Curtis Dickson proved he can dish it out on Saturday – both assists and punches.
The electric Calgary Roughnecks forward totaled eight assists and dropped the gloves with Phil Caputo in the Riggers’ 15-9 victory against the Toronto Rock.
“Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Dickson told CalgaryRoughnecks.com. “That’s my first career fight. When my roommate (Dan MacRae) gets high-sticked right in front of me, I don’t really have that much choice. It was a good ending to a good game.”
A five-goal run in the first half put the Roughnecks ahead and helped the team move back to .500, end a two-game losing streak and tie the Saskatchewan Rush and San Diego Seals in the win column.
“Our plan was to come out hard early and see if we can jump on them and get a lead and work on their rust a little bit coming off their bye week and we were able to do that,” Calgary coach Curt Malawsky said.
Dane Dobbie had a goal and six assists, while Rhys Duch added four goals and two assists. Riley Loewen also had a strong performance with three goals and two assists.
Dan Lintner had a hat trick for Toronto.
Bandits fight back in Philly
The Buffalo Bandits led only twice on Friday in Philadelphia: 2-1 midway through the first quarter and after Chase Fraser’s overtime winner.
Fraser’s shot from the outside, and his finger-to-cage shushing celebration, quieted the Wells Fargo Center crowd as Buffalo completed a stellar 12-11 comeback to earn its 10th win of the season.
Buffalo trailed by four goals in the second quarter and looked particularly prone to be upset in the fourth despite outshooting the Wings in the period. Most of the looks were from the outside, shots Doug Buchan could see easily.
But Matt Vinc was equally up to the task on the other end, keeping Philadelphia within reach long enough for his teammates to launch a late fury.
Buffalo ended the game on a 4-0 run, including a 3-0 fourth quarter to tie the game. Corey Small scored the equalizer with 1:07 left in regulation, allowing Fraser to score his fourth of the night five minutes into the extra frame.
Georgia gets revenge
The second half of the Bandits back-to-back didn’t go as smoothly. Having a team like Georgia waiting for you back in Buffalo is never an easy proposition.
Randy Staats and Shayne Jackson each notched five points as Georgia got out to an early lead and held on for a 14-9 victory.
“They definitely played a little bit more desperate,” Bandits co-coach Rich Kilgour said. “I’m sure they were pretty mad about how we beat them last time. … Some nights you’re the hammer, some nights you’re the nail. We’ve been the hammer a lot. We got to be the nail tonight”
A lack of special teams success doomed the Bandits, who allowed two shorthanded goals and only scored on two of their seven man-up opportunities.
Georgia’s four-goal run in the first quarter gave the Swarm a 6-2 lead and a cushion it wouldn’t relinquish. Buffalo wouldn’t cut the lead under two and a late five-goal run by the Swarm ended any hopes of a comeback.
Thankfully for Buffalo, Calgary did the Bandits a big favor by beating their main competition for the first seed.
Not going away
The San Diego Seals continue to prove they aren’t a flash in the pan.
San Diego rode a dominant first half, outscoring the Colorado Mammoth 7-2 after allowing one goal each quarter, to a 13-10 victory in the Pepsi Center Saturday.
Colorado made a push in the second half but was never able to cut the lead to less than two. Austin Staats was unusually quiet for San Diego, but Garrett Billings made up for it by looking like his old self. He had three goals and four assists.
“A very big win for us,” Seals coach and general manager Patrick Merrill said. “We felt like we were kind of sluggish at times and they played very desperate, especially in the second half. Fourth quarter they put us on our heels, but we found a way to win.”
Colorado, playing in its first game since surprisingly trading Ryan Benesch, was led by Eli McLaughlin’s three goals and three assists. Cory Vitarelli, playing in his first game with the team, had a goal and an assist.
Week 14 Preview
Swarm at Knighthawks
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
We’ll see the new-look Knighthawks for the first time since the team made three moves, sending out Joe Resetarits, Paul Dawson and Cory Vitarelli. Benesch will make his K-Hawks debut.
Today is the trade deadline, so we’ll see if the Knighthawks have anything else up their sleeves. Considering where they are in the standings, a handful of upcoming free agents on the roster and the fact that some players may not be too keen to fly to Halifax for home games next year, there’s a decent chance Rochester isn’t done.
This matchup has a much different feeling than when these two teams met in the East Division Final last year.
Knighthawks at Rock
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET
Toronto has lost two straight after winning six in a row. This week’s nine-goal output was the lowest the team has produced all season. This kicks off a seven-game run of playing East Division foes for the Rock.
Mammoth at Roughnecks
Saturday, 9 p.m. ET
These two teams meet in the rubber match after Calgary won the first bout and Colorado the second. The Mammoth will need to find a different way to prevail than last go-around, when Benesch notched three goals and four assists. Dickson has now accounted for at last seven assists twice in eight games.
Bandits at Rush
Saturday, 9:30 p.m. ET
A rematch of the 2016 championship – and perhaps a preview of this years? It’s certainly possible. Buffalo would have preferred to catch Saskatchewan earlier in the season. The Rush have seemingly figured out some of their issues on defense and have won three straight.
Wings at Seals
Saturday, 10 p.m. ET
This year’s two expansion teams meet with the pair in much different positions. The Seals are fighting for the first seed in the West, while Philadelphia can be eliminated this week. The main storyline of this matchup this season, Austin Staats vs. Chris Cloutier, has been wiped with Cloutier’s trade to Buffalo.
Black Wolves at Warriors
Saturday, 10 p.m. ET
If New England has to play without Callum Crawford, Resetarits is a strong replacement to run the offense. The Black Wolves have won three straight and Vancouver has lost two straight, though the Warriors are still in a tie with Colorado for the last playoff spot in the West Division.