Go! ‘Necks! Go!

Ooooh boy, what a game. What started out as a nicely rounded butt-kicking turned into another nail-bitter. My roommate, after taking several deep breaths following the game, decided that she definitely doesn’t like that particular game plan when it comes to the Roughnecks. I would rather they have a huge lead to defend than play catch-up all game. No matter what our thoughts are, watching a 7 goal lead slowly dwindle down to a one or two goal lead is somewhat disheartening and stressful at the same time.

Let’s get into it shall we. The first quarter started strong for the Calgary Roughnecks with Kaleb Toth scoring twice in the first five minutes. Dan Dawson was first to put one in for the Arizona Sting but would also prove to be the only one capable of doing so in the first frame. Lewis Ratcliff, Tracey Kelusky, and Jeff Moleski all contributed to a definitive Calgary lead, closing the quarter at 5–1.

The second started much like the first, in that Calgary was first on the board with Jason Wulder scoring a powerplay goal 33 seconds in. There was a bit of a scoring drought for the next 8 minutes but Pat Maddalena — also on a powerplay — snuck the ball past Roughneck net-minder Curtis Palidwor. For the rest of the quarter goals were staggered between the teams. Lewis Ratcliff scored for the ‘necks, then Maddalena again for the Sting, followed by Kyle Goundrey for the Roughnecks. All of that ended the half at 8–3 in favor of our boys, the Calgary Roughnecks.

Out of all the quarters, the third ended up being the lowest scoring quarter of the game. A lot of back and forth action that frame as Maddalena was first up giving himself a hat trick. The second hat trick of the night was for Lewis Ratcliff when he scored 2 minutes later. Scoring his only goal of the game, Scott Self brought the Sting one goal closer to narrowing the 4 goal Calgary lead. Unfortunately for the Sting it didn’t last long as Jeff Moleski beat Arizona goal-tender Rob Blasdell to give us a 10–5 lead to end the quarter.

Now for quarter number four, otherwise known as the “catch-up” quarter for Arizona. In the previous three quarters Palidwor was stellar, holding the Sting to only five goals and making plenty of amazing saves. Unfortunately, even though it took them long enough, the Arizona boys figured out a few ways to finally beat “The Door” Curtis Palidwor. Peter Veltman, Chris McKay, and Peter Lough were the first to do so for the Sting. Breaking up their momentum, El Capitan, Tracey Kelusky scored his second of the night and brought the fans back into the game.

As I like to call him, “The Tower” Dan Dawson — also known to me as the bane of our existence but only because he is always in the right spot when playing against the Roughnecks — put the score at 11–9 with Calgary still in the lead — it was a narrow one but it was still ours. Answering back on the powerplay, Lewis Ratcliff padded the Calgary lead just a little bit more. Kaleb Toth followed that up with his third of the game giving us a decisive lead in the goal department. Dan Dawson managed to somehow get a hat trick by beating “The Door” late in the fourth. Matt Brown scored two more for Arizona, one of which was on a questionable call by our “beloved” officials who decided to give Ryan McNish a 5 minute checking from behind major on top of his 2 minute roughing penalty. To the joy of all the fans in attendence, Lewis Ratcliff, from Kaleb Toth, beat the Sting net-minder one last time to finish off the game at 14–12 for Calgary.

Welcome back to first place boys. Two games to go and then it’s off to the playoffs. I. Can’t. Wait.

Highlights

The best highlight of the game for me was definitely watching “The Door” stone wall the Sting for three quarters of the game. He is definitely looking like he’s back on top of his game. This is playoff form we’re seeing here people.

Obviously, I also enjoyed watching Dostie getting in there mixing it up. He may be smaller than a good number of players out there but he can hold his own that’s for sure.