By: Riley Pollock – 25.04.25
SETTIN’ IT UP
Win or go home.
The Roughnecks look to advance to the NLL semi-finals with a quarter-final, winner-take-all victory over the Thunderbirds on Saturday night in Halifax (5 p.m. MST, TSN).
The Riggers (10-8) enter the matchup having won three straight games over Saskatchewan (10-6), Las Vegas (12-9) and Colorado (11-5) to earn their way into the NLL playoffs as the six seed.
Halifax (11-7) picked up a 16-9 victory over Toronto to finish off the season and have won three of their last five, and three straight at home.
Dane Dobbie will suit up in his 38th career playoff game, tying John Taveres for the second-most in NLL history. Dobbie has 177 points in the postseason.
The Roughnecks defeated the Thunderbirds in Halifax in their first game of the season by an 18-17 score. The Riggers trailed 10-3 at one point in the second quarter before completing the massive comeback for their season-opening win.
The winner of the this will face the winner of Georgia and Saskatchewan in the best-of-three semi-final beginning next weekend.
Players To Watch
Roughnecks: F Jesse King: The Riggers captain put up 10 points in his first matchup with the Thunderbirds this season and tied a career high in points with 105 in the regular season.
Halifax: F Randy Staats: Staats led the Thunderbirds in goals (32) and points (102) in the regular season.
2024-25 Regular Season Scoring Leaders:
Roughnecks:
Curtis Dickson – 108 points (48g, 60a)
Jesse King – 105 points (30g, 75a)
Tanner Cook – 70 points (30g, 40a)
Dane Dobbie – 63 points (36g, 27a)
Thunderbirds:
Randy Staats – 102 points (32g, 70a)
Clarke Petterson – 100 points (30g, 70a)
Thomas Hoggarth – 62 points (31g, 31a)
Goaltending 2024-25 Head-to-Head:
Nick Rose: 4-3 (With Roughnecks)
GAA: 9.95
SV %: 82%
Drew Hutchison: 5-3
GAA: 11.96
SV %: 76%
