The Calgary Roughnecks raised their championship banner, but the Colorado Mammoth were the team smiling by night’s end.

Mammoth defender Jordan Gilles scored on an overtime breakaway seven minutes into the extra frame to lift Colorado to an 8-7 victory on Saturday in the Scotiabank Saddledome.

GILLES!!!#TuskUp pic.twitter.com/Qhda2QwzaP

— Colorado Mammoth (@MammothLax) December 22, 2019

“After dropping our first game by one goal, we wanted to come out and secure a win before the holidays,” Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward told ColoradoMammoth.com. “I think we executed our game plan and we got a good bounce at the end.”

Dylan Kinnear gave Colorado a 5-3 lead just over 11 minutes into the second quarter, but Calgary responded with two straight to tie the score before the teams exchanged tallies twice in the closing minutes of regulation. Dan Taylor notched the equalizer in the final five minutes, but Calgary wasn’t able to take advantage of a pair of Colorado penalties in overtime.

Four Mammoth players had three points in a balanced scoring effort: Will Malcom, Ryan Lee, Chris Wardle and Kyle Killen.

Calgary played its first game without captain Dane Dobbie, who was suspended for six games earlier this month. Taylor was the team’s leading scorer with four points, while Jesse and Marshal King each had three. If the Roughnecks want to keep their head above water without Dobbie long term, they’ll likely need more than two points from fellow superstar Curtis Dickson.

The championship banner raising was a part of home-opener festivities for the Roughnecks. It marks the third such banner raised to the rafters in Calgary.

"This belongs to you as much as it belongs to us. We love you Calgary." - @DaneDobbie44 pic.twitter.com/fkos4dQe5n

— NLL (@NLL) December 22, 2019

“I’ve been there for the other banners being raised [in 2004 and 2009] and then to know that any time I go to a Flames game, any time I go to a Roughneck game in the future that I can look up there and know that I’m part of it, it’s pretty amazing,” Taylor, a Calgary native, said. “It’s special, but it’s over now, so we’re looking forward to the rest of the season here.”

Hey, I know you

Two franchises that will forever be intertwined met for the first time on Saturday as the Halifax Thunderbirds, fresh off their move from Rochester, hosted the new Rochester Knighthawks in the Scotiabank Centre.

Unfortunately for the Knighthawks, the more experienced franchise won out.

Rochester led by as much as many as three goals in the first half, but the T-Birds stormed back with an 8-5 run in the final two quarters to secure a 14-12 victory. The Knighthawks scored the final two goals to make it interesting, with one each from Pat Saunders and Holden Cattoni, but time ran out on the comeback effort.

Halifax was backed by six-point performances from Ryan Benesch and Cody Jamieson, and Stephen Keogh and Clarke Petterson each added five points. It was an impressive debut for Petterson, who was playing in his first career game.

“I want to do whatever it takes to get another goal for our team whether it’s a loose ball or a reset,” Petterson told HalifaxThunderbirds.com. “The veteran leaders like Keogh, [Benesch] and [Jamieson], they really help me out by telling me what they’re seeing on the floor, telling me what they think I should do, what I can do to help the team, it’s really their leadership. If they say jump, I say how high?”

Jamieson’s first goal for the Thunderbirds came against the team bearing the same name as his former squad.

“I didn’t even think about that,” Jamieson said. “They’ve rebranded, it’s not the same colors, it’s not the same logo, and I think the biggest part is we got to bring our team with us. It’s the boys who make the team ... that’s family, that’s home.”

Rochester is still searching for its first victory.

“We had a way better effort tonight,” K-Hawks transition player Jay Thorimbert told RochesterKnighthawks.com. “We were two goals away and pressing at the end of the game. Mental lapses hurt us in the third. Maybe we were riding high because we were leading at halftime. We will take those as learning lessons as a new group and go from there.”

Noteworthy

The San Diego Seals announced this week they’ll be hosting a game at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in February. The Rumble on the Runway will be the first regular-season sporting event played on a Marine Corps base in U.S. history … Rochester’s Jay Thorimbert won 11 faceoffs against Halifax, pushing him past Geoff Snider and into first in all-time wins in league history. “You are proud of any kind of accomplishment that you do in any sport,” Thorimbert said. “But you don’t start playing a sport to set records; it’s to raise that trophy over your head.” … In addition to raising the banner, the Roughnecks also unveiled their championship rings … Calgary’s loss was the first the Roughnecks have ever suffered with Jesse King in the lineup … Halifax’s Ryan Benesch passed Mark Steenhuis to move into ninth all-time on the league’s scoring chart. Up next is Shawn Williams.

pic.twitter.com/iLwBOtuRhd

— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) December 22, 2019

Up Next

Next week features the busiest slate yet this year, with eight games on the schedule. A pair of divisional matchups open up the weekend on Friday as New York travels to New England and San Diego hosts Calgary.

Saturday features five matchups: Toronto at Rochester, Colorado at Georgia, Saskatchewan at New York, Halifax at Buffalo and Philadelphia at Calgary. San Diego and Vancouver wrap the week on Sunday with an afternoon showing in British Columbia.