NLL ACTION BACK IN TOWN
Neither Rush nor Knighthawks lack for offence
The Saskatchewan Rush return home. It’s another Saturday night tilt, this time against the Rochester Knighthawks.
The Rush last played at home back on March 3, a 16-10 win over the last-place Vancouver Stealth.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.
Here’s a look at how the Rush and Knighthawks match up:
1 LOADS OF OFFENCE FOR BOTH TEAMS
Saskatchewan (11-2) boasts the NLL’s No. 1 offensive juggernaut with a league-leading 192 goals and 287 assists for 479 points.
Rochester (6-7) actually ranks No. 2 in the league with 172 goals to go with 237 assists and 400 points.
Saskatchewan is the second least penalized team in the NLL, second only to the Colorado Mammoth. Rochester ranks fifth in penalty minutes with 1,866 through 13 games.
The Knighthawks lead the league in short-handed goals with eight.
2 KNIGHTHAWKS LOOK TO ESCAPE LOG-JAM
While the Saskatchewan Rush and Colorado Mammoth, who have both clinched playoff spots, are running away with the NLL’s West Division, Rochester finds itself in an East Division logjam.
The Knighthawks are in a threeway tie for third place with the reigning NLL champion Georgia Storm and Buffalo Bandits, all of them sporting a 6-7 record. They’re all on the heels of firstplace New England Black Wolves (6-5) and the Toronto Rock (6-6) in a super-tight East Division.
3 RUSH ROCKING AS THE NLL ATTENDANCE LEADER
Saskatchewan continues to lead the NLL in attendance with an average of 14,511 fans attending games at the SaskTel Centre.
Colorado is next, drawing 13,343 on average in Denver.
Rochester ranks sixth overall, averaging 6,638 fans per game.
The Rush will wrap up the NLL regular season with four of its next five games at SaskTel Centre.
After Saturday’s contest, Saskatchewan plays host to the Mammoth on April 7, the Swarm on April 14 and the Calgary Roughnecks on April 28.
4 RUSH BOAST LEAGUE’S TOP SCORERS
Mark Matthews leads the NLL scoring parade with 82 points. Through 13 games this season, Matthews has 24 goals and 58 assists.
Teammate Robert Church is second with 34 goals and 43 assists for 77 points.
Rochester’s Joe Resetarits is close behind in fourth overall for NLL scoring. He has 26 goals and 46 assists for 72 points, including a league-leading 10 power play goals.
Kyle Jackson of the Knighthawks also cracks the NLL’s top 20 scorers with 29 goals and 24 assists for 53 points to rank No. 18th overall.
Rochester’s Cody Jamieson is second behind only the Rush’s Church with 16 power play assists.
5 DAWSON’S RETREAT, ROCHESTER RE-VISIT
Recently-acquired forward Dan Dawson will play his former Rochester team for the very first time as a member of the Rush.
The six-foot-five, 218-pound Dawson played 51/2 seasons with the Knighthawks. He’s playing his 15th season in the NLL.
Dawson has a goal and four assists for five points in two games with the Rush since coming over from Rochester. He had nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points in eight games this season with the Knighthawks prior to the trade.
Dawson has played a total of 250 games in the NLL, regular season and playoffs combined, for 476 goals and 840 assists for 1306 points.