of the week to prepare before also heading to Edmonton for a game next Friday, Jan 17.
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