Rush loss forces Game 3 drama
Knighthawks do the manhandling this time, bringing series home to SaskTel Centre
ROCHESTER 13, SASKATCHEWAN 8
Well, that game was a dud.
Not for the Rochester Knighthawks, of course. They walked out of storied old Blue Cross Arena Saturday night with grins on their faces and an extra week of labour to look forward to.
But if you’re the Saskatchewan Rush, after making that south-ofthe-border trek with championship dreams percolating through your brain ... yeah. For them, a dud.
Saturday’s 13-8 loss, in the second game of the National Lacrosse League’s best-of-three final, sent everything back to Saskatoon for a clincher this coming Saturday. The Rush — fresh off a 16-9 win the weekend before — could have finished things off right then and there, but they just never got themselves untangled after an early 2-0 lead.
Rush captain Chris Corbeil was asked at game’s end if Rochester played more desperately than his own team.
“Yep,” he said. “I think so.” From that desperation springs Game 3, which is too bad if you’re the Rush, because it would have been a great locale to celebrate a championship.
There’s deep-seated history in this place.
The old Rochester Royals of the NBA played in the facility before moving out in 1957; they’re now the Sacramento Kings.
Don Cherry played with and coached the Rochester Americans in this building, which was then called the War Memorial. The banners his team won are hanging high, starting with the first one in 1963-64. Beside Cherry’s plaque on the team’s Hall of Fame display is one belonging to Cudworth native and former Saskatoon resident Gerry Ehman.
Mike Keenan — the cousin of Rush head coach Derek Keenan — is also on that wall. He coached the Americans to a Calder Cup before embarking on his NHL clipboard career.
Derek Keenan could have made his own bit of history in the same spot on Saturday, but everything ’s been deferred one more week.
And at this point, you can pick the winner out of a hat.
Smart money was on the Rush heading into the night, because of how they manhandled Rochester the week before. But Rochester did their own manhandling Saturday at home.
So now the Rush have homefield advantage, with a gale-force fan base screaming their praises, but the Knighthawks can grab onto what transpired Saturday night in their downtown core.
Corbeil gave a thoughtful response when asked if this current championship chase feels different than the first three, especially given the way last season ended. The Rush — who won it all in 2015 and 2016 — were swept two straight by the Georgia Swarm in last season’s NLL final, including a crushing overtime loss on home turf in Game 2.
“Much different,” Corbeil replied. “The team’s whole attitude this season has been a lot different. Last season, we suffered from a bit of complacency.
“The first two years were unique — Year 1 was the first time the organization had got one; the second year, we relocated (from Edmonton), adjusting to Saskatoon and the market there. Last year, we settled into a bit of complacency, so this year, we came in with a chip on our shoulder — one goal in mind, unapologetically focused on winning another championship.
“That’s the message I said to the guys when I got into the room tonight. We battled all season long. Let’s put tonight behind us, because we’ve got one game to win a championship, and if you had offered that at the start of the year, I think the guys would have taken it.
“We’ve got a fantastic opportunity next Saturday on home floor. It’s great. This is why you play lacrosse, for nights like next Saturday, and I can’t wait.”
Don’t expect either team to be rattled in Saskatoon — not before, and not during. There’s too many veterans on both sides, and too many championship rings. The Knighthawks, remember, won three straight NLL titles between 2012 and 2014, and that core is still there.
Rochester goaltender Matt Vinc, who will celebrate his 36th birthday on Saturday, needs to continue his brilliant play if the Knighthawks want to stay with the Rush. Saskatchewan needs to finish better, to pattern their transition game more after the opener (where they scored five times) than the second go-round (where they scored zero), and to find space for sniper Mark Matthews to get some rhythm.
Matthews — who led the NLL in scoring this season with 116 points in 18 contests — has managed just one goal in the two championship games, and assisted on six more. Rochester’s making his life difficult, paying him all kinds of loving attention, doing the kinds of things you’d expect a team to do in a gritty championship series.
They’ll swing it all back to the prairies this week. Rochester’s happy they lived to play another day. Saskatchewan, while disappointed with the extension to the season, is still happy they have the advantages and comforts of playing in Saskatoon.
The Rush celebrated a title on that space in 2016, and watched Georgia roll around there joyously in 2017.
SaskTel Centre has turned into the NLL’s go-to place for highwire dramatics, so why not do it all over again in 2018?
“It’s one game,” Keenan said. “We’re at home. We’re comfortable. And we’ll be prepared.”