Don't Rush Anything
The Seals and Roughnecks still have a shot at the first seed in the West Division after a surprising stinker from the Saskatchewan Rush.
Dane Dobbie had four goals and four assists as Calgary rode an 8-3 first quarter to an 18-8 victory against the Roughnecks’ prairie foes. The win ends the Riggers’ regular season, which featured turbulence from the start with the Curtis Dickson and Wes Berg holdouts, at 10-8.
“Everyone manned up in this room and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got to get a job done here,’” Dobbie said. “We’ve got to get better every game and the past three I believe we have. … I hope the guys build on this.”
Saskatchewan still controls its own destiny when it comes to claiming the final spot. With a win against Colorado on Saturday, the Rush will hold the top seed even if San Diego wins too due to Saskatchewan winning the season series.
Swarm Swatted by Wings
It’s a rough way to end the regular season for the Swarm, who dealt with an early flurry from the Wings but were unable to fend it off like many others have this year. Philadelphia went on a six-goal run after Holden Cattoni opened the scoring for Georgia and held the lead the rest of the way.
The final score looks friendly to Georgia too, as Philadelphia held a 17-9 lead heading into a garbage-time fourth quarter.
“I don’t want to say we underestimated them, because we know that every team in this league is capable of winning on any night, but I don’t think we were ready to play,” Swarm head coach Ed Comeau told georgiaswarm.com. “We gave them some easy goals.”
Philadelphia ends its first season back in the league at 4-14.
Week 20 Preview
Only two of the four games remaining in the regular season carry playoff implications. The Toronto at Vancouver matchup on Friday at 10 p.m. can see the Rock tie Georgia in the standings, but the Swarm would prevail on the head-to-head tiebreaker. New England and Rochester duel on Saturday at 8 p.m. in a matchup between the No. 4 seed in the East and a team on the outside, respectively.
Colorado at Saskatchewan
Saturday, 8:30 p.m.
Bandits at Seals
Saturday, 10 p.m. ET
The Rush and Seals both play against teams with nothing to fight for with the West Division crown on the line. If both lose, it’s Calgary who claims the top seed in the West.
For Buffalo and San Diego, this is the first ever meeting between the teams. Tavares said he hopes the Bandits can keep their foot on the pedal to keep at a similar pace heading into the playoffs.
Despite the gap in the standings and two victories, the Rush’s games with Colorado have both been close. The Mammoth mounted a late push in both 9-7 Saskatchewan wins.