Levi Anderson scores a goal with a diving shot in the second quarter.
(Photo: John Harrison/NLL)
The Saskatchewan Rush shut out the Colorado Mammoth for over 40 minutes while scoring nine times to cruise to an 11-6 victory in a rare Sunday game. The win guarantees the Rush (12-5) a second-place finish in the league while the Mammoth, at 8-9, are in a four-way tie for the last two playoff spots.
Wil Malcom got the Mammoth on the board first, just three minutes into the game, stepping into a shot on the power play. Jake Boudreau tied the game less than two minutes later on a one-man rush from his own end. The teams exchanged two more goals later in the quarter and it looked like this was going to be a tightly contested match.
Instead, Saskatchewan took over in the second quarter, scoring three unanswered goals. Emerging from the locker room after halftime, the Rush continued to dominate, adding another five straight and giving themselves a 10-2 lead going into the final quarter.
Five and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, the Mammoth finally got one past Rush goalie Frankie Scigliano, ending the 40-minute, 34-second scoring drought. But it was too little, too late. In spite of going on a three-goal run to end the game, they came up well short of completing the comeback.
Malcom picked up a hat trick and two assists to lead Colorado, while Austin Shanks scored four, with three helpers for the Rush.
Goaltending on both ends of the floor was outstanding. Scigliano won the night with 28 saves while his goal posts stopped several more. At the other end, Dillon Ward was peppered with 61 shots and he turned aside 50 of them.
The Mammoth travel to Calgary to face the Roughnecks (8-8) on Saturday night. There’s a good chance that the winner of that game makes the postseason and the other team is done, depending on how Calgary fares in a Friday night tilt with the Las Vegas Desert Dogs. Meanwhile, the Rush host the Ottawa Black Bears (8-9) on Saturday. This game won’t mean much for Saskatchewan in terms of the standings, but could also be the difference between making and missing the playoffs for the Black Bears.
