By Colton Swiderski

Rush drop second game in a row

Jan 15, 2017 | 11:00 AM

The Saskatchewan Rush came up just short of a second-half comeback as the green and white fell 13-11 in last night’s game versus the Toronto Rock.

Making an impact early, the Rock’s Mike MacDonald put one by goaltender Aaron Bold ten seconds into the opening quarter.

By the end of the first, the Rush trailed 5-0.

In the second, the Rush were on the board first with Captain Chris Corbeil scoring one unopposed and in tight on goaltender Nick Rose.

Corbeil’s marker was met by three straight Rock goals scored by Bradley Kri, Challen Rogers, and Jesse Gamble respectively.

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Midway through the quarter the Rock’s Kieran McArdle was called for goalie interference on Aaron Bold, but not before Ryan Dilks had some things to say for his teammate as the two dropped the gloves. As a result of the fight Dilks was issued an instigator penalty and game misconduct, and was ejected for the remainder of the contest.

Before the end of the half, leading Rush scorer Mark Matthews trimmed the Rock’s lead to 8-2, which stood heading into the break.

Reminiscent of the first quarter, the Rock added to their lead early, with Turner Evans scoring just 19 seconds into the second half.

Not even 30 seconds after the goal, Bold was called for an illegal body-check, resulting in a five-minute major penalty which the Rock capitalized on.

Down 10-2, the Rush started its rally just a little too late, but were able to gain some momentum and outscore the Rock 9-3 for the remaining 21 minutes. Despite a strong final effort by the Rush, the game ended in a 13-11 loss, the team’s first loss against Toronto in nearly two years.

Despite the loss, the game featured a few positive moments for the Rush, which included Robert Church scoring a hat-trick, 2016 third overall pick Mike Messenger getting his first career goal, and first overall pick Ryan Keenan netting his second of the young season.  

Called for fewer penalties this week (9) than last (12), the Rush seemed a bit more disciplined and tighter on the penalty-kill, as they only allowed one power-play goal.

On the opposite side of the power-play, the Rush managed to capitalize on four out of nine.

Starting the season 0-2, the Rush will look for their first win at next weekend’s home opener and banner-raising game against the Rochester Knighthawks.

Opening face-off is at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21 at SaskTel Centre. 

cswiderski@jpbg.ca

@coltonswiderski