VS. SASKATCHEWAN: Tonight marks the fourth and final regular season match-up between the Roughnecks and Rush. Saskatchewan holds a 3-0 advantage in the series and dating back to the 2015 campaign has edged Calgary in nine of the last 11 regular season contests. Wesley Berg (7g, 12a) leads Calgary with 19 points in the series against Saskatchewan while Mark Matthews has also countered with 19 points (7g, 12a) for the Rush. A pair of special teams threats will be going head-to-head as Calgary’s Dane Dobbie (16) and Saskatchewan’s Robert Church (21) sit among the top three in the league in power play goals.
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 scored 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.
Mar. 24/17 at SAS: SAS 13 CGY 10 … The Roughnecks turned a low-scoring opening 30 minutes into a strong offensive push in the third quarter, narrowing Saskatchewan’s lead to 11-8. Despite holding the Rush to just two goals in the final 15 minutes, Calgary’s comeback fell short.
Shots on Goal: CGY 155 SAS 163
Power Plays: CGY 13-19 (68.4%) SAS 6-10 (60.0%)
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: Mar. 24/17, 13-10 at the SaskTel Centre
2017 Regular Season Head-to-Head
Category
Roughnecks (7-10)
Rush (12-5)
Home Record
4-4
8-1
Away Record
3-6
4-4
Goals For
198
224
Goals Against
213
198
Power Play Pct.
51.5
54.7
Penalty Kill Pct.
49.4
45.7
Faceoff Pct.
51.9
52.8
Loose Balls
1,094
1,188
Points Leader – Series
Wesley Berg (19)
Mark Matthews (19)
Points Leader – Season
Curtis Dickson (102)
Mark Matthews (110)
POWER SURGE: The last time the Roughnecks faced the Rush they registered a season-high six power play goals including four off the stick of Dane Dobbie. Calgary has capitalized on 13 of 19 man-advantage chances (68.4%) in the season series with Saskatchewan, the team’s second-best special teams output of 2017. The Riggers best power play production came against Georgia with a 75.0% success rate.
CAREER YEARS: Twelve Roughnecks players have recorded career highs in several categories this season: Tyson Bell (8 G including 1 PPG and 1 SHG, 14 PTS, 103 LB, 16 CTO), Wesley Berg (33 G including 2 GWG and 13 PPG, 43 A, 76 PTS, 7 CTO), Tyler Burton (18 CTO, 51.1 FO%), Curtis Dickson (51 A, 24 PPA), Tyler Digby (2 SHG), Dane Dobbie (46 A, 16 PPG), Greg Harnett (50 PIM), Riley Loewen (6 PIM), Curtis Manning (2 GWG), Creighton Reid (12 A), Frank Scigliano (784 MIN, 7 W, 522 SV) and Jeff Shattler (14 CTO).
HISTORY BOOKS: This year marks the first time the Roughnecks have not advanced to the post-season since missing the playoffs in their inaugural season. Calgary’s 14-year playoff run (2003-16) is a league-best. Other teams with 10 or more consecutive playoff seasons include the Rochester Knighthawks (13, 1995-2007), Philadelphia Wings (11, 1992-2002) and Buffalo Bandits (10, 2003-12).
ROOKIE REPORT: Forward Holden Cattoni sits tenth in the league in rookie scoring with 22 points (6g, 16a). Calgary selected the DeWinton, Alberta, native in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2016 NLL Draft. Defender Chad Cummings has collected 57 loose balls (sixth among all first-year players) in 17 games and sits fourth among all rookies with 12 caused turnovers. The Riggers selected Cummings 36th overall in 2012 and placed him on the team’s holdout list while he finished his collegiate hockey career as a member of the Golden Eagles at The College at Brockport.
WEST VS. EAST: Calgary is 3-7 against the West Division and has a 4-3 mark when playing teams from the East.
RECORD WHEN:
Leading at halftime ……7-3 Outshooting opponent .……4-2
Trailing at halftime …….0-7 Outshot by opponent …..…..3-7
Tied at halftime …….….0-0 Shots are tied ……..…………0-1
ROUGHNECKS MONTH-BY-MONTH: January (3-1), February (0-4), March (2-4), April (2-1).
ROUGHNECKS VS.: (BUF 1-0), (COL 2-1), (GA 1-1), (NE 1-0), (ROC 1-0), (SAS 0-3), (TOR 0-2), (VAN 1-3).
