The citizens of Metropolis (err, Calgary) were in danger of seeing the Roughnecks score the fewest goals in a single game in franchise history, but Superman came to the rescue, scoring five goals to push them to seven.
It wasn’t your classic hollywood ending though, with the bad guys (aka. the Toronto Rock) crushing the fans’ hopes and escaping the clutches of the Rough House with a win.
Here’s five things we took from the game:
1) SUPERMAN
It’s almost unfair what Curtis Dickson can do with a just a stick and a ball.
But he continually surprises us and does stuff like this:
That was just one of his five goals on the night and he now leads the NLL with 22 tallies. He is currently on pace for 66 goals this season, which would make him the first player in NLL history to score 60 goals in back-to-back seasons.
2) FACE-OFF DUO
With the suspension to defender Greg Harnett, veteran face-off specialist Bob Snider was thrust into the starting line-up.
He paired up with Tyler Burton to battle top NLL face-off man Bradley Kri, who had won 74% of his faceoffs leading up to the game. Snider would take the majority of the draws, facing Kri in 15 of 23 faceoffs.
Combined, Snider (9 for 15) and Burton (6 for 8), the Roughnecks draw-men won 65% of the faceoffs. That’s a big jump from the 52% mark they had in previous games. If they can keep this up, the Roughnecks will be able to gain a lot of possessions immediately after goals, which can either provide momentum or take it back from their opponents.
3) OFFENCE?
The gas light came on, the tank ran dry, and the offence sputtered for most of the night. Aside from Curtis Dickson, who had five of the team’s seven goals, the rest of the offence was held in check by the Rock.
Dane Dobbie and Wesley Berg scored the other two goals in the game, but couldn’t get anything else to drop. Not including Superman, the rest of the Riggers offence scored on two of 35 shots – a measly 5%. That’s well below their usual 26% rate.
This low output is likely an anomaly, so expect the offence to return to full force next weekend as the Vancouver Stealth come to town.
4) IN THE CREASE
When Frank Scigliano was pulled from the game on Sunday, it wasn’t entirely to do with his performance. In fact, he had played quite well throughout the first three quarters of the game. But with the score the way it was, the Riggers made a change to try and spark the team – and it did.
“I don’t think it was Frank’s fault,” explained coach Curt Malawsky. “For me, I pulled him out because we needed a change in there.”
Scigliano was routinely asked to make big saves on transition opportunities by the Rock defenders and continually turned them aside.
Rookie Christian Del Bianco picked up right where Scigliano left off and made some fantastic saves of his own, including this one, where he ran all the way from the bench, dove into the crease, and stopped a shot from Brett Hickey.
Despite the loss, it was a solid performance by Scigliano and a great rebound outing for Del Bianco after his shaky performance against the Stealth on opening night.
5) ROSEY
While Nick Rose was certainly helped by Toronto’s staunch defence and the struggles from Calgary’s offensive unit, he put forth an incredible effort in net last weekend.
The big man in blue stopped 40 of 47 shots and made most of them look routine. He mixed in a few highlight reel saves too, just for good measure.
The Roughnecks ran into the NLL’s top goaltender and got his best performance. Not ideal for a team trying to keep pace with the Saskatchewan Rush at the top of the West Division.
