The Ottawa Black Bears exploded for six goals in the fourth quarter to take an 11-8 win over the Saskatchewan Rush on Friday night. Both teams are now 1-1 on the season.
The first quarter was all about goaltending. Ottawa’s Zach Higgins and Saskatchewan’s Frankie Scigliano made big stop after big stop to keep the game scoreless until Sam Firth finally snuck one past Scigliano from a Jeff Teat feed five-and-a-half minutes in. The goalies turned away every other shot for the rest of the period, giving Ottawa just a one-goal advantage after 15 minutes of play.
Things started to open up in the second quarter. The Black Bears scored twice to start things off before the Rush finally got their first goal of the game. Saskatchewan then added two more to tie the game going into the half time break.
The Rush continued their scoring run to start the third quarter, scoring three times in the first 90 seconds and then adding one more three minutes after that to build up a four-goal advantage. The Black Bears were finally able to answer the seven-goal run with two of their own, but Saskatchewan added one more late to hold into a 8-5 lead going into the final frame.
Ottawa finally found their scoring touch in the fourth quarter. Teat broke things open on the power play, then scored twice more for a natural hat trick. And the Black Bears just kept pouring it on, scoring three more to seal the deal, including Teat’s fourth of the quarter.
Teat led all scorers on the night, contributing to nine of Ottawa’s 11 goals, with four tallies and five assists. The Rush were led by Zach Manns, with three goals and an assist.
But the big story on the evening was the goaltending. Higgins made 38 saves for Ottawa to earn the win. Scigliano was tested all night long, making a whopping 54 stops to keep his team in the game.
Both teams return to action next Saturday. The Black Bears travel to Las Vegas to face the Desert Dogs (0-1) while the Rush return home to host the Georgia Swarm (1-1).
