VS. VANCOUVER: The Roughnecks and Stealth meet tonight for the fourth and final time this regular season, with Vancouver holding a 2-1 advantage in the series. Calgary and Vancouver spilt their four-game regular season series in 2016 as each club went 2-0 on their respective home turf. Curtis Dickson, who led the Riggers with 26 points against the Stealth last season, tops the Roughnecks with 18 points (10g, 8a) in the series. Corey Small leads the Stealth with 11 goals and nine assists against the ’Necks.
2017 Regular Season Series Recap
Jan. 6/17 at CGY: VAN 12 CGY 11 … The Roughnecks scored the game’s final four goals but were unable to find the equalizer. Curtis Dickson led the Riggers with five points (1g, 4a) while Corey Small had a game-high eight points (3g, 5a) for the Stealth.
Jan. 14/17 at VAN: CGY 14 VAN 10 … Calgary came out firing, producing a six-goal first quarter en route to a 9-5 halftime lead. Strong first-half performances from Curtis Dickson (4g) and Jeff Shattler (2g, 3a) carried into the third quarter as Calgary’s scoring attack found the back of the net four more times.
Feb. 18/17 at CGY: VAN 13 CGY 10 … Vancouver jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage and was ahead by a 10-4 margin at the halftime break. The Roughnecks began to narrow the deficit with a four-goal run that spanned the third and fourth quarters, but a pair of goals by Logan Schuss helped to secure the victory for the Stealth.
Shots on Goal: CGY 145 VAN 148
Power Plays: CGY 6-14 (42.9%) VAN 7-20 (35.0%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. VAN: 25-19
All-Time at CGY: 9-12
All-Time at VAN: 16-7
Last CGY Win: Jan. 14/17, 14-10 at the Langley Events Centre
Last VAN Win: Feb. 18/17, 13-10 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
2017 Regular Season Head-to-Head
Category
Roughnecks (7-9)
Stealth (6-9)
Home Record
4-4
2-5
Away Record
3-5
4-4
Goals For
187
173
Goals Against
198
187
Power Play Pct.
53.26
50.00
Penalty Kill Pct.
50.00
41.82
Faceoff Pct.
50.44
45.73
Loose Balls
1,092
945
Points Leader – Series
Curtis Dickson (18)
Corey Small (20)
Points Leader – Season
Curtis Dickson (96)
Corey Small (92)
INSIDE THE STREAK: The Roughnecks outscored their opposition in all three opening quarters by a combined score of 10-5 … Calgary entered the fourth quarter with the advantage in all three matches … The Riggers were outshot in two of three contests … The opposition twice opened the scoring … The ’Necks collected a combined 203 loose balls while their opponents totalled 173.
SNIPE SHOW: Three of the league’s top five goals leaders will battle tonight: Roughnecks forwards Curtis Dickson (46) and Dane Dobbie (36) and Vancouver’s Corey Small (39). Dickson’s 46 markers currently lead the NLL. He finished second in goals last season with a career-high 61. For Dobbie, he set his single-season goals record in 2014 with a league-best 51.
PICK ’EM UP: Jeff Shattler eclipsed 1,100 career loose balls in last Saturday’s 13-8 victory over Buffalo. Shattler, who has played all but one of his 182 career games with Calgary, is the club’s all-time leader in that department at 1,098.
WHAT’S LEFT: Week 17 sees the Roughnecks receive a bye before facing the two-time defending NLL champion Saskatchewan Rush in their regular season finale on Apr. 29 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Vancouver will host the Colorado Mammoth on Apr. 22 before traveling to the Mohegan Sun Arena to take on the New England Black Wolves in the last weekend of the regular season.
PLAYOFF PUSH: Heading into tonight, Calgary sits in the third and final playoff spot in the West Division. The Roughnecks are one win back of second-place Colorado while Vancouver is just one victory away from Calgary. In their 16-year history, the Riggers have only once missed the playoffs in 2002. The Stealth are looking for their first playoff berth since relocating to the Langley area for the 2014 season.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime ……7-2 Outshooting opponent .……4-2
Trailing at halftime …….0-7 Outshot by opponent …..…..3-6
Tied at halftime …….….0-0 Shots are tied ……..…………0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: January (3-1), February (0-4), March (2-4), April (2-0).
ROUGHNECKS VS.: (BUF 1-0), (COL 2-1), (GA 1-1), (NE 1-0), (ROC 1-0), (SAS 0-3), (TOR 0-2), (VAN 1-2).
