CALGARY, AB — The Calgary Roughnecks were on the road for Week 2 of the NLL season to take on the Buffalo Bandits. After tying the game at 9 late in the fourth quarter, they Riggers couldn’t hold on and would drop the contest 10-9 to the Bandits.
Here are five things we noticed in the game:
1) WORK IN PROGRESS
The season hasn’t gotten of to the start the Roughnecks had in mind. Part of the reason for this is that the Roughnecks young and exciting core is still in the midst of discovering it’s identity. As coach Malawsky said, “We have a lot of young guys and 50 per cent of our offence turned over.”
Even though there is a lot of new faces, the team has done quite a few good things in the first two games of the season. The young defenders have looked strong and fast in transition, while the new forwards have combined for 13 points in the two contests. While there is still a ways to go before the team chemistry is perfect, they have shown how good they can be at times in this early season.
2) BREAK OUT
The Calgary Roughnecks fans got their first glimpse of Tyler Digby, the 6’3” behemoth in the teams’ pre-season tilt against the Vancouver Stealth where he scored five goals to lead the Riggers to a win. It was a different story in the Necks Home Opener as the righty was held to a single assist. Not only did Digby find the twine against the Bandits, he found it three times. His first hat-trick as a Roughneck.
Check out his goals!
3) MAN UP
In 2015, the Roughnecks held the NLL’s best power play unit, holding as 55.29 percent success rate when operating with a man advantage. Their 47 power play goals on 85 opportunities were second in the NLL to the Edmonton Rush who scored 48 on 103 chances. Based on current results, the Roughnecks strong play on the man advantage has carried into the 2016 season. With 13 power plays in two games, the Roughnecks have buried seven goals – the most in the NLL. Their 53.85 percent success rate is second in the NLL. Safe to say other teams should avoid the sin bin when playing the Necks.
4) SAFETY NET
An 0-2 record is the only blemish on the young season for Roughnecks goaltender Frankie Scigliano. Holding both the Saskatchewan Rush and Buffalo Bandits – last years’ top scoring offences – to 10 goals is quite the feat. Scigliano kept the Roughnecks in position to win both games, but wound up with both losses. Scigliano currently sits 5th in the NLL with a very good 10.03 GAA and a .778 save percentage.
When allowing 10 goals or less, the Roughnecks should be able to win most games. If the Roughnecks had had done this in each game of 2015, they would have won or tied 12 of 18 games. That goes to show that Scigliano’s stout goaltending is good enough to help propel the Roughnecks to quite a few wins in 2016.
5) RECORD BREAKER
Saturday’s game was one for the record books. Roughnecks forward Dane Dobbie scored two early goals to help him pass Roughnecks great Kaleb Toth as the teams’ all-time leading scorer. With 275 career goals in hand and plenty of lacrosse left in the tank, the lefty will keep adding to this franchise record.
Although Dobbie did not add any more goals in the contest, he notched five assists, helping him surpass 250 career assists. The nine-year veteran sits at 528 points (275g, 253a) and currently has five goals and six assists on the season. Continuing at his current pace, he will reach 600 points at some point in 2016.
