Roughnecks lament one that got away
There was no disguising the disappointment the Calgary Roughnecks felt after losing in overtime on Sunday afternoon.
Johnny Powless scored 47 seconds into the extra frame to lift the New England Black Wolves to a come-from-behind 13-12 victory over the visiting Roughnecks in NLL action at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The Black Wolves, a team in desperate need of wins if they hope to make it into the playoffs in a very, very tight East Division, lifted their record to 7-8.
“Our situational play was not good tonight,” Roughnecks head coach Curt Malawsky said tersely. “It wasn’t because of lack of effort. Our character is strong and we’ll be better for it.
“We need to correct some things moving forward into the playoffs. Our job as coaches is to correct what happened and our guys will prepare for Saturday night.”
The ’Necks, 6-9, will play their final home game of the 2018 regular season at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, with the Buffalo Bandits in town.
New England’s Stephan Leblanc tied the game with 6.3 second left to send it into the OT, after Wesley Berg had put Calgary ahead at the 14:17 mark.
“It just shows the competitive nature of the league and how 14 seconds, up by one, doesn’t mean the game is over,” sighed Calgary forward Holden Cattoni. “You can never give in and assume you’ve won the game. I’m not saying that’s what we did but it shows what a fine line it is between winning and losing.”
Three hat tricks were recorded by the Roughnecks including Berg, Dane Dobbie and Cattoni. Berg also added five assists, while Dobbie had four. The second-year Cattoni now has 55 points, more than double his rookie output of 26.
“The numbers are what they are,” he said. “We don’t really look at individual stats, but anything I can do to help the team is what I want to do and contributing a little more offensively is what this team needed.”
The Roughnecks always speak about having a great start and they put their money where their mouth is in this mid-day tilt, surging to a 5-1 advantage in the second quarter. Trailing 6-2 some 10 minutes into the quarter, the Black Wolves would not be outdone as they went on a three-goal run in less than two minutes and all of a sudden it was a game once again.
The Riggers got back to what made them successful early in the third quarter and when Curtis Dickson scored his second of the game and 38th of the year, giving them a three-goal lead. But their power play left something to be desired as Calgary had a five-minute man-advantage and were actually outscored 2-1.
The Black Wolves were fingered for another major later in the quarter, but once again Calgary could manage just one while allowing yet another short-handed New England tally.
“That was a big turning point of the game,” said Cattoni, “and obviously getting short-handed goals gives them a lot of momentum and it kills momentum for us. it’s really hard to win games when you’re negative on a power play. It’s heartbreaking in game like that where it’s so tight.
“It’s a great learning experience for us. I think we needed a game like this where honestly it could be good down the road that we lost because it gives us that bitter taste in our mouth and hopefully we won’t let it happen again.”
Callum Crawford notched five for New England, while Kevin Crowley had three.
“When you get two five-minute powerplays in the second half, you should win the game,” Malawsky added. “We can sit here and we can drop our heads and say, oh oh, we’re in trouble, or we can dust ourselves off and start looking forward. It’s not in our nature to look back and feel sorry for ourselves. It’s better that it happened now than at the end of the year. That’s what the season is for, for learning lessons, and I think we learned a pretty good friggin’ lesson tonight.”