Rock Hold On For 12-11 Win Over Roughnecks

Toronto, ON – The Toronto Rock (4-1) held on for a 12-11 win over the Calgary Roughnecks (0-4) on Saturday night at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

“There were times that we played great,” said Rock Head Coach John Lovell.  “I thought we had the game in control at different times, once in the first half and again late in the second half.  We kind of let it slip away because we didn’t look after the ball. In the end, we got a goal at a key time.”

The Rock played catch-up for the first half of the first quarter, surrendering 2 powerplay goals to fall behind 2-1.  A Toronto powerplay goal tied the game and then a pair of goals in the final minute of the quarter put the Rock ahead 4-2 after one.

Toronto built a 5-goal lead just past the midway point of the second quarter, leading 8-3.  Brett Hickey scored the Rock’s 8^th goal, his third of the first half.  The Roughnecks rallied for a pair of goals in the final 65 seconds to narrow the gap to 8-5 at the half.

Two minor penalties against, turned into two goals for the Rock in the third quarter as both Damon Edwards and Brock Sorensen scored shorthanded.  Calgary scored a pair of even strength goals as the Rock maintained their 3-goal lead, 10-7 at the end of three quarters.

Kasey Beirnes scored to give the Rock a 4-goal lead early in the 4^th quarter but the Roughnecks were far from done.  Curtis Dickson scored twice as did Shawn Evans and suddenly the game was tied 11-11 with just under 4 minutes remaining. 

With less than two minutes to go, Rob Hellyer fired a laser of a pass from the corner, across the crease to Josh Sanderson who quick-sticked the pass into the Calgary goal to seal the win for the Rock.

Rock goal scorers were Brett Hickey (3), Kasey Beirnes (3), Rob Hellyer (2), Brock Sorensen (1), Stephan Leblanc (1), Josh Sanderson (1), Damon Edwards (1).

Brandon Miller earned his 50^th career win and was named the first star after making 46 saves.  Frankie Scigliano got the loss in the Calgary goal allowing 12 goals on 52 shots.

Toronto’s next home game will be Saturday, February 14^th against the Minnesota Swarm.  For more information, please visit torontorock.com or call 416-596-3075 to speak with a ticket representative and get your hands on the BEST ticket in town.