Kiazyk thrown into fire, picks up first NLL win with Rush

Rush goalie Thomas Kiazyk get the ice water dunk after his first win. 

Getting ice water dunked never felt so sweet for Saskatchewan Rush rookie goalie Thomas Kiazyk.

On Saturday, Kiazyk made his first career start in an NLL regular season game as the Rush battled the Albany Firewolves. The 20-year-old netminder admitted his start wasn’t a work of art. When the dust settled, he made 39 saves to backstop the Rush to a 17-13 victory to the appreciative roars of the engaged 5,768 spectators in attendance.

Following the contest, Kiazyk was doing a post-game interview on the floor in front of the fans in attendance. During the interview, his Rush teammates snuck up behind him and doused him with cold water coming out of an assortment of water bottles.

Thomas Kiazyk made his first career NLL start on Saturday.

“It kind of snuck up on me a little bit,” said Kiazyk, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 180 pounds. “It was super special.

“Those guys are the world to me, and I’m really happy just to get the win for them. They battled out for me, so I just want to match that energy all the time.”

The Rush improved to 5-2 with the win, while the Firewolves fell to 2-6.

Kiazyk said he found out on Wednesday that he might end up starting Saturday’s contest, because there was a chance Rush starting goalie Frank Scigliano wasn’t going to be available. Scigliano’s wife was expected to give birth to the couple’s new child on game day. Ultimately, Scigliano’s special family situation kept him away from the SaskTel Centre.

Thomas Kiazyk, left, made 39 saves in goal for the Rush.

Rush defender Keegan Bell dressed as the team’s backup goalie on Saturday. The Rush wanted to sign Saskatoon product Laine Hruska on Saturday to be the team’s backup, but an NLL rule prevents clubs from signing new players on game days. Hruska, who has been a past Rush backup goaltender, helped out the Rush coaches behind the bench as part of the club’s support personnel.

While Kiazyk likes to pride himself on his confidence, he did have an attack of the nerves at the start of Saturday’s game. As a result, the Firewolves jumped out to a 4-0 lead just 5:06 into the opening quarter.

“I was trying to say that, like, I didn’t have nerves at all,” said Kiazyk. “I kept telling myself that, but I 100 per cent did.

Robert Church celebrates scoring the fifth of his five goals.

“I mean trying to get to the first TV timeout was obviously the goal every time, taking five minutes at a time. It was a little slow on my half. We all kind of had to do a little bit of adjusting and figuring out, but (we had a) quick response and our coaches prepared really well for that.

“We just made a great in game adjustment and responded.”

The Rush battled back and exited the first quarter locked in a 5-5 tie. Rush all-time great forward Robert Church potted the equalizer that forced the 5-5 even score with 2.6 seconds remaining in the stanza.

From that point, the host side got the game to halftime holding a 9-8 lead, and after three quarters, the Rush were holding a 13-12 edge. Saskatchewan pulled away in the fourth quarter to post the four-goal victory.

Ryan Keenan had two goals and seven assists for the Rush.

As the game went on, Kiazyk said he started to experiences times when the contest did start to feel like a normal game for him.

“I feel like in the first period I had moments of that,” said Kiazyk. “In the fourth quarter, I feel like after we killed one of the penalties I feel like we were just so locked in.

“I feel like I let in a few crappy goals here and there and that happens. You just have to look past it and look forward to what is next.”

When the fourth quarter clock expired, Kiazyk was pumped he was able to get a win in his first career NLL start. He said that was a memory he will take with him for the rest of his life.

The Rush faithful celebrate a goal scored by the host side.

“I’m super happy about it,” said Kiazyk. “I mean so many people have gotten me to this point in my life.

“I’m super happy to be able to get that win not only for myself but for all the people who supported me along the way.”

Rush co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan said you could see Kiazyk improve as the game went on. The bench boss said the young goalie has a really good confidence and moxie to him. When things don’t go well, Quinlan said that Kiazyk works to battle his way back.

“He has just got a great head on his shoulder and works at it, works at it and works at it,” said Quinlan. “The guys love him.

The O16 Electric Crew performs during a break in the action.

“He is never not in the net not taking shots. We actually have to get him off the floor a lot of times, so it was nice to see him work.”

Rush veteran forward Austin Shanks said his squad allowed the coaches and players that were involved with the goalies work with Kiazyk. When the Firewolves got up 4-0 early in the first quarter, Shanks said the Rush players didn’t panic and showed confidence those involved with the goalies would help Kiazyk get settled down.

“He (Kiazyk) let those four in quick, but then, he held it for the next 10 minutes to one,” said Shanks, who had one goal and four assists in the win. “He stepped up big.

Alex Simmons had two goals and five assists for the Firewolves.

“We realized he was stepping up. We had to go do our job. It was our turn to step up and start throwing some punches.”

Church said the team was pretty excited to see Kiazyk get his first win.

“He is such a great guy and a locker room presence even as a young guy,” said Church. “For us to be able to get him that win, and not even us get him that win like him give us that win, he shut the door.”

Church figured Kiazyk would have some early nerves, and the long time veteran figured the rookie would get to the point the contest would start feeling like a normal game.

The Rush faithful got to celebrate 17 goals on Saturday.

“It is expected, right,” said Church. “He is only 20-years-old, and he started his first game.

“He is going to have jitters. We saw that early, but he settled right in and was unreal down the stretch. He has got a future.

“He is a good goalie. He is a better guy.”

In Saturday’s clash, Church recorded 10 points in the win coming off five goals and five assists. Rush captain Ryan Keenan posted nine points coming off two goals and seven assists.

Zach Manns (#2) scored a pair of goals for the Rush.

Jake Boudreau, Clark Walter and Zach Manns each scored twice for the Rush, while Mike Triolo, Brock Haley and Adam Jay picked up singles. Boudreau’s second tally was scored into an empty net. 

The 17 goals the Rush scored were a team high for the current campaign, and they are also 4-0 this season when their opponents score first.

Forward Alex Simmons topped the Firewolves with seven points coming off two goals and five assists. Dyson Williams had a hat trick for Albany, and Ethan Walker and Sam Firth each had two goal outings for the visitors. Zac Masson, Will Johansen, Tye Kurtz and John Piatelli each had singles for the Firewolves.

The Rush celebrate a goal from Jake Boudreau (#17).

Doug Jamieson started in net and turned away 37-of-52 shots to take the setback for the Firewolves. Andrew Kidd saw spot duty in net for the Firewolves turning aside 4-of-5 shots sent his way.

The Rush return to action on Saturday, February 1, when they travel to San Diego to take on the 3-4 Seals (7 p.m. local time, Pechanga Arena).

Kiazyk could potentially get his second career start in that road encounter with the Seals. Whenever he gets the call next to guard the Rush net, Kiazyk said the fact he got his first start under his belt and picked up a win in the process will help him the next time he sees action on the floor.

“I think it is huge,” said Kiazyk. “Obviously, I don’t want to get my head too big.

The Rush salute their fans after their win on Saturday night.

“It is just one step in the right direction and one step closer to me becoming a better goalie. I can look back on this. I have game film now, and I can tweak some things.

“I can go over it with Kirky (goalie coach Evan Kirk) and Frankie (Frank Scigliano) and everyone and just look to get better and look to improve for the future.”

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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Wings freeze Rush comeback attempt in OT

Cattoni’s winner drops Saskatchewan to 3-1

Clark Walter (#9) of the Rush keeps the ball away from a Wings defender.

Holden Cattoni played the role of Grinch to the chagrin of the Saskatchewan Rush and their fans.

On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre just three days after Christmas Day, Cattoni fired home five goals including the overtime winner to allow his Philadelphia Wings to pull out a 12-11 overtime victory over the host Rush in an NLL regular season clash. The Rush were down in the contest 11-8 but rallied with three fourth quarter goals to even the score at 11-11 and force overtime.

The Wings celebrate their overtime win on Saturday.

After the Rush came up empty on their two offensive possessions in the extra session, Cattoni slipped the winner home past Rush goalie Frank Scigliano 95 seconds into the stanza to disappoint most of the 6,016 spectators in attendance. Saturday’s game marked the third time this season Saskatchewan had gone to overtime this season. The Rush won their two previous overtime contests.

Rush co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan appreciated the resilience shown by his club, but he would like his squad to play a bit more consistent in regulation time.

“Kudos to our group,” said Quinlan. “They are an interesting bunch, and it is great.

Holden Cattoni scored five goals for the Wings on Saturday.

“They never feel like they are out of it. They feel like it doesn’t really matter what is going on they stick to the game plan. Those overtime ones though, it is kind of next shot wins.

“We kind of maybe got a little bit too far off one of their shooters, and he made a play. If we clean up a lot of those areas and we get better on the power play, we probably don’t find ourselves in that spot. It is a tough league to win in, and we figured that one out tonight.”

Saturday’s setback dropped the Rush to 3-1. They were looking to put together their first 4-0 start since the 2017-18 campaign when the last won the NLL title.

For the Wings, Saturday’s victory was their third straight as they improved to 3-1.

Mike Triolo scored four goals for the Rush on Saturday.

“Obviously, the guys in the locker room are pretty upset, because we had our chances to win that game tonight,” said Rush rookie defender Jake Naso, who scored his first career NLL goal on Saturday. “Definitely, we had a chance we could have gone 4-0.

“We’re going to watch the film and get back at it. We have a bye week, and everyone’s going to work as hard as they can to get healthy and get right for our next game and just take it one week at a time.”

Mike Triolo scored four goals from the Rush, who also received singles from Josh Zawada, Clark Walter, Ryan Barnable, Brock Haley, Jake Boudreau and Zach Manns.

Brennan O’Neill and Mitch Jones each had two-goal nights for the Wings, while Blaze Riorden, Joe Resetarits and Phil Caputo had singles for the Philadelphia side.

Zach Manns scored the goal that forced overtime on Saturday.

The Rush jumped out to a quick 2-0, but they were locked in a 3-3 tie with the Wings at the end of the first quarter. After the Rush scored early in the second quarter to go up 4-3, the Wings went on a 5-1 run to close out the first half jumping out to an 8-5 lead.

Naso said the Rush might have halted that run, if everyone on his side clamped down for a second more on their individual defensive matchups.

“Looking back at it, yeah, we could have prevented it,” said Naso. “That is what we were dealt with, and we came back.

“We came back with a hunger in the second half, and made that score even at the end and just fell short.”

The Wings proceeded to exit the third quarter with an 11-8 advantage. The fourth quarter belonged to the Rush as Triolo netted his third and fourth goals of the contest with Manns following up with the equalizer to cause the 11-11 tie and force overtime.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre celebrate a Rush goal.

Quinlan was pleased that Triolo came through with a big game. The bench boss said Triolo’s impact was similar to the impact Manns had on the Rush in their 9-8 overtime win over the Halifax Thunderbirds at the SaskTel Centre on December 14, where Manns scored six goals including the extra time winner. Triolo is playing his second season with the Rush after signing with the club as a free agent.

“He (Triolo) was phenomenal,” said Quinlan. “He is a guy that when we got him last year we asked a lot of things of him.

“We always knew he could carry the ball. He is just a guy who again will do anything you ask, and it was good to see him rewarded. He is one of those guys when he starts to feel hot it is give him the ball and get out of his way.

The O16 Electric Crew performs during halftime.

“Similar to what Zach Manns did here against Halifax, he got us into that game and gave us a chance. I was happy for him.”

Before Cattoni netted the overtime winner for the Wings, the Rush had two offensive possessions in the extra session. Quinlan believed his squad had a good chance to claim victory on the first possession.

“I thought the first one we did exactly what we wanted to and executed a great look,” said Quinlan. “Joshua (Zawada) got a shot right from the high scoring percentage area in the middle of the floor, and their goalie made a save.

Ryan Keenan works in the offensive zone for the Rush.

“The second possession, again, I think we kind of maybe passed up a shot we should have taken, and then I’ve seen all the balls on the ground. You get into those situations of overtime a lot of times it is getting balls on net, and maybe not necessarily looking for the perfect shot.

“I thought our first possession was excellent. Our second possession, I’d have to go back and look at it, but I thought we passed up a good shot.”

Scigliano made 37 saves to take the setback in goal for the Rush. Nick Damude stopped 47 shots to pick up the win in net for the Wings.

The Rush return to action when they host the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. 

Zach Manns (#2) attracts defenders from the Wings.

Looking forward, Rush captain Ryan Keenan said everyone on his team has to like the fact they are 3-1 after posting 8-10 records in each of the past three campaigns and failing to make the post-season in each of those campaigns.

“We’re in a good spot,” said Keenan. “I think we all know in that room there are a lot of areas to improve.

“Our offence, we have to execute a lot better. We were a bit sloppy. We had some unforced errors and turnovers.

The Rush will look to rebound from their loss on Saturday.

“We’ve got the guys in the room to win and compete for a championship. We just have to start putting it together for 60 minutes.”

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.