VS SASKATCHEWAN: Tonight marks the second of four regular season meetings between the Roughnecks and Rush. Saskatchewan holds the early advantage in the series following a 15-11 road victory at the beginning of the month. Dating back to the 2015 campaign, the Roughnecks have picked up just two wins in nine regular season games against the Rush. Curtis Dickson (3g, 4a) and Wesley Berg (1g, 6a) top Calgary with seven points each against Saskatchewan while Robert Church (1g, 5a) and Ben McIntosh (3g, 3a) lead the Rush with six points each in the series thus far. Next regular season meeting: Friday, Mar. 24 at Saskatchewan (SaskTel Centre).
2017 Regular Season Series Recap
Feb. 4/17 at CGY: SAS 15 CGY 11 … The Riggers headed into halftime with an 8-7 lead but suffered through a stretch of 22:33 without finding the back of the net, which included a scoreless third quarter.
Shots on Goal: CGY 57 SAS 58
Power Plays: CGY 4-5 (80%) SAS 1-1 (100%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs SAS: 26-15
All-Time at CGY: 10-9
All-Time at SAS: 16-6
Last CGY Win: Apr. 10/15, 9-8 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Last SAS Win: Feb. 4/17, 15-11 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
2017 Regular Season Head-to-Head
Category
Roughnecks (3-4)
Rush (5-2)
Home Record
1-4
3-0
Away Record
2-0
2-2
Goals For
79
97
Goals Against
81
81
Power Play Pct.
50.00
60.47
Penalty Kill Pct.
50.00
48.72
Faceoff Pct.
455
476
Loose Balls
54.21 (103-190)
49.26 (100-203)
Points Leader – Series
W. Berg (7), C. Dickson (7)
R. Church (6), B. McIntosh (6)
Points Leader – Season
C. Dickson (43)
M. Matthews (49)
NOW AND THEN: After dropping their first contest of the season, Calgary went on a three-game winning streak and outscored their opponents by a combined 40-30. In the three wins, the Roughnecks scored 25 first-half goals while allowing just 15. The Roughnecks are now looking to return to .500 after coming up short in their last three contests. The trio of setbacks has seen Calgary register 14 first-half goals while conceding 23.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Roughnecks are 2-0 when playing in opposition barns this season. Calgary’s best road record when playing an 18-game regular season is 6-3, achieved during the 2014 campaign. Prior to the expansion of the regular season schedule, the Roughnecks twice earned 7-1 road records, first in 2009 and again in 2012.
WILDE WELCOME: On Wednesday, the Roughnecks acquired 25-year-old defender Mitch Wilde and a conditional second-round pick in the 2017, 2018 or 2019 NLL Draft from the Buffalo Bandits in exchange for 2017 and 2018 second-round selections. Wilde, a native of Brooklin, Ontario, made his NLL debut with Buffalo in 2014 after the Bandits selected him in the second round, 15th overall, in 2013. Wilde recorded 43 points (14 goals, 29 assists) along with 143 loose balls in 47 career games with Buffalo.
ROSTER MOVES: Defender Bob Snider has moved from the active roster to the practice squad. Snider has suited up for three games this season, collecting 12 loose balls while earning a 59.1 faceoff percentage during that span.
’DOME DEBUT: Defenceman Vaughn Harris made his NLL debut for the Riggers on Feb. 18 against Vancouver and helped his fellow defenders rally to allow just three goals in the second half. Harris began the season on the physically unable to perform list. Calgary selected Harris in the second round, 15th overall, in the 2016 NLL Draft.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Roughnecks forward Curtis Dickson and Georgia’s Lyle Thompson sit tied for the league lead in goals at 25. Dickson has recorded 284 goals over 109 games in seven seasons with Calgary.
SPECIAL TEAMS WATCH: Calgary’s power play, which has only allowed one shorthanded goal against, is 18-36 to be operating at 50.00%. The penalty kill is also at a 50.00% success rate and has surrendered 19 goals on 38 infractions. Calgary has scored four times when playing a man short on goals by Tyson Bell, Dane Dobbie, Curtis Dickson and Jeff Shattler.
WEST VS EAST: This season, Calgary is 3-3 against teams from the West Division and has a 0-1 mark when playing rivals from the East. The Roughnecks finished the 2016 NLL campaign 3-8 against the West and 5-2 versus the East.
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE MARKS: Calgary’s scoring leader Curtis Dickson eclipsed 200 career assists on Feb. 18 versus Vancouver while forward Dane Dobbie reached 300 career helpers that same night. Sophomore defender Tyson Bell reached 100 career loose balls on Feb. 12 against the Toronto Rock while teammate Riley Loewen also hit the 100-loose ball mark in the same contest.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading entering second half.…..3-1 Outshooting opponent.…..2-1
Trailing entering second half.……0-3 Outshot……………………..1-2
Tied entering second half……..…0-0 Shots are tied………………0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH BY MONTH: January (3-1), February (0-3).
ROUGHNECKS VS: (BUF 0-0), (COL 2-0), (GA 0-0), (NE 0-0), (ROC 0-0), (SAS 0-1), (TOR 0-1), (VAN 1-2).
