The month of February hasn’t been kind to the Calgary Roughnecks.
The Riggers scored three goals in each of the final three quarters, but still wound up on the losing end of a 13-10 decision to the Vancouver Stealth in front of 9,361 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Calgary has now lost three straight games, all at the Rough House in February, to fall to 3-4.
Dane Dobbie led the way for the ’Necks with three goals and four assists, while Curtis Dickson had a hat trick and set up three others.
“We’re not going to win many games in this league showing up like we did in the first half there,” said Dickson in regards to the Riggers trailing by 5-0, 6-1 and 10-3 scores in the opening 30 minutes. “They jumped all over us right from the start. We clawed our way back, but we just dug ourselves too deep of a hole, so that’s unacceptable.”
Wesley Berg also had a hat trick, while Jeff Shattler had a goal and four helpers.
Frank Scigliano started in net for Calgary and stopped 28 of 37 shots he faced. Christian Del Bianco had 15:28 of playing time and made 10 saves.
Corey Small had a great game for the Stealth (3-5) with four goals and four assists, while netminder Tye Belanger made 44 saves.
Logan Schuss also had four goals to go with two assists, Jordan Durston counted two goals, while Matt Beers, Rhys Duch and Ryan Wagner also scored.
Although Calgary outshot Vancouver 13-12 in the first quarter, the Stealth jumped out to a 6-1 lead as Schuss and Small led the way with two goals and an assist each.
The Stealth scored the first five goals of the game before Dickson finally got the Riggers on the board with a highlight-reel goal at 12:30. Dickson took a pass from Tyler Digby behind the Vancouver net before diving out front and tucking a shot past Belanger before hitting the turf.
Dickson made another great play early in the second quarter as he fed a behind-the-back pass into the slot for Dobbie, who proceeded to fire a shot to the top corner past Belanger.
After Duch scored for Vancouver, Dickson bounced a shot past Belanger at 7:56 of the second. The Stealth then scored three straight goals before Berg converted a pass from Dobbie with 1:51 to play in the first half.
Wagner opened the scoring in the second half before the ’Necks notched the next three goals in the third quarter. Shattler scored at 7:18 before Berg added another 61 seconds later. Berg then finished off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play by depositing quick-stick goal past Belanger during a Calgary man advantage at 14:27.
“The guys are battling, that compete they had in the second half, that’s what I expect,” said Calgary coach Curt Malawsky. “But at the start of the game, we’re not doing something right.”
Dobbie pulled the Riggers within three goals early in the fourth quarter before Schuss answered right back for the Stealth. Although Dickson and Dobbie both completed their hat tricks in the final frame, it wasn’t enough for the ’Necks to rally back.
“It’s one of those woulda, coulda, shoulda things,” said Dickson of Calgary’s failed comeback attempt. “We can’t go down six, seven goals and expect to be able to come back and win very many games. That’s on us to find some consistency there in the first half.”
Next up, the Roughnecks will travel to Saskatoon to face the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday, Feb. 25.
“They’re a great team,” said Dickson. “Obviously they’ve shown it in the last few years. That’s definitely not a team you can shoot yourself in the foot and get down early, so we’ve got to be ready to go right off the bat.”
