Rush vs. Rock Game Notes
February 1, 2019 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
Saskatchewan Rush (3-2) vs. Toronto Rock (5-1)
6:30 PM | Friday, February 1, 2019
Scotiabank Arena | Toronto, ON
Watch | B/R Live
Listen | 92.9 The Bull
Official Away Game Party | Shoeless Joe's
The Saskatchewan Rush will renew acquaintances with their cross-Canada rival on Friday night when they take on the Toronto Rock.
After falling short in a comeback bid against the Georgia Swarm this past Sunday, the Rush now sit second in the West only a half game behind the San Diego Seals. The Rock won their fourth in a row last Saturday by beating Philadelphia and now lead the NLL overall as well as the East Division.
This will be the lone meeting between the Rush and Rock this season. Saskatchewan has won five of the last seven regular-season matchups between the two teams along with a 2-0 sweep in the 2015 best-of-three league championship series which lifted the Rush to their first NLL title. The two teams met just a single time in 2018, that coming in the season-opener last January. An 8-3 edge in second-half scoring along with going 4-for-5 on the power play pushed the Rush to a 17-9 win in Toronto. Jeff Shattler, playing in his first game for Saskatchewan after signing a free-agent deal in the off-season, notched eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his debut, while Ben McIntosh fired in five goals. Robert Church, with a hat trick, and two goals apiece for Curtis Knight and Marty Dinsdale added to the Rush attack as did a goal and six assists from Ryan Keenan. Mark Matthews and Adrian Sorichetti also scored for the Rush.
The last time the Rush and Rock played each other twice in a season came during the 2017 campaign with each team winning on their home turf. In Toronto, the Rock captured a 13-11 win after holding early leads of 5-0 and 8-1. Robert Church notched a hat trick for the Rush, while Mark Matthews added a pair, and singles went to Ryan Keenan and Mike Messenger (both with their first NLL goals), Marty Dinsdale, Curtis Knight and Chris Corbeil.
The Rush returned the favor by thumping the Rock 15-10 in Saskatoon behind seven-point games from Mark Matthews (4 goals, 3 assists) and Robert Church (2 goals, 5 assists). Ben McIntosh, Matt Hossack, and now current Rock Adam Jones each scored twice for Saskatchewan with Dan Taylor, Ryan Keenan and Curtis Knight getting a goal apiece.
This past Sunday in Georgia, the Rush found themselves down 5-0 early to the Swarm and they trailed by five at the end of first, second and third quarters before mounting a comeback bid that ultimately fell short. The 13-10 defeat brought an end to the Rush's three-game winning streak. Mark Matthews and Marty Dinsdale each posted hat trick for the Rush with Jeff Shattler adding a pair along with singles from Robert Church and Matt Hossack. Adam Shute replaced starter Evan Kirk in the Saskatchewan net after the fifth Georgia goal and he turned in a strong relief performance. Shute played over 52 minutes and made 28 in his first appearance of the season.
A day earlier, the Rock got hat tricks from Rob Hellyer, Adam Jones and Dan Lintner in a 13-12 come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Wings.
Adam Jones spent just one season with the Rush before being traded to Toronto prior to the 2018 season. The landed a pair of first-round picks in exchange for Jones, and they used the first of those to select Connor Robinson fifth overall in the 2018 Entry Draft. The Rush currently FIRST AND FOREMOST: have three first-round picks in the 2019 draft - their own plus Toronto's and Vancouver's.
The Rush lost the first five games in franchise history against the Toronto Rock, but have turned the tide against their Eastern Canadian foes. The overall head-to-head now stands at 13-11 in Toronto's MEMORY LANE: favor, but the Rush still hold the key edge having swept the Rock 2-0 in the 2015 best-of-three league championship series.
Ben McIntosh was held off the scoresheet against Georgia last weekend but the Rush forward is still sixth in the league with 15 goals ... Speaking of being held off, the Rush did not get a single power-play opportunity against Georgia but they remain tops in the league on the man-advantage at 73.7% (14-for-19). Ben McIntosh is tied for third with five power-play goals and Rush teammate Mark Matthews leads the NLL with nine power-play assists ... Toronto's power play is ranked third at 50.0% (11-for-22) ... Neither the Rush or the Rock have been strong on the penalty kill so far this season. Saskatchewan is ranked 11th at 42.9% and Toronto is ranked ninth at 50.0%, but the Rock Statistically Speaking: are tied for the league lead with four shorthanded goals - two each from Adam Jones and Rob Hellyer ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson leads the NLL with 76 loose balls scoops and he sits third with 78 faceoff wins ... Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch is tied for fifth in the league with 10 caused turnovers ... Currently, Toronto's offence features some of the league's top performers. Rob Hellyer and Tom Schreiber are tied for fourth with 37 points, Hellyer is tied for sixth in goals (15) with Schreiber and Adam Jones tied for eighth (14), and Schreiber is tied for fourth in assists (23) ... The Rock's Adam Jones and Rob Hellyer are tied for league lead with two game-winning goals apiece ... 2018 Regular Season: Rush star Mark Matthews completed the regular season in style as he set a new NLL record for assists in a single season with 84, and captured the league scoring title with 116 points, which also broke his own team record for points in a season. Matthews led the NLL with 33 power-play assists and was tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals ... The Rush's Robert Church finished second in league scoring with 107 points and tied for second in the league with 47 goals, one up on teammate Ben McIntosh. Church also finished sixth with 60 assists ... Saskatchewan finished the regular season with the top-ranked power play at 67.8% (59-for-87). Robert Church, Ben McIntosh and Ryan Keenan all tied for third in the league with 14 power-play goals, and Church also finished second with 27 power-play assists ... The Rush finished with the fifth-ranked penalty kill at 52.8% with eight shorthanded goals ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk led the league with 12 wins and finished with the second-best goals-against average at 10.82. He also had the fourth-best save-percentage at .777 ... Saskatchewan finished with a league-best 19.9% shooting percentage.
The Rush By the Numbers: are tops in the league allowing an average of just 10.80 goals per game, and they are third with an average of 12.00 goals scored per game. Toronto is second in both categories - 10.83 goals allowed and 12.83 goals scored ... The Rush have outscored their opponents 16-7 in third-quarter play so far this season ... Toronto has outscored its opponents 28-18 in fourth-quarter play ... The Rush and Rock are both 3-0 when leading at halftime this season ... The Rush's Ben McIntosh and the Rock's Rob Hellyer are both in the league's top five when it comes to Three Star Award points. McIntosh is fifth with 10 points (2 x First Star) and Hellyer is third with 14 points (1 x First Star, 2 x Second Star) ... Saskatchewan (eighth, 11.60 PIM per game) and Toronto (10th, 8.67 PIM per game) are two of the least-penalized teams in the NLL ... Rock goalie Nick Rose is tied for the league lead with five wins and he is third in both goals-against average (10.72) and save-percentage(.793). Rush goalie Evan Kirk is fourth in both GAA (10.92) and save-percentageSaskatchewan won the NLL's attendance derby with an average of 14,639 - 458 better than Buffalo. The Rush finished the season 6-3 on their home turf ... The Rush led the NLL with 254 goals scored and just 196 goals allowed. Saskatchewan topped the league with 14.11 goals scored per game and 10.89 goals allowed per game. Rochester finished third in both goals scored per game (13.11) and goals allowed per game (11.67) ... The Rush's Mark Matthews, Ryan Keenan and Robert Church all finished the regular season with 18-game assist streaks ... Jeremy Thompson of the Rush finished second in the league with 164 loose balls and fourth in faceoff wins with 234 ... Rush defenceman Kyle Rubisch finished seventh with 25 caused turnovers and 10th with 130 loose balls ... Saskatchewan was the only team in the league with three players in the top 10 of the Three Star Award voting. Robert Church was fifth with 26 points (3 x First Star, 3 x Second Star, 2 x Second Star), Mark Matthews was sixth with 24 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 3 x Third Star), and Evan Kirk was eighth with 21 points (3 x First Star, 2 x Second Star) ... The Rush outscored their opposition 62-30 in first-quarter play ... The Rush 2018 Regular Season: (.782) ... Toronto's Challen Rogers is tied for fourth in scoring by defencemen with seven points ... were 12-2 when leading after the first quarter, 13-1 when leading at halftime, 13-1 when leading after three, and 11-0 when outshooting their opponents.
Rush vs. Rock - Season-by-Season Glance
2018
17-9 Rush win (Jeff Shattler collects eight points, including six assists, in first game with new team)
2017
15-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews and Robert Church both register seven-point games)
13-11 Rock win (Tom Schreiber notches one goal and four assists)
2016
11-9 Rush win (Curtis Knight scores twice and adds three assists)
13-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews and Robert Church each collect six points)
2015
**11-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews tallies eight points including five goals)
*15-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews, Robert Church & Ben McIntosh all notch six
points)
11-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews racks up seven points including five assists)
16-15 OT Rock win (Rob Hellyer caps 10-point game with overtime winner)
*Denotes playoff win - Game 1 of Champion's Cup
**Denotes playoff win - Game 2 of Champion's Cup
2014
13-10 Rush win (Zack Greer scores hat trick in five-point effort)
11-10 Rush win (Cory Conway racks up two goals and three assists)
2013
17-12 Rush win (Mark Matthews and Zack Greer each notch hat tricks)
10-9 Rock win (Garrett Billings leads Toronto attack with six points)
2012
12-11 Rock win (Colin Doyle racks up one goal and seven assists)
12-8 Rock win (Garrett Billings registers one goal and six assists)
2011
13-7 Rock win (Blaine Manning notches one goal and five assists)
18-14 Rush win (Corey Small registers seven points including hat trick)
2010
16-7 Rock win (Blaine Manning pots 10 points on five goals and five assists)
14-13 Rush win (Ryan Powell notches eight points including four goals)
2009
16-12 Rush win (Andy Secore fires in five goals plus three assists)
16-9 Rock win (Lewis Ratcliff scores four goals with three assists)
2008
14-9 Rock win (Josh Sanderson picks up one goal and six assists)
14-9 Rock win (Aaron Wilson registers four goals and one assist)
2007
12-9 Rock win (Aaron Wilson racks up one goal and four assists)
2006
14-8 Rock win (Blaine Manning scores once and chips in 10 assists)
National Lacrosse League Stories from February 1, 2019
- Georgia Swarm Take Season Series against New England - Georgia Swarm
- Rock Keep Rolling, Beat Defending Champs 16-13 - Toronto Rock
- Black Wolves Fall Short at Georgia - New England Black Wolves
- Rush vs. Rock Game Notes - Saskatchewan Rush
- Summary of Disciplinary Action - Week 7 - NLL
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