VS. TORONTO: Tonight marks the second and final regular season meeting between the Roughnecks and Rock along with the return of Riggers defender Greg Harnett who was serving a five-game suspension. Toronto holds the advantage in the series after holding Calgary to a season-low seven goals in an 11-7 road victory last month. Curtis Dickson was the only Calgary player who managed to find the back of the net after the first two quarters, firing a pair of shots behind Toronto’s Nick Rose. The Roughnecks’ two goals in the opening 30 minutes tied a franchise-low first set on Apr. 2, 2010, versus the same Toronto squad. Calgary’s valiant second-half effort eventually came up short despite Dickson recording a fourth-quarter hat-trick for an eventual five-point outing. Teammate Jeff Shattler (5a) also contributed with five points on the scoresheet.
2017 Regular Season Series Recap
Feb. 12/17 at CGY: TOR 11 CGY 7 … A slow start offensively proved too much to overcome for the Roughnecks who found themselves trailing 6-2 after the opening two quarters.
Shots on Goal: CGY 47 TOR 47
Power Plays: CGY 1-5 (20.0%) TOR 2-5 (40.0%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. TOR: 12-20
All-Time at CGY: 7-9
All-Time at TOR: 5-11
Last CGY Win: Apr. 30/16, 18-17 (OT) at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Last TOR Win: Feb. 12/17, 11-7 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
2017 Regular Season Head-to-Head
Category
Roughnecks (4-6)
Rock (5-4)
Home Record
2-4
2-3
Away Record
2-2
3-1
Goals For
117
105
Goals Against
122
86
Power Play Pct.
52.08
41.67
Penalty Kill Pct.
51.06
45.95
Faceoff Pct.
53.02
54.82
Loose Balls
663
722
Points Leader – Series
Curtis Dickson (5), Jeff Shattler (5)
Tom Schreiber (6)
Points Leader – Season
Curtis Dickson (58)
Tom Schreiber (45)
RED LIGHT RALLY: Last Saturday, the Roughnecks racked up 13 goals in the first 30 minutes of play, one marker shy of tying the franchise record for most first-half goals. Calgary has twice scored 14 goals in an opening half, most recently on Mar. 1, 2014, against Toronto. That game saw the Roughnecks defeat the visiting Rock, 19-13.
SECOND HALF SPOTLIGHT: Calgary is looking to record back-to-back wins after starting the second half of the 2017 regular season at 1-0. During the 2016 campaign, the Roughnecks went 5-4 over Games 10-18 to finish the season with an 8-10 record.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Roughnecks forward Curtis Dickson leads the league in goals at 30. Dickson has recorded 289 goals in 112 games over seven seasons with Calgary. Only six of the 112 contests have seen Dickson held goalless, most recently on Feb. 25 against Saskatchewan when he finished the game with three assists.
SPECIAL TEAMS WATCH: The Roughnecks’ power play ranks seventh in the league at 52.08%. Conversely, Calgary’s penalty kill is second-best at 51.06%. Curtis Dickson and Dane Dobbie lead the Roughnecks with a pair of shorthanded goals each this season (tied for third among all players). For Dobbie, he is one shorthanded tally away from matching his career-high of three set in 2014. Dickson’s single-season best for man-down markers is six, which he first set in 2013 and then matched in 2016.
WEST VS. EAST: This season, Calgary is 3-5 against teams from the West Division and has a 1-1 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.
POINT PARADE: Curtis Dickson, with a seven-point effort last Saturday against Georgia, reached 500 career points. The 28-year-old sniper now sits 39 points back of former Roughnecks captain Tracey Kelusky. Kelusky’s 539 points ranks fourth all-time in franchise history. Alternate captain Dane Dobbie eclipsed 600 career NLL points on Feb. 4 against the Saskatchewan Rush. Dobbie, who has spent his entire 10-year career with the Roughnecks, has 628 points (321g, 307a) in 135 games. He now sits tied for second in the club’s all-time scoring books with former Roughnecks star Kaleb Toth. Teammate Jeff Shattler moved to the top of the all-time list with a first-quarter assist in the Jan. 28 contest against the Colorado Mammoth. Shattler now has 656 points in 175 games with Calgary.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime ……4-2 Outshooting opponent .……3-2
Trailing at halftime …….0-4 Outshot by opponent …..…..1-3
Tied at halftime …….….0-0 Shots are tied ……..…………0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: January (3-1), February (0-4), March (1-1).
ROUGHNECKS VS: (BUF 0-0), (COL 2-1), (GA 1-0), (NE 0-0), (ROC 0-0), (SAS 0-2), (TOR 0-1), (VAN 1-2).
TRADE WINDS: Feb. 22/17 – Acquired D 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; Nov. 15/16 – Traded F Reilly O’Connor to the New England Black Wolves in exchange for a second-round selection in 2017 NLL Draft; Sept. 20/16 – Acquired F Riley Loewen from the Saskatchewan Rush in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2017 NLL Draft.
