A six-goal run in the first half gave the Edmonton Rush a lead they would not relinquish as they cruised to a convincing 15-7 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks last night.
The win keeps Edmonton’s undefeated season intact at 10-0, the longest winning streak in NLL history. Calgary drops to 6-5 after their second straight loss but retain second place in the West Division.
Curtis Dickson essentially was Calgary’s offense, scoring their first four goals, including the first goal of the game at the 1:00 mark. Dickson would also add an assist on the last goal of the game, a late marker by Dane Dobbie, who leads the league with 31 goals.
The rest of the night was Edmonton’s however. After Dickson’s early tally, Zack Greer would open Edmonton’s scoring with two first quarter goals, beginning the Rush’s six-goal run, during which Greer would complete his hat trick. Dickson would stop the bleeding mid-way through the second quarter, but less than a minute and a half later, Edmonton’s Ryan Dilks would start another three-goal run, further extending the Rush lead and putting the game out of reach.
A five-goal run by Edmonton in the second half would just rub salt in the wounds of the Roughnecks, who have now been blown out twice in a row by their provincial rivals (Edmonton beat Calgary 15-8 onJan. 17).
The Rush got offense from everywhere on this night, with all but two of their players earning at least one point. Cory Conway led the way with five points while Jarrett Davis chipped in with four assists.
Aaron Bold stopped 27 shots in the victory while Calgary’s goaltending tandem of Mike Poulin and Frankie Scigliano shared duties in the loss, getting peppered with 62 shots and still posting a respectable .758 save percentage.
As has been the case in games where the Roughnecks have struggled, penalty trouble put them on their heels. Calgary had eight short handed situations to kill, compared to five for Edmonton. And although Calgary only surrendered two power play goals while also scoring two short handed goals, leaving the penalty kill unit on the floor for extended periods of time made it difficult for the Roughnecks’ offense to find their rhythm.
At the end of the day, however, this game was dominated in every way by the Rush. They had almost twice as many shots on goal (62-34), collected 20 more loose balls (66-46), forced twice as many turnovers (18-9) and even faceoff man Jeremy Thompson broke even against Geoff Snider, holding the top draw man in the league to a season-worst 50 percent success rate.
The Roughnecks return to action next Friday, March 21, when they travel to Langley, BC to take on the Vancouver Stealth. The same night, the Rush host the Buffalo Bandits.
