Hot off the heels of a 16-4 defeat of the Minnesota Swarm on Friday night in Minnesota, the Toronto Rock look to improve on their league leading 5-1 record, as they host the Swarm on the backend of a home and home series between the two clubs. Prior to the devastating 16-4 loss, the Swarm sat with a 3-2 record, hot on the heels of the first place Toronto Rock, however with the Friday night defeat, the Swarm will need a win on Saturday night to get within striking distance of the Rock, as a loss would drop them a full three games back of first place.
Minnesota got off to a great start on Friday night, as they opened the scoring 2:29 in the game, as Callum Crawford found the back of the net. The Swarm extended their lead to 2-0 just under three minutes later as Dean Hill potted his fourth of the season. But from that point on it was all Toronto Rock, as the Rock would score 15 of the next 16 goals, which included a 13 goal streak, spanning the entirety of the second quarter.
Sixth year offensive stud Stephan LeBlanc would lead the Rock offensively on Friday night, recording four goals and five assists for nine points in the dominating victory. Kasey Beirnes and Brett Hickey would also have strong offensive performances as the duo racked up five points apiece for the Rock, while Josh Sanderson gave his best effort in retaining the NLL scoring lead on Friday night, picking up a goal and three assists for four points. Sanderson now sits just two points back of Ryan Benesch for the NLL scoring lead, having played one less game. Only four Rock runners were kept off the score sheet on Friday night, as the offense clicked at a potent pace.
The Rock’s 80 goals for in just six games place them second only to the Buffalo Bandits, who have racked up 83 goals, but have also played one more game then the Rock. With all of the offense it makes many forget the Rock are still without 100 points offensive star Garrett Billings and Captain Colin Doyle. With Billings likely to return soon, the Rock offense will only get more lethal in the coming weeks.
Callum Crawford, Logan Schuss and Shayne Jackson all recorded a goal and an assist each for the Swarm in the embarrassing loss to the Rock, while rookie offensive standout Miles Thompson was held in check by the Rock defense, limiting him to just one assist. Crawford, Schuss, Jackson and Thompson will need to bring the offense they’ve shown during the Swarm’s previous five games if they hope to avenge Friday night’s loss on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. One thing in the Swarm’s favour is Jackson’s ability to thrive in his home province. Jackson has seemingly taken over games at the Air Canada Centre in his brief NLL career—with his first game in Toronto this season up next, look for him to excel on Saturday night.
Brandon Miller picked up his fourth win of the season on Friday night, making 37 saves on 41 shots to improve his now league leading goals against average to 9.00 and his league leading save percentage to 0.803. Miller has been excellent in his time with the Rock since coming over from the Philadelphia Wings late last season. Miller now sits with a 7-2 record in nine games as a member of the Toronto Rock, and while it’s likely Nick Rose gets the start on Saturday at the Air Canada Centre, you can bet Miller will be back between the pipes next Friday when the Rock host the New England Black Wolves.
Zack Higgins got the start for the Swarm on Friday night, but was relieved of his duties after 31:03 of action. Higgins was not at his best on Friday night as he allowed 11 goals on 41 shots through just over two quarters of action. The towering Brodie MacDonald came in, in relief for Higgins, and faired slightly better as he turned aside 17 of 22 shots in 28:57 of action. Considering MacDonald was the better of the two Swarm goalies on Friday night, you would have to think he gets the start on Saturday night. However Higgins has a knack for rebounding strong after a tough start, and will be in his home province of Ontario on Saturday night. A start in front of friends and family and against the team he grew up watching could be a good combination for a stand on your head epic performance from Higgins.
The Rock have now won four straight against the Minnesota Swarm heading into Saturday night’s matchup, and will look to make it five straight as they hope to remain perfect on their home turf in 2015.
