Rose earns 100th career win as Rock outlast Roughnecks
Published
Calgary, AB – The Toronto Rock (6-1) got back in the win column with a 9-7 win over the Calgary Roughnecks (2-5) by a score of 9-7 on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, AB.
The win was also the 100th career triumph for Rock goaltender Nick Rose who joins Matt Vinc, Pat O’Toole, Bob Watson, and Mike Poulin as the fifth member of NLL goalie century club.
“I guess it means I'm old,” joked Rose. “It's cool for sure, but there’s still a lot of season left, so hopefully we can get that number a bit higher by the end of this season.”
The Rock were better. That kind of sums things up overall. They had a better start offensively scoring three goals in the first quarter, they were more cohesive on offence, and Rose allowed just seven goals in a showdown against the reigning NLL MVP and Goalie of the Year in Roughnecks’ goaltender Christian Del Bianco. So, on this night, the Rock were better than they were a week ago in a 16-14 loss to Buffalo which was important for this club.
After a first quarter that finished tied 3-3, the Rock got goals from Tom Schreiber, Chris Boushy and Corey Small and held Calgary to just a goal to lead 6-4 at the half.
“We've been notorious for coming out pretty slow,” said Mark Matthews. “I think going out there with a purpose like we did in the first quarter, first half was big for us, and we got a little bit of a lead and then grind it out.”
Dan Craig’s second goal of the game put the Rock up 7-5. It wasn’t just any ordinary goal either, Craig ended up on his wrong side and somehow found a way to beat Del Bianco. Calgary would tie the game, but Tyler Hendrycks’ second goal of the game, the eventual game winner, put the Rock up 8-5 heading for home.
The Roughnecks pushed back with a pair of goals to make it a one-goal game, but it was Small’s second tally of the game, a brilliant quick finish off the swing from Schreiber, that iced things and rounded out the scoring.
Calgary ended up outshooting Toronto 45-41. Rose’s 38 saves earned him the win, while Del Bianco made 32 saves and picked up the loss.
The Rock were 2-for-2 on the power play, while the Roughnecks were kept off the board with the man advantage going 0-for-3.
The Rock had a big boost prior to the game with the return of defender Josh Jubenville and faceoff specialist TD Ierlan. Both players were activated following morning shoot around from the Injured Reserve List.
The next Rock home game will be on Saturday, February 10 at 7pm ET at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton against these same Roughnecks. It’s Country Night featuring a halftime performance by country music star Chase McDaniel.