CALGARY — The Calgary Roughnecks have won back-to-back games and are above .500 for the first time after three games since 2012. The weekend saw the Riggers record multiple milestones and big performances in their second road win of the season.
Here are five things we noticed from the game:
1) DOBBIE HITS 300
The big news last weekend came late in the first quarter when Dane Dobbie whipped a shot past Dillon Ward – the 300th of his career.
With that goal, Dobbie becomes the 25th member of the 300-goal club and the first player to score 300 exclusively in a Roughnecks uniform. Congratulations, Dane!
2) PLAYOFF ATMOSTPHERE
In our 5 Things To Watch article prior to the game, we highlighted the fact that the two teams were big rivals and with the recent playoff history, the feeling in the building would be reminiscent of a playoff affair.
The Pepsi Center in Denver is known as the Loud House and it lived up to its name on Friday night. The Riggers took an early lead, which helped to quiet the crowd, but as Jeremey Noble, Callum Crawford, and Joey Cupido aimed to get the Mammoth back into the game, the crowd came alive.
With the mix of noise, intensity from the players, and the close score, the atmosphere in the building was electric. Expect more of that this Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
3) DIGBY DOMINATED
A week after Curtis Dickson put on a clinic, scoring six goals against the Vancouver Stealth, Tyler Digby did his best to mimic his teammate. Digby provided a balanced attack for the Riggers, scoring once in the first, second, and fourth quarter, and scoring twice in the third quarter.
This is the third time in his short career that he has scored five goals in a single game. The first five-goal game came against the Minnesota Swarm in 2015 and the second came almost a year later against the Georgia Swarm.
With his final goal on the night, Digby reached the 100-goal plateau for his career. The 6-foot-4 behemoth reached the mark in just 57 games. So far this season, Digby has reached a couple other big milestones. The righty notched his 100th career assist in the Roughnecks home-opener and hit the 200-point mark one week later in Langley, BC.
4) FRANK WAS FABULOUS
Despite giving up 12 goals on the night, goaltender Frank Scigliano was rock solid between the pipes for the Roughnecks. He allowed the first goal of the night to Jordan Gilles just two minutes into the game, but he rebounded and made save after save in the first quarter until Colorado found the back of the net with an extra attacker on the floor.
The shots kept coming from the Mammoth forwards and Scigliano kept turning them aside. Colorado crept close to tying the game at multiple junctures, but Scigliano routinely made big, timely saves to keep the Roughnecks out in front.
His presence in the net seemed to give Calgary some extra confidence to play aggressive on the back-end and run the ball in transition.
5) TYSON IN TRANSITION
Sophomore Tyson Bell was huge for the Riggers on Friday, scoring two big goals in transition and adding an assist.
His first goal of the night came right after Scigliano made a huge save on Chris Wardle on the doorstep. Bell ran the floor, collected the great outlet pass from Scigliano and beat Alex Buque with a fantastic shot short-side.
The second goal came right off of the draw. Bell was able to scoop the loose ball, take it out wide, and then out-run his defender to the net. His bounce shot trickled through the legs of Buque and rolled just over the line. Since the Roughnecks had a penalty carry over from the third quarter, Bell is credited with a short-handed goal.
