Saskatchewan sweeps semifinal series with
Thunderbirds
On Saturday at the SaskTel Centre, it appeared for a short time the Rush were going to need to play a series-deciding Game 3 in their best-of-three NLL semifinal set against the Halifax Thunderbirds. On May 3, the Rush took Game 1 of the series in a 16-7 romp at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, but Game 2 on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre was a different story.
The Rush and Thunderbirds were tied 7-7 late in the fourth quarter. At that point, Thunderbirds forward Thomas Hoggarth scored goals with 2:33 and again with 1:36 remaining in the stanza to put the visitors up 9-7. Those tallies completed a four-goal night for Hoggarth.
At that point, the Rush cued up a miracle comeback with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker. With 43.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Rush star forward Zach Manns wired home his second goal of the contest to trim the Thunderbirds lead to 9-8.
The Rush proceeded to get the ball back off a turnover, and with 5.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Rush veteran defender Matt Hossack tucked home the equalizer close in at the left side of the Halifax net to force a 9-9 tie and sudden death overtime.
Just 90 seconds into extra session, Thunderbirds forward Mike Robinson drove Rush defender Bobby Kidd III from behind into the boards. Robinson was given a major penalty for boarding. Due to the fact he also received a major penalty for an illegal cross check in the first quarter, Robinson was also ejected from the contest.
Just 10 seconds into the ensuing power play, Rush star forward Austin Shanks fired home the winning goal from the left slot area in the Halifax zone to give the Rush a surprising 10-9 victory before a gathering of 5,829 spectators that exploded into a madhouse. Shanks, who is a former member of the Thunderbirds, finished the contest netting a pair of goals and two assists.
With the win, the Rush sweep the best-of-three series against the Thunderbirds 2-0. Saskatchewan advances to the best-of-three NLL championship series to face the Buffalo Bandits. The Bandits swept the Vancouver Warriors 2-0 in the other NLL semifinal series. The Warriors were 11-7 during the regular season.
The Rush and Bandits both finished the regular season posting 13-5 records. In the one head-to-head encounter between the two sides, the Bandits claimed a 9-7 victory on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre. That allowed the Bandits, who are the two-time defending NLL champions, to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.
In Saturday’s clash between the Rush and Thunderbirds, Saskatchewan jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to scoring a pair of power-play goals on the first major given to Robinson. The Thunderbirds proceeded to battle back, and as a result, the Rush exited the first quarter holding a 4-3 advantage.
At that point, the game became a defensive slugfest until the final 2:33 of the fourth quarter and overtime.
The Rush went into the halftime break holding a 5-4 lead. The two sides were locked in a 6-6 tie at the end of the third quarter.
The Thunderbirds scored first in the fourth quarter to go ahead 7-6, but the Rush answered back to force a 7-7 tie. That set the stage for the end of game fireworks.
Star forward Robert Church topped the Rush with five points coming off two goals and three assists. Holden Garlent, captain Ryan Keenan and Mike Messenger had singles for Saskatchewan.
Forward Dawson Theede led the Thunderbirds with six points coming off two goals and four assists. Clarke Petterson had a pair of goals for the Thunderbirds, who also received a single from Randy Staats.
Frank Scigliano made 45 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Rush. Backup goalie Thomas Kiazyk made a brief appearance late in the fourth quarter. He was inserted in net, because he could run to the bench faster than Scigliano when it came time to pull the goalie.
Warren Hill turned away 45 shots to take the setback in goal for the Thunderbirds, who posted an 11-7 mark during the regular season.
The Rush are advancing to the NLL Championship Series for the first time since 2018. They needed a 15-10 victory in a series-deciding Game 3 on June 9 of that year at the SaskTel Centre to claim the NLL title.
The Rush and Bandits last met in the NLL final in 2016. Saskatchewan swept that series 2-0. The NLL title was clinched on June 4 of that year in Game 2 of the NLL Championship Series at the SaskTel Centre. That was the contest that saw Rush defender Jeff Cornwall score on a breakaway with 12 seconds to play to break a 10-10 tie and deliver Saskatchewan to an 11-10 victory.
Saskatchewan wouldn’t mind for the history of 2016 to repeat itself in 2025.
McKenna, Cristall, Catton in hot scoring race
again, other notes
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| Gavin McKenna jets up ice for the Tigers on Friday night. |
During the regular season, superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna of the Medicine Hat Tigers battled Spokane Chiefs superstars in right-winger Andrew Cristall and centre Berkly Catton to be the circuit’s top scorer.
Cristall came to the Chiefs in a blockbuster trade with the Kelowna Rockets on January 8. In 57 regular season contests played between the Rockets and Chiefs, Cristall, who turned 20-years-old on February 4, topped the WHL in regular season scoring to claim the Bob Clarke Trophy with 132 points coming off 48 goals and 84 assists to go with a plus-59 rating in the plus-minus department.
McKenna finished second in regular season scoring recording 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in the plus-minus department in 56 contests. He was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year.
Catton finished third in the regular season scoring race with 109 points coming off 38 goals and 71 assists to go with a plus-46 rating.
In the post-season, the Tigers and Chiefs are now battling in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Tigers claimed a 4-1 victory on Friday in Game 1 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Game 2 is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Co-op Place.
McKenna, Cristall and Catton have each recorded 37 points in the current WHL Playoffs. Cristall leads the scoring race with his point total coming off 20 goals and 17 assists to go with a plus-15 rating in 15 games.
Catton is slated second in the scoring race with his 37 points coming off nine goals and 28 assists to go with a plus-11 rating in 16 games.
McKenna is third in the scoring race with his 37 points coming off eight goals and 29 assists to go with a plus-16 rating in 14 games.
It is possible the team that wins the WHL title will have the player that also wins the post-season scoring race.
- Most of the members of the Tigers 2006-07 WHL championship team were in attendance on Friday night to watch the current edition of the Tigers take Game 1 of the current WHL Championship Series.
- Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford is having an impressive post-season. Pickford, who turned 19-years-old in early April, has recorded eight goals, 10 assists and a plus-21 rating in 14 games. Pickford was a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds WHL championship team in 2022-23 and was acquired by the Tigers in a trade with the Thunderbirds on May 9, 2024.
- On Friday, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Mitchell Picton, who is a receiver with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and regularly travels to Saskatoon to coach at Saskatoon Minor Football’s Playground To Pros camp. He gets a kick about being remembered by the folks in Saskatoon for playing five seasons with the University of Regina Rams from 2013 to 2017. The piece on Picton can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images from Softball Saskatchewan’s final tryout session for its men’s Canada Summer Games team at the Indoor Training Centre. It also contains photos from baseball, cricket, football, softball and track and field. That post can be found by clicking right here.
If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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