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NLL Champion's Cup Division Finals 2016 Calgary Roughnecks Saskatchewan Rush NLL Playoffs 2016
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NLL Champion’s Cup Division Finals: Part 1

#1 Saskatchewan Rush at #3 Calgary Roughnecks

NLL Champion's Cup Division Finals 2016 Calgary Roughnecks Saskatchewan Rush NLL Playoffs 2016

When: 5/14/2016 – 9:00 pm ET
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, Alberta
Watch: NLLtv.com
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[mks_one_half]Standing: 1st Seed in Western Conference

Points Leader: Mark Matthews – 40 goals, 69 assists

Where are they?

They’re heading to back to Alberta to take on the third seeded Roughneck for the first game of the West Division Finals. As the Rush captured the top seed in the West, securing the home field advantage for Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary).

How’d they get here?

Finishing 13-5, the Rush were shoulder to shoulder with the Buffalo Bandits for the NLL’s top seed. Unfortunately for the Rush, the the two team’s only meeting in 2016, the Bandits closed out the overtime battle with their 19th goal coming in extra minutes. This will only matter if the two teams meet again in the NLL Champion’s Cup, but they still claimed the top spot in the West and have plenty to focus on until the Finals.

What’s next?

Winning the top seed in the West, the Rush return to Alberta for the 5th meeting between the rivals. This season Saskatchewan has taken down the Necks in all 4 meetings with only win coming through an overtime nail-biter. The Roughnecks haven’t put up more than 12 goals in a game against Aaron Bold this season, helping the veteran to regain footing after struggling to match previous season’s numbers. On the other end, Mark Matthews has consistently picked apart the Roughnecks defense and in between, the transition team ran over the Roughnecks, they had no answer for the do-it-all defense led by Chris Corbeil, Ryan Dilks, Jeff Cornwall and Brett Mydske. Those four are absolute lock-down guys that have the ability to burn anyone up the floor and bury a shot with confidence. When the offense needs a little breathing room, the transition/defensive group always has answer.

This clears a lot of room up for shooters like Robert Church, Zack Greer, Ben McIntosh and a handful of other forwards to step up to assist Matthews and fill in for looks of their own. Calgary struggles to contain the big man and they know he’s going to be the go-to guy, they’re going to slack off-ball and lose track of the backside. If they keep moving the ball like they have been, they should have a problem racking up the points, they’ve put up double-digits in all but one game the entire season. If Bold can stay in his groove and rely on his tight-knit defense to limit the shots they can fly back to Saskatoon up 1-0 to close the series in front of their home crowd.

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[mks_one_half]Standing: 3rd Seed in Western Conference

Points Leader: Curtis Dickson – 61 goals, 46 assists

Where are they?

With an 11-10 overtime win over the Colorado Mammoth, the Roughnecks have moved on to the West Division Finals against the #1 seed, the Saskatchewan Rush. They start by hosting the Rush in the best of 3 series starting on Saturday night in the Saddledome.

How’d they get here?

In what would end up the longest game in NLL Playoff history, a dagger from Dane Dobbie would finally seal the deal for the Roughnecks for the 4th-striaght season over the Mammoth. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading, if you have, again, stop reading…

Dobbie’s second goal, after 15 shots, would be the game-winner, but the real star on the offensive side was none other than Curtis Dickson. He did take 27 shots, but he sunk 5 of them and helped for another 4 assists. Dickson makes everything he does look so routine, that you may not even realize how some of his most basic passes set up the offense for scoring opportunities. My man Mike Poulin tore it up at the other end, doing everything he could to stave off the Mammoth for almost 70 minutes of playoff lacrosse. Posting a .848 save percentage on 66 shots on goal was more than they could’ve asked for, but if they get that kind of play moving forward, watch out Rush.

Tyler Digby was also clutch last weekend, scoring two goals in under 30 seconds to wash out an early 2-0 Swarm lead. He rang up another in the 4th quarter to help extend a lead for the Necks. Going almost unnoticed, face-off defenseman Tyler Burton won nearly 58% of his takes, scooped up a team-high 9 loose balls and caused 2 turnovers. This team is built on the grinders like these guys, now it’s about maintaining that attitude.

What’s next?

Game 1 of the West Division Finals start on Saturday night with their former neighbors, the Saskatchewan Rush, the West’s top seed. The Rush finished with an incredible 13-5 record and got the best of the Roughnecks all four times they squared off in the regular season. They say it’s hard to beat a team 3 times, let alone 4, so the Roughnecks have probability going for them when they host the Rush for the 5th meeting this year. All the games, except for a 17-11 final, have been fairly close in score, but the Necks never found an answer for the power of Mark Matthews, who had different partners in scoring each time around.

They’ve been putting way less shots on cage than the Rush this season, typically laying somewhere in the 40s range on the goalie while they’re expecting Poulin and Scigliano to keep out shots in the high 50s/low 60s. It was a similar story against Colorado last weekend, putting 19 less shots on goal and although its their MO to let Dickson and Dobbie just rattle them off, they need to get the ball through a few more sticks if they expect to break down one of the most well-rounded defensive groups in NLL history.
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