By: Laurence Heinen – 18.01.25
Haiden Dickson scored at 3:26 of overtime to lead the Roughnecks to a thrilling 12-11 win over the Georgia Storm on WestJet Field at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Dickson took a pass from Tanner Cook and fired a shot from the slot past Swarm goalie Brett Dobson to send the 9,931 fans in attendance home happy.
Curtis Dickson and Dane Dobbie both had hat tricks as the Roughnecks (3-2) won on Marvel Super Hero Night and snapped a two-game losing streak in the process.
Playing in his 100th career NLL game, Jesse King finished with two goals and three helpers. His second point of the game was the 500th point of his career.
Tyler Pace and Brayden Mayea each had a goal and three assists. Bennett Smith scored once and set up another, while Cook chipped in with three helpers.
Goalie Cameron MacLeod finished the game with 29 saves, while Justin Inacio scooped up 17 loose balls and finished 24-for-27 in the faceoff dot.
Just 30 seconds into the game, King whipped a low shot from the high slot past Georgia goalie Brett Dobson.
Mayea then scored a highlight-reel goal at 2:36 to give the Riggers a quick 2-0 lead.
While falling to the turf, Mayae deposited an over-the-shoulder shot into the net behind a stunned Dobson. Mayea accepted a behind-the-back pass from King, who recorded his 500th career NLL point with the assist.
After falling behind 3-2, the ’Necks tied things up at 11:28 when Dickson wired a shot to the top corner over Dobson’s left shoulder.
The Swarm retook the lead thanks to a goal with 21.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
After Smith scored a shorthanded goal at 3:11 of the second quarter, the Riggers had a great chance to take the lead back, but they were unable to capitalize on a two-man advantage that lasted a full two minutes.
Before the end of the first half, the Swarm took the lead back on two occasions, but both times the Riggers responded with goals by Tyler Pace and Dickson, the latter coming with 45.3 seconds remaining on the clock to knot the score at 6-6.
King whipped a sidearm shot through traffic past Dobson just 11 seconds into the third quarter to put the home side up by a goal.
The visitors then went on a four-goal run to go up 10-7 before Dobbie tallied markers 30 seconds apart to pull Calgary back within one heading into the fourth quarter.
Dobbie completed his natural hat trick with a shorthanded breakaway goal at 5:05 of the fourth quarter.
The Swarm retook the lead once again at 10:18 before Dickson responded with his hat-trick goal 23 seconds later to tie things back up at 11-11 to set the stage for the overtime victory..
COACH’S COMMENT
“We’re all feeling really good. Haiden in overtime there, that was a massive goal. To be honest, it felt like a playoff game out there and I thought it might have been, just because they were coming off two tough losses. We were coming off a couple, so we knew both teams were probably going to be really hungry tonight and that was the case. Both goalies were really, really good and obviously we just got one on the last shot. It was a pretty even game.”
Re King’s milestone night – “It was great for us to get a win in that 100th game, because that makes it more memorable for him. Games played are a big deal in this league, to me anyways and to a lot of our guys. For him to get his 100th game, us to win in overtime … he got a couple goals early, too, so that should help with his confidence. Everybody in there’s happy.”
NEXT UP:
The Roughnecks return to WestJet Field at the Scotiabank Saddledome next Friday, Jan. 24 to host the Toronto Rock for the NLL Friday Night on TSN game (7 p.m.). Calgary will be paying tribute to the Nations of Treaty 7 for Indigenous Celebration Night and will be wearing special edition orange jerseys designed by local Indigenous artist Jacob Alexis.
STAT PACK:
Curtis Dickson 3g, 3a
Dane Dobbie 3g, 1a
Jesse King: 2g, 3a
Tyler Pace: 1g, 3a
Brayden Mayea 1g, 3a
Bennett Smith 1g, 1a
Haiden Dickson 1g (OT winner)
Tanner Cook: 3a
John Lintz 1a
Eli Salama 1a
Griffin Hall 1a
Reece Callies 1a
Cameron Macleod 29 saves
Justin Inacio, 17 loose balls 24-27 in faceoffs
SAY WHAT:
“I think any time you can win at home in overtime is something you’re going to remember, whether it’s your 100th or 50th, whatever it may be. I’m just thankful for the majority of those games to be here in Calgary in front of amazing fans.” – Jesse King
“It feels pretty good to come back and hang out with the guys. I definitely missed them the first couple games. Coming here, playing in front of the fans again and coming out with a big win feels pretty good.” – Haiden Dickson
“I kind of just set a pick for (Curtis Dickson) and then slid and Cookie gave me the ball and I saw the lane and took the shot.” – Dickson re: his OT winner.
