RIGGER RAMBLINGS: Following a 10-7 win over the Buffalo Bandits at the KeyBank Center last Saturday, the Calgary Roughnecks are one win away from capturing the 2019 National Lacrosse League title. The Roughnecks host Game 2, presented by Heritage Honda, tonight at the Scotiabank Saddledome. If necessary, Game 3 will be back at the KeyBank Center on Friday, May 31. Calgary leads the best-of-three series, presented by Michelob Ultra, 1-0 after their victory in Buffalo that began with a defensive battle in the first half. The rivals entered the halftime break knotted at 2-2, Rhys Duch scoring both of the Calgary goals. The Roughnecks’ offence pushed in the second half, tallying eight goals including three by Dane Dobbie who posted a game-leading six-point effort. Curtis Dickson, Dan MacRae, Dan Taylor and Mitch Wilde rounded out the scoring for the visitors, MacRae and Taylor both recording their first playoff goal. Shawn Evans led the way for the Bandits with one goal and four helpers while Josh Byrne and Corey Small each notched a pair of goals in the home loss. Christian Del Bianco stood tall between the Calgary pipes stopping 48 of the 55 shots on goal while Matt VInc made 34 saves for Buffalo.
2019 NLL FINALS SCHEDULE:
| Game 1 | Saturday, May 18 | CGY 10 BUF 7 | KeyBank Center |
| Game 2 | Saturday, May 25 | 7:00 p.m. MT | Scotiabank Saddledome |
| *Game 3 | Friday, May 31 | 6:00 p.m. MT | KeyBank Center |
*If necessary
vs. BUFFALO: Tonight marks the third time the Roughnecks and Bandits have met in the playoffs and the second time in the NLL Finals. The last post-season match-up against the two clubs was in the NLL championship game on May 7, 2004 in front of a sold out crowd at the Scotiabank Saddledome when Calgary took home the Champion’s Cup after a 14-11 victory. Buffalo last won the Cup in 2008 when they defeated the Portland LumberJax 14-13. The Bandits finished the 2018-19 regular season with a 14-4 record and are 5-0 when playing opponents from the West Division. Top-seeded Buffalo claimed their spot in the NLL Finals after a 12-8 victory over third-seed Toronto Rock on May 11.
2018-19 Regular Season Series Recap
Feb. 16/19 at BUF: BUF 12 CGY 10… Bandits netted six goals in the second half to come back from an 8-6 deficit heading in to the halftime break.
Shots on Goal: CGY 50 BUF 55
Power Plays: CGY 2-4 (50.0%) BUF 1-3 (33.3%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. BUF: 6-8 Last CGY Win: Apr. 14/18, 16-9 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
All-Time at CGY: 5-4 Last BUF Win: Feb. 16/19, 12-10 at the KeyBank Center
All-Time at BUF: 1-4
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2018-19 REGULAR SEASON
| Category | Roughnecks (10-8) | Buffalo (14-4) |
| Home Record | 5-4 | 7-2 |
| Away Record | 5-4 | 7-2 |
| Goals For | 212 | 244 |
| Goals Against | 201 | 186 |
| Power Play Pct. | 48.86 | 48.94 |
| Penalty Kill Pct. | 60.76 | 61.33 |
| Faceoffs Pct. | 50.4 (246-488) | 43.9 (221-503) |
| Loose Balls | 1272 | 1342 |
| Points Leader – Season
Points Leader – Series |
Dane Dobbie (115)
Dane Dobbie (6) |
Dhane Smith (102)
Smith, Durston, Small (4) |
HEAD-TO-HEAD: 2017-18 REGULAR SEASON
| Category | Calgary (8-10) | Buffalo (8-10) |
| Home Record | 5-4 | 4-5 |
| Away Record | 3-6 | 4-5 |
| Goals For | 227 | 232 |
| Goals Against | 211 | 240 |
| Power Play Pct. | 46.5 | 54.1 |
| Penalty Kill Pct. | 53.2 | 51.7 |
| Faceoff Pct. | 56.8 | 45.5 |
| Loose Balls | 1349 | 1416 |
| Points Leader – Season
Points Leader – Series |
Curtis Dickson (92)
Berg, Dickson, Dobbie (10) |
Dhane Smith (105)
Dhane Smith (9) |
SERIES STATS: There has only been four combined goals in the first half… Buffalo has outshot Calgary 55-44… The Roughnecks are 0-2 on the power play, the Bandits are 1-2.
PLAYOFF STREAKS: Rookie Reece Callies has recorded one point in all three playoff games played with one goal and two assists…Curtis Dickson (7g, 6a) has tallied a minimum of two points in each post-season matchup… Rhys Duch (2g, 6a) has set up goals in each playoff game and ended a two game goal drought tallying a pair or markers in Game 1 against Buffalo… Jesse King (5g, 6a) has tallied at least three points per game… Dane Dobbie (8g, 11a) has recorded at least six points per contest tallying game highs in each playoff tilt.
POST-SEASON EXPERIENCE: Since their establishment, the Riggers have advanced to the post-season 16 out of 18 seasons and have an all-time post-season record of 20-17. Calgary has a combined 269 games of playoff experience. Dane Dobbie leads all Roughnecks players with 28 post-season games played and tops the team in playoff points with 131 (61g, 70a).
STRIVE FOR FIVE: The Roughnecks won their first Champion’s Cup (now called the NLL Cup) on May 7, 2004 when they beat the Buffalo Bandits 14-11 in the NLL championship game at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Five years later on May 15, 2009, the ‘Necks downed the New York Titans 12-10 at the ‘Dome and hoisted the Champion’s Cup for the second time. Then in 2014, five years later, the Roughnecks had an opportunity to capture the league title against the Rochester Knighthawks. After splitting the two-game series, the Roughnecks fell short and dropped 3-2 in the mini-game tiebreaker. Now five years following their most recent run for the cup, Calgary has a chance to capture their third NLL Cup in franchise history.
PLAYOFF POWERHOUSES: Dane Dobbie leads the NLL in playoff scoring with 19 points (8g, 11a). This is just one point off his previous career high of 20 (12g, 8a) set in 2014, which he tied in 2018 with eight goals and 12 assists… Jesse King tops the NLL with two game winning goals in the post-season… Christian Del Bianco ranks first among goaltenders with most wins (3), most minutes played (180), most saves (138) and the highest save percentage (0.863).
SPECIAL TEAMS WATCH: Calgary’s power play ranks fourth in the league at 48.86% while the Bandits power play is third in the NLL at 48.94%. When playing shorthanded, Buffalo holds a slight advantage over Calgary with 61.33% (first overall). The Roughnecks’ penalty kill sits second at 60.76%. Two Calgary snipers sit in the league’s top-10 in power play goals: Dane Dobbie sits second in the NLL with 12 while Rhys Duch is tied for third with 11. Corey Small leads the league with 14 man-advantage markers while Shawn Evans is tied for fifth with 10.
PLAYOFF MILESTONES: On May 10, several Roughnecks hit a variety of playoff milestones: Curtis Dickson tallied four points in Friday’s victory over the Mammoth to surpass 100 career playoff points. Tyler Pace and rookie Reece Callies scored their first playoff goals while Pace added his first playoff assist to end the night with two points. Tyler Burton surpassed 100 playoff face-off wins with 11-16 battles won on Friday night. On Monday, May 6, rookies Shane Simpson and Reece Callies recorded their first NLL playoff points with an assist each.
TOP OF THE CHARTS – REGULAR SEASON: Dane Dobbie led the NLL with 115 regular season points including 47 goals and 68 assists (both ranked second). He also had a league-leading 216 shots on goal and 292 shots… Eli Salama topped all rookies with two shorthanded assists… Christian Del Bianco played more minutes than any other goaltender in the NLL with 1074.44. He had a league-leading 716 saves.
CAREER YEARS: Eleven Roughnecks players have recorded career highs in several categories this season: Tyler Burton (101 LB, 245 FO), Chad Cummings (26 PIM, 74 LB), Zach Currier (16 A, 1 SHG, 1 GWG, 34 CTO), Christian Del Bianco (1 PPA, 2 SHA, 1074.44 MIN, 10W, 716 SV), Dane Dobbie (68 A, 115 PTS, 18 PPA, 216 SOG), Anthony Kalinich (2 PTS including 1 G and 1 A, 38 LB, 10 CTO, 3 SOG), Riley Loewen (20 G including 6 PPG, 6 PPA), Dan MacRae (25 CTO), Ryan Martel (16 PTS including 5 G and 11 A, 2 PIM, 20 LB, 27 SOG), Tyler Pace (17 G including 4 PPG, 1 SHG and 1 GWG, 25 A, 42 PTS, 2 PPA, 39 LB, 3 CTO, 60 SOG), Dan Taylor (23 G including 1 PPG, 23 A including 8 PPA and 1 SHA, 46 PTS, 26 LB, 4 CTO, 69 SOG) and Mitch Wilde (3 PPA, 1 GWG, 75 LB).
IN THE RECORD BOOKS: Christian Del Bianco’s 716 saves sets a new single season franchise record, surpassing Matt King’s record of 603 set in 2002… Zach Currier beat his own record of 33 caused turnovers in a single season set in 2018 with 34 in 2019… Dane Dobbie now holds the franchise record for most career assists with 418 inching passed Jeff Shattler’s previous record of 416… Dan MacRae is now tied with Mike Carnegie for most caused turnovers with 163 each.
POST-SEASON VS.: (BUF 1-0), (COL 1-0), (SD 1-0
REGULAR SEASON VS.: (BUF 0-1), (COL 1-2), (GA 1-0), (NE 0-1), (PHI 1-0), (ROC 1-0), (SD 1-2), (SAS 2-1), (TOR 1-0), (VAN 2-1)
POST-SEASON RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime …… 1-0 Outshooting opponent .…… 1-0
Trailing at halftime ……. 0-0 Outshot by opponent …..….. 2-0
Tied at halftime …….…. 2-0 Shots are tied ……..………… 0-0
REGULAR SEASON RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime …… 4-2 Outshooting opponent .…… 5-2
Trailing at halftime ……. 3-5 Outshot by opponent …..….. 5-6
Tied at halftime …….…. 3-1 Shots are tied ……..………… 0-0
REGULAR SEASON VS. DIVISION: West (6-6), East (4-2).
