Calgary Stops Losing Streak In 12-11 Victory Over Washington

Last night, Calgary knocked off Washington for the second time this year. Unlike the first game where the Stealth couldn't handle a third quarter surge from the Roughnecks and ultimately fell short 13-10, this game was a (mostly) high action game that had both teams deadlocked at the conclusion of each period save for the fourth quarter.

We knew that these two teams were going to come out of the gates and play very physical, but I had no idea that the game was going to regress to a Rochester/Philadelphia-esque brawl during the first quarter. Everything started when Geoff Snider and Jeff Moleski came together for the opening face off. The ball was placed, the players crouched, the ref took a step away, and then the gloves came flying off. For the most part, I think that lacrosse fights are "better" than hockey fights in the fact that fewer of the brawls are scheduled and just seem fake. This was not one of times. No matter how chippy the teams were, a fight one second into the game is completely unnecessary.

After that fight, it really seemed like everyone wanted to join in. Grimes and Feldman got tangled up eight minutes later, then Duch/McBride and Rabil/McFetridge were fighting eight minutes after that, and finally Ratcliff got in a fight with someone just a minute or so after to close out the quarter. I believe that this was Rabil's first fight and unfortunately for him it led to him being ejected from the game. All in all, the fifteen minutes of actual game play managed to get stretched over 48 minutes of real time in a mostly uneventful lacrosse oriented game.

Shawn Evans and Curtis Dickson found the back of net early to give Calgary an early lead. The Stealth would come back to tie the game at two before the end of the period with a Duch power play goal and a Bucktooth diving goal. The second quarter was a much appreciated break from the fights and a four goal total period as this quarter lasted less than 30 minutes and featured eight goals. Calgary saw a pair of goals from Shattler on his way to a four goal game. Bucktooth also tallied again for the Stealth and finished with a hat trick while Ratcliff ripped a low to high shot that hit net just under the bar and was one of two Washington players to finish with seven points (4g 3a, Duch had 1g 6a).

The second half was a lot more calm than the second quarter as the Stealth were more defensive to try to stop the offensive explosion that Calgary had in the first meeting. The theme of the second half really seemed to be score two goals at a time. Calgary went up 10-8 at the start of the fourth and then Sedgwick and Ratcliff scored during a power play to bring the score back to even. Dickson and Shattler both scored to give the Necks a 12-10 lead with two minutes left and the eventual game winner. In a high paced push, Ratcliff scores about 20 seconds later to bring the Stealth within one but a last second shot from Rhys Duch can't find net and the Stealth fell at home 12-11.

At the end of the game, Richards proved why he is one of the best goalies in the league with a career high 59 save night (his previous high was 52 back in 2010. Without him in the net, the game would have turned out quite differently. Washington was well improved from the first meeting between the two teams as they were in the game at all points. They didn't really have anything wrong with them that led to the loss except for allowing more goals than they scored. Calgary was able to win their first game after dropping two OT games to Toronto and Colorado and looked impressive in doing so. The Roughnecks looked impressive out there on the floor in all aspects of the game. Geoff Snider was 14-9 on face offs (60.9%), the team out shot the Stealth 86-69, and they even forced 16 turnovers. The difference in shots is what led the Necks to victory this week up in Comcast Arena.

Would we have had a different outcome had Paul Rabil not been ejected? Possibly. Would it have resulted in a win for the Stealth? I don't know. While Rabil isn't always the highest scorer for the team, he serves as a catalyst for the two big men up front. I won't go into too much speculation into what the outcome would have been with Rabil, but there could have been a different outcome.