VS. SASKATCHEWAN: Tonight marks the third of four regular season meetings between the Roughnecks and Rush. Saskatchewan holds a 2-0 advantage in the series despite Calgary having a halftime lead in both occasions. Since the 2015 campaign, the Roughnecks have come up short in eight of 10 regular season contests against the Rush. Wesley Berg (5g, 8a) leads Calgary with 13 points against Saskatchewan while Mark Matthews has countered with 12 points (5g, 7a) of his own for the defending NLL champions. A pair of offensive threats will be going head-to-head as Curtis Dickson of the ’Necks leads the NLL with 36 goals and Robert Church of the Rush sits first among all players with 14 power play markers. As for the netminders, Saskatchewan’s Aaron Bold is an unmatched 7-2 through nine games. Frank Scigliano of Calgary will be aiming to improve to .500 and pick up the 17th win of his career. Next regular season meeting: Saturday, Apr. 29 at Calgary (Scotiabank Saddledome).
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.
Feb. 25/17 at SAS: SAS 12 CGY 11 (OT) … Wesley Berg and Tyler Digby both had hat-tricks for Calgary and finished with 10 points in total. Adam Jones scored the game winner, his second of the contest, just over a minute into the extra session.
Shots on Goal: CGY 102 SAS 105
Power Plays: CGY 7-10 (70.0%) SAS 3-4 (75.0%)
All-Time Regular Season Records
All-Time vs. SAS: 26-16
All-Time at CGY: 10-9
All-Time at SAS: 16-7
Last CGY Win: Apr. 10/15, 9-8 at the Scotiabank Saddledome
Last SAS Win: Feb. 25/17, 12-11 (OT) at the SaskTel Centre
2017 Regular Season Head-to-Head
Category
Roughnecks (4-8)
Rush (7-3)
Home Record
2-4
5-0
Away Record
2-4
2-3
Goals For
135
130
Goals Against
155
116
Power Play Pct.
53.13
59.26
Penalty Kill Pct.
51.56
48.00
Faceoff Pct.
51.76
52.30
Loose Balls
814
697
Points Leader – Series
Wesley Berg (13)
Mark Matthews (12)
Points Leader – Season
Curtis Dickson (68)
Mark Matthews (66)
GET SHORTY: The Roughnecks have conceded a league-low two shorthanded goals while Saskatchewan has allowed a league-high of nine.
SCOOP TROOP: Tyson Bell (sixth) and Dan MacRae (10th-tied) are among the league’s top-10 defenders in loose balls. Bell has collected 71, matching the number of loose balls he registered in his 2016 rookie campaign. MacRae has recorded 67 loose balls this year, 37 back of his personal-best (104) set last season.
TWO-IN-TWO: Tonight marks Calgary’s second and final two-game weekend. The Roughnecks finished their previous two-in-two with a 1-1 record, falling 18-9 to Colorado on Mar. 3 before defeating Georgia by a score of 18-11 on Mar. 4.
ROOKIE SPOTLIGHT: Forward Holden Cattoni sits eighth among all first-year players with four goals and 11 points in nine games. Calgary selected the 22-year-old product from DeWinton, Alberta, in the first round, fifth overall, in the 2016 NLL Draft. A graduate of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, Cattoni finished in the RMLL’s top-three in scoring from 2011-13 with a combined 220 points (116 goals, 104 assists) in 47 games as a member of the Okotoks Raiders.
LEADER OF THE PACK: Roughnecks forward Curtis Dickson leads the league in goals at 36. Dickson has recorded 295 goals in 114 games over seven seasons with Calgary. Only six of the 114 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 fifth in the league at 53.13%. Calgary’s penalty kill is third-best at 51.56%.
WEST VS. EAST: This season, Calgary is 3-5 against teams from the West Division and has a 1-3 mark when playing rivals from the East. The Roughnecks finished the 2016 campaign 3-8 against the West and 5-2 versus the East.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime ……4-2 Outshooting opponent .……3-2
Trailing at halftime …….0-6 Outshot by opponent …..…..1-5
Tied at halftime …….….0-0 Shots are tied ……..…………0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: January (3-1), February (0-4), March (1-3).
ROUGHNECKS VS.: (BUF 0-0), (COL 2-1), (GA 1-1), (NE 0-0), (ROC 0-0), (SAS 0-2), (TOR 0-2), (VAN 1-2).
TRADE WINDS: The 2017 NLL trade deadline is Monday, Mar. 27, at 1:00 p.m. MT. Previous Calgary transactions include: 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.
FOREVER A ROUGHNECK: Tomorrow, Saturday, March 25, the Calgary Roughnecks will honour alumnus Tracey Kelusky for the contributions he has made to the organization as a player and person in a special ceremony prior to hosting the New England Black Wolves. Kelusky will become the second inductee of the ‘Forever A Roughneck’ program, joining Kaleb Toth who was recognized in 2013. During the pre-game celebration, a Tracey Kelusky ‘Forever A Roughneck’ banner will be raised for permanent display in the Scotiabank Saddledome.
