Rush vs. Roughnecks Game Notes
Published on April 18, 2019 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Saskatchewan Rush News Release
7:00PM | SCOTIABANK SADDLEDOME
RUSH vs. ROUGHNECKS Game Notes, presented by Kensington Saskatoon
PRESENTED BY KENSINGTON SASKATOON
Saskatchewan Rush (10-6) vs. Calgary Roughnecks (9-8)
Scotiabank Saddledome | Calgary, AB
Watch | B/R Live
Listen | 92.9 The Bull
Away Game Party | Shoeless Joe's Saskatoon
The Battle of the Prairies takes on extra importance this Saturday when the Saskatchewan Rush travel to Calgary to clash with the arch-rival Roughnecks.
The Rush can clinch first place in the West with a victory, locking down home-turf advantage for throughout the division playoffs, and a win will also clinch the season-series between the two teams currently even at a win apiece. By sweeping last weekend's doubleheader, the Rush moved atop the West and hold a one-game lead over San Diego and a 1.5-game lead over Calgary with a game in-hand on the Roughnecks.
Calgary had lost four straight to Saskatchewan before earning their first-ever win in Saskatoon 17-12 back on February 9th. Robert Church and Jeff Shattler each notched hat tricks for the Rush, Curtis Knight and Ryan Keenan had two goals apiece, and Ben McIntosh and Mark Matthews each scored once. The Rush gained a measure of revenge by beating the Roughnecks 15-9 in Saskatoon on March 2nd. Jeff Shattler anchored the Rush attack with three goals and four assists against his former club. Curtis Knight, Robert Church and Mark Matthews each scored twice for the Rush with singles going to Mike Messenger, Marty Dinsdale, Ben McIntosh and Matt Hossack. The win improved the Rush's all-time regular-season record against Calgary to 21-28.
Last season, the Rush advanced to their fourth consecutive NLL championship series and ultimately their third title after beating Calgary 15-13 in the West Division Final. The Rush completed their second season-series sweep of the Roughnecks in the regular-season finale with an 11-10 victory. In the first matchup between the teams last season, Ben McIntosh scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to lift the Rush to a 13-12 win. The Rush added to their winning ways against the Roughnecks in the return matchup a month later in Saskatoon as they came away with a 10-6 victory.
The Rush notched two clutch victories last weekend, first earning a road win in San Diego by beating the Seals 14-8 behind six goals from Ben McIntosh and a six-point game from Mark Matthews. One later back on their home turf, the Rush erased a two-goal deficit by blanking the Philadelphia Wings 7-0 in the fourth quarter to post a 16-11 decision. Ben McIntosh and Mark Matthews both had five goals.
SHATTLER TIES TEAM RECORD: Jeff Shatter notched his fifth game-winning goal of the season March 30th against Vancouver, equaling the previous franchise single-season high set in 2014 by Curtis Knight. Shattler also currently leads the NLL in that category.
RUSH SINGLE-SEASON GAME-WINNING GOAL LEADERS
2019 - Jeff Shattler (5) 2018 - Curtis Knight & Ben McIntosh (3)
2017 - Adam Jones (3) 2016 - Zack Greer (4)
2015 - Robert Church & Ben McIntosh (3) 2014 - Curtis Knight (5)
2013 - Zack Greer (3)
MILESTONE MINUTE: With his six-assist effort against Philadelphia last Saturday, the Rush's Curtis Knight reached 300 career points ... The Rush's Robert Church and Ben McIntosh are within range of 200 career goals. Church needs just two and McIntosh, who clicked for 11 goals last weekend, is eight away ... Rush captain Chris Corbeil is only three loose-ball scoops away from 1,000 for his NLL career.
Statistically Speaking: With 11 goals from last weekend's two games, Ben McIntosh leads the Rush and is third in the league with 41 goals ... The Rush's Mark Matthews is now fourth in the league scoring race with 94 points. He is fifth in goals with 37 and tied for ninth in assists with 57 ... Jeff Shattler of the Rush not only leads the NLL with five game-winning goals but he has moved into the top-15 in goals with 31 ... Rush netminder Adam Shute, who won both games last weekend, leads the NLL with a 10.19 goals-against average ... The Rush are dominating the defensive category of caused turnovers. Kyle Rubisch leads the league with 37, five better than Calgary's Zach Currier. Rush defenceman Mike Messenger is tied for third with 30, Jeremy Thompson is tied for seventh with 25, and Chris Corbeil is tied for ninth with 23 ... The Rush's Jeremy Thompson leads the NLL with 190 loose-ball scoops, one up on Calgary's Zach Currier. Kyle Rubisch of the Rush is ninth with 125 ... Jeremy Thompson is second in the NLL with 238 faceoff wins, 10 better than Calgary's Tyler Burton in third ... The Rush still have the NLL's top-ranked power play at 59.2% (29-for-49). Ben McIntosh is tied for eight in the league with eight power-play goals and Mark Matthews is tied for third with 17 power-play assists ... Calgary's power play is third at 48.8% (40-for-82). Dane Dobbie and Rhys Duch are tied for second with 11 power-play goals each, and Dane Dobbie is tied for third with 17 power-play assists ... Saskatchewan's penalty kill is ranked 10th in the league at 48.3% and the Rush have scored seven shorthanded goals. Jeff Shattler has two shorthanded goals and Matt Hossack has two shorthanded assists ... The Roughnecks are ranked second on the penalty kill at 59.7%. They have scored 10 shorthanded goals but also surrendered 10 shorthanded goals ... The Rush's Matt Hossack is tied for fifth in defenceman scoring with 15 points and is tied for third with 12 assists ... Calgary's Dane Dobbie leads the NLL in points (107), goals (43) and assists (64) ... Roughnecks goalie Christian Del Bianco leads the league with 679 total saves ... 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 ... 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 ... Rush goalie Evan Kirk led the league with 12 wins.
By the Numbers: The Rush are 8-2 on the year so far against rivals from the West Division. Calgary is 5-6 vs. the rest of the West ... Saskatchewan is 4-4 on the road, while the Roughnecks are 4-4 at home ... The Rush are 6-1 when they score first, 8-1 when they lead after the first quarter, and 9-0 when they lead at halftime and after three quarters. They are also 8-3 when they outshoot their opponent ... Saskatchewan continues to lead the NLL attendance derby with an average of 13,408. Calgary is in fourth at 10,905 ... The Rush are third in both goals scored average per game (12.56) and goals allowed average per game (11.00). The Roughnecks are eighth in goals scored average (11.41) and fifth in goals allowed average (11.35) ... The Rush lead the West and are third in the NLL with 201 goals on the year. They are second in the West and third in the league in goals allowed at 176 ... The Rush's Mark Matthews has moved into fourth place in the league's Three Stars Award race with 27 points (4 x First Star, 2 x Second Star, 1 x Third Star) while puts him just seven points behind Calgary's Dane Dobbie. The Rush's Ben McIntosh now has 16 points (3 x First Star, 1 x Third Star) ... The Rush hold down third spot in three team categories - total loose balls (1,206), shooting percentage (17.2%) and faceoff win percentage (57.3%) ... 2018 Regular Season: Saskatchewan won the NLL's attendance derby with an average of 14,639 - 458 better than Buffalo ... 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 ... 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).
Rush vs. Roughnecks - Season-by-Season Glance
2019
15-9 Rush win (Jeff Shattler totals seven points on three goals and four assists)
17-12 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie, Tyler Pace and Curtis Dickson each score four goals)
2018
*15-13 Rush win (Ben McIntosh records a hat trick and adds three assists for a six-point night)
11-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches seven points, including six assists)
10-6 Rush win (Mark Matthews records seven points including a hat trick)
13-12 OT Rush win (Ben McIntosh scores second of the game 46 seconds into overtime)
*denotes playoff game
2017
14-7 Roughnecks win (Frankie Scigliano compiles 53 saves)
13-10 Rush win (Mark Matthews racks up seven points including five assists)
12-11 OT Rush win (Robert Church and Ben McIntosh each post hat tricks)
15-11 Rush win (Robert Church and Ben McIntosh each collect six points)
2016
*12-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews totals seven points including five assists)
*16-10 Rush win (Ben McIntosh fires in four goals)
11-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews racks up six points including hat trick)
12-11 OT Rush win (Robert Church registers six points including hat trick)
19-12 Rush win (Zack Greer sets club record with seven goals including five in a row)
10-8 Rush win (Robert Church and Mark Matthews both registered two goals and three assists)
*denotes playoff game
2015
*4-1 Rush win (Jeff Cornwall scored series-winning goal with unassisted marker)
*12-9 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans recorded seven points including three goals)
*10-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews racked up seven points including a hat trick)
11-9 Rush win (Mark Matthews & Robert Church both with five-point games)
9-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson pots four goals including game-winner)
12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Daryl Veltman scores four goals including game-winner in OT)
16-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews registers eight points including hat trick)
*denotes playoff game
2014
*2-1 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans scores both goals in mini-game clincher)
*15-13 Rush win (Mark Matthews notches hat trick)
*12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson pots four goals plus two assists)
14-13 OT Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson scores seven goals including game-winner)
15-11 Rush win (Curtis Knight records eight-point game including five goals)
15-7 Rush win (Zack Greer notches first-quarter hat trick)
15-8 Rush win (Mark Matthews tallies seven points including four goals)
*denotes playoff game
2013
12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans caps 10-point game with OT winner)
18-13 Rush win (Ryan Ward sets Rush reg. season record with 10 points)
9-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson scores four goals including game-winner)
18-15 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler tallies two goals and adds six assists)
2012
*19-11 Rush win (Ryan Ward sets Rush record with 11-point game)
9-6 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans racks up four goals and two assists)
16-9 Roughnecks win (Shawn Evans pots five goals including penalty shot tally)
13-10 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson with four goals and three assists)
12-8 Roughnecks win (Curtis Dickson nets hat trick plus two assists)
*denotes playoff game
2011
19-14 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler totals nine points with one goal and eight assists)
15-11 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie collects three goals and six assists)
12-11 OT Roughnecks win (Mike Scherman pots the game-winner)
12-11 Roughnecks win (Jeff Shattler notches hat trick plus five assists)
2010
*11-7 Rush win (Ryan Ward notches nine points including eight assists)
13-8 Roughnecks win (Josh Sanderson picks up three goals and three assists)
14-13 OT Roughnecks win (Josh Sanderson earns hat trick including game-
winner)
14-11 Rush win (Dean Hill notches hat trick and adds one assist)
*denotes playoff game
2009
10-9 OT Roughnecks win (Curt Malawsky notches the game-winner)
22-10 Roughnecks win (Dane Dobbie collects 11 points including seven goals)
14-13 Roughnecks win (Tracey Kelusky racks up eight points including four goals)
2008
11-9 Rush win (Jimmy Quinlan pots four goals plus one assist)
18-7 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth registers nine points including four goals)
12-8 Roughnecks win (Curt Malawsky registers four goals and one assist)
2007
13-12 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth and Lewis Ratcliff each with four points)
13-12 Rush win (Chris Gill sets club record with six goals)
17-11 Roughnecks win (Tracey Kelusky collects two goals and seven assists)
2006
11-9 Roughnecks win (Lewis Ratcliff scores five goals)
12-9 Roughnecks win (Kaleb Toth and Tracey Kelusky each with seven points)
12-11 Rush win (Pat Campbell earns player of the game with 54 saves)
16-9 Roughnecks win (Lewis Ratcliff notches four goals and two assists)
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