The Edmonton Rush topped the Colorado Mammoth 13-9 Saturday night at Pepsi Center in Denver.
RUSH TOP MAMMOTH FOR SIXTH WIN OF SEASON
Edmonton ties franchise record for wins in a season
03/13/2010
By Ron Knabenbauer for NLL.com
It was the same old story for the Colorado Mammoth after another home loss.
The Mammoth got down early on Saturday night and could never recover as they were defeated 13-9 by the Edmonton Rush in front of 14,566 in attendance at Pepsi Center.
The loss was Colorado's (2-7) fifth in a row and they have yet to win at home this season, going 0-5 at Pepsi Center. Edmonton (6-3) has now won three games in a row, including four of the last five in Denver. The Rush have also now won two straight games on the road.
"We've proven now that we can play on the road the last couple of weeks," said Edmonton Head Coach and General Manager Derek Keenan. "It was a big win for us and we faced a lot of adversity (tonight) and we battled for it."
Former Colorado captain Gavin Prout led the way for the Rush, scoring four goals and adding one assist in the victory. Ryan Ward had a seven point night for Edmonton in the game as he tallied three goals and four assists.
Prout said playing at the Pepsi Center for the second time as a visitor still got him pumped up to play.
"When you're visiting the Pepsi Center, regardless if you are the visiting team or the home team, the crowd seems to pump you up," Prout said. "Fortunately enough there is a little less pressure on the visiting team to win, but at the same time you go out there and you have to execute your job, and I think we did that well tonight."
After being down five goals twice in the game, Colorado battled back and cut the Edmonton lead to two with seven minutes to play in regulation. The Rush answered back by extending their lead back to five with three goals of their own to secure the victory.
Matt Disher made 45 saves in the game for Edmonton while Andrew Leyshon stopped 29 balls and Chris Levis stopped eight shots for Colorado. The Mammoth outshout the Rush 54-50 in the game.
Alex Gajic led the Mammoth with five goals and one assist in the loss while Jamie Shewchuk finished with two goals. Brian Langtry had one goal and four assists in the game as well.
Gajic now has eight goals in his last two games, but said it is more important for the team to get wins down the stretch then his own personal success.
"I don't really care about my own success right now," Gajic said. "We are losing too many games and it is going to be hard for us to make a run for the playoffs now. My main objective right now is to try and get more points for our team."
After Prout gave Edmonton the early lead four minutes into the game Gajic tied the game at one for the Mammoth less than a minute later, but that would be the last time Colorado would score for the next 14:44. During that time, the Rush found the back of the net five times.
Ryan McNish's goal with 6:22 left in the first quarter gave Edmonton the 3-1 lead and was enough to convince Colorado General Manager and Head Coach Steve Govett to replace starting goaltender Levis with Leyshon.
Leyshon stopped every shot he faced in his first six minutes in net, but it was only a temporary solution as Edmonton beat him three times before Colorado could answer again.
"He played well for several minutes for us," Govett said. "He stopped the bleeding when it was tough, and then we let a couple of long ones in and it cut the legs out from under us."
Untimely penalties hurt Colorado in the first quarter with them spending time in the box four times in the first 15 minutes. Edmonton scored two power play goals with their four chances in the quarter.
The Rush finished the game 3-for-6 on the power play while the Mammoth went 2-for-8.
Colorado found the back of the net again with a Shewchuk goal 5:10 into the second quarter that started a 3-0 run for the Mammoth.
Edmonton scored two goals in the final minute of the second quarter including one shorthanded by Ryan Powell with eight seconds left to grab back the momentum and take the 8-4 lead into the locker room for halftime.
In the second half, the Mammoth scored first off of a Langtry behind the back, between the legs goal 1:17 into the third, but Ward scored two goal for Edmonton to extend their lead back to five.
Two Gajic goals and one from Jed Prossner cut Edmonton's lead to two with seven minutes to play but Dane Stevens, Corey Small, and Prout all scored in the final minutes to extend Edmonton's advantage back to five.
The Mammoth had the chance to get back into the game in the third quarter as the Rush gave Colorado a five minute power play with a two minute 5-on-3 opportunity in the middle. Also, during that time Jamie Shewchuk was awarded a penalty shot due to three Edmonton minor penalties, but Disher made the breakaway save.
Even with Edmonton giving Colorado scoring opportunities, Ward said the team worked together through the tough stretch.
"The biggest thing is how we handled the penalties and the adversity. We didn't panic and we found a way to win," Ward said.
Colorado finished the game with a shorthanded goal from Gajic with 22 seconds left in regulation.
The Mammoth won the faceoff battle winning 20-of-28 draws with Brad Richardson winning 19 of them. Prout led Edmonton in faceoff victories with six.
Colorado has one game left on their three game home stand with their next one coming against the Washington Stealth on March 26 at 9 p.m. EST. The Rush will now return to Edmonton where they will begin three straight home games starting with the Boston Blazers on March 20 at 9 p.m. EST.
The Rush and the Mammoth will face each other for the final time this season on April 9 in Edmonton.
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