By: Laurence Heinen – 18.02.24

A first-half scoring outburst propelled the Roughnecks to a 17-11 win over the Halifax Thunderbirds during Sunday’s East Coast Kitchen Party.

Jesse King, Tyler Pace and Josh Currier all contributed hat tricks during the onslaught as the Roughnecks won their second straight game to improve their record to 4-5. In the process, the Riggers halted the T-Birds’ four-game winning streak as Halifax now sits at 6-4.

Tanner Cook and Shane Simpson had two goals each, while Thomas Hoggarth, Zach Currier and Robert Hudson also scored.

In addition to making 38 saves, goalie Christian Del Bianco chipped in offensively with three assists.

Pace opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the contest when he shook off a defender before whipping a shot past Halifax netminder Warren Hill.

Cook then put the home side up 2-0 thanks to a long-range shot past Hill, who was screened on the play.

After the Thunderbirds pulled to within one, Hudson picked up a loose ball and sped up the floor for a breakaway chance, which he promptly converted.

The visitors answered right back before Cook scored a quick-stick goal thanks to a nice pass from Pace.

Zach Currier then accepted a perfect long-range pass from Del Bianco before firing a quick shot past Hill.

Pace then kept up his hot start to the game by scoring his 100th career NHL goal to give the ’Necks a 6-2 lead.

Despite giving up a couple goals late in the first quarter, the Riggers got their mojo back in the second with three quick snipes to take a 9-4 lead.

Hoggarth drove hard to the net and scored 21 seconds into the second stanza while getting checked from behind before King tallied two goals in a span of 16 seconds.

Following a goal by the T-Birds, Josh Currier celebrated his 100th career NHL game by scoring his first of two tallies in the second.

Pace went on to complete his first-half hat trick, while Simpson scored on a breakaway as the Riggers entered the halftime intermission with a 13-9 lead.

Halifax started strong in the second half with two goals to cut Calgary’s lead to just two before King completed his hat trick with a power-play marker at 12:02 of the third quarter.

Thanks to another great pass by Del Bianco, Simpson scored on another breakaway at 3:39 of the final frame before Dickson and Josh Currier added to Calgary’s output.

Currier’s hat trick goal was a thing of beauty as he went airborne from behind the net all while tucking the ball in behind Hill.

 

NEXT UP:

The Riggers will host the Philadelphia Wings at the Rough House next Saturday (7 p.m.) before the two teams get set for a rematch in the City of Brotherly Love a week later on March 2 (1 p.m.).

 

COACH’S COMMENT:

“It was a big win for us, obviously. They had a big win Friday night against Buffalo. They’re one of the top teams in the league, so we knew we had to be ready and I thought we came out with really good energy. They answered some of our runs, but then we could answer right back. I’m just really happy with the guys playing a full 60 minutes.”

“They’re a big tough team, so we needed to stay disciplined. I thought our discipline was really good. They were 6-3 coming in, so we needed this win to try and move up the standings. Everybody knew how important this game was. Whether it was physical or up and down, we just knew we had to lock in for 60 minutes and I thought we did a good job of that.”

“Definitely Josh played very well tonight. I thought all the O guys were really good up front. It was probably our best game up front for a while, so I’m really happy that they got rewarded with some production. Josh, for his 100th game, to have a good game like that, good for him.”

 

STAT PACK:

Jesse King: 3g, 6a

Tyler Pace: 3g, 3a

Josh Currier: 3g, 1a

Tanner Cook: 2g, 2a

Shane Simpson: 2g, 1a

Haiden Dickson: 1g, 2a

Thomas Hoggarth: 1g, 2a

Robert Hudson: 1g

Zach Currier: 1g, 13 loose balls

Dan Taylor: 4a

Christian Del Bianco: 38 saves, 3a

 

SAY WHAT:

“That was huge for us. We know we have to start stacking some wins and now we’ve got two in a row. We had a little bit of a lull in the third quarter there, but I think we did well in the fourth. It was good to see.” – Josh Currier

“It was special. It was nice to get a win on that game, that’s for sure. I’d say it probably made me think about my career a little bit more going into the game and everything going forward. It was a special game for sure and it was nice to get the win.” – Currier on playing his 100th career NLL game

“It was awesome. We’ve been a little bit snakebitten coming out the front door the last several weeks, so to pile them on like that and chase the goalie twice and get contributions from the back-end made it a full-team effort. They’re coming off a game (Friday) night … and we just took it to them.” – Tyler Pace

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