Sting take down Roughnecks, 14-10
March 17, 2007 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Arizona Sting News Release
GLENDALE, AZ --- The Arizona Sting opened the second half of the 2007 NLL season with a win on Friday night, downing their archrival Calgary Roughnecks by a score of 14-10 in front of 5,503 fans at Jobing.com Arena. The stingy Arizona defense, led by All-Star goaltender Rob Blasdell, held the Roughnecks' powerful offense in check for the majority of the match, while Derek Malawsky and Lindsay Plunkett each tallied hat tricks to pace the Sting attack. Head Coach/General Manager Bob Hamley was impressed with his team's overall effort in Friday's important victory.
"This was definitely a huge win for us," said Hamley. "We played well at both ends of the floor and our goaltending was exceptional once again. Home games against divisional rivals are always important and our guys really stepped up tonight when we needed them to and we came out with the win. I'm really proud of the effort I saw out there tonight."
Rob Blasdell, who scored an empty net goal in the fourth quarter in addition to making several spectacular saves throughout the match, stopped 37 shots on Friday night to earn his seventh win of the season for the Sting. The veteran net minder gave credit to his defense for helping to keep the Roughnecks' forwards from gaining any discernable rhythm in the pivotal Arizona win.
"My defense played incredibly well in front of me," said Blasdell. "Calgary has a quick team and our guys really did a good job of slowing them down out there. We're really happy with this win, and hopefully we can keep this momentum going down the stretch."
The Sting drew first blood on Friday night, as Derek Malawsky netted his eighth tally of the season 2:03 into the first quarter to give Arizona an early 1-0 lead. Calgary tied the match at one apiece 7:18 later, as Kaleb Toth buried a rebound to earn his 18th goal of the year. The Roughnecks went up 2-1 at the 12:32 mark of the first period as Jeff Moleski scored on a breakaway with a man down to register his fourth short-handed marker of 2007. Speedy Chris Seller scored the game's next goal, beating Roughnecks goalie Andrew Leyshon with a low shot midway through the second period to tie things up 2-2. The Sting then took the lead with 5:46 remaining in the opening half, as 'Chainsaw' Lindsay Plunkett dove through the crease to tap a loose ball into the open Roughnecks net for his 22nd goal of the season. Plunkett's 23rd of the year made the score 4-2 in favor of the home team 1:15 later, but Lewis Ratcliff scored on Calgary's next possession to cut the Sting lead to one. Wily veteran Curt Malawsky then got in on the action, beating Leyshon with a well-placed shot to make the score 5-3 in favor of the Sting. Craig Conn's 13th tall of the season put Arizona up by three near the end of the second quarter, and the game reached its midway point with the spatially limited scoreboard reading STING 6 - R'NECKS 3. Conn (2G-5A-7P) was pleased with his performance on Friday night.
"I felt pretty good out there tonight," said Conn. "I was seeing the floor pretty well and got some good looks at the net thanks to some solid picks from my teammates. Offensively I think this was one of our most consistent efforts, and that's definitely a sign of good things to come for this team."
The Roughnecks came out strong in the third period, with Lewis Ratcliff scoring in the opening minute to pull the visiting squad from Alberta to within two of the Sting lead. 'Downtown' Matt Brown responded quickly however, finding the back of the Calgary net 4:33 into the second half to restore the three-goal Arizona advantage. The Roughnecks' power play then went to work, striking at the 9:46 mark of the third quarter to make the score 7-5 as Jeff Shattler beat Rob Blasdell with a high shot for his ninth tally of the season. An impressive individual effort from Dan Dawson resulted in Arizona's ninth goal of the game shortly thereafter; the 6'5" forward eluded a series of Calgary defensemen en route to the Roughnecks' net and his team-leading 32nd goal. With teammate Mike Grimes in the penalty box, Derek Malawsky scored a big short-handed goal for the Sting with 93 seconds remaining in the third to put the home team up 9-5 as regulation's penultimate frame reached its conclusion.
Derek 'Merlin" Malawsky continued his offensive wizardry into the fourth quarter, putting the finishing touches on a hat trick 5:48 into the frame. A highlight-reel goal from Lindsay Plunkett put the Sting up by an unconverted touchdown with under eight minutes remaining in regulation and also gave the 26-year old a hat trick of his own. Calgary refused to roll over however, as they scored a pair of goals midway through the fourth to pull to within four of Arizona's lead. A third unanswered goal from the Roughnecks, courtesy of Tracey Kelusky, made the score 11-8, but a tally from 'Dangerous' Dan Dawson with 4:11 remaining re-established the Sting's four-goal advantage. A goal by Craig Conn then made the score 13-8 in Arizona's favor, sealing the Roughnecks' dire fate in the process. Rob Blasdell then stoned Lewis Ratcliff on a penalty with two minutes remaining, and then scored an empty net goal with 49.5 seconds on the clock to punctuate his stellar Friday night performance with an exclamation point. Two late goals by Calgary at the expense of backup goalie Mike Attwood resulted in the final score being 14-10 for the second-place Sting.
Arizona is now a full two games ahead of Calgary in the West Division's standings and trail the Colorado Mammoth by the same amount. These two perennial foes will meet again next weekend, as the Sting travel to the Pengrowth Saddledome for a Saturday night rematch with the Roughnecks. Fans can catch the action live by logging onto B2 Networks (www.b2live.com).
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