It was a wild night in Calgary.
Following much controversy in the final minute of the game, the Calgary Roughnecks fell 13-12 to the San Diego Seals in front of a home crowd of 12,217 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome Saturday night.
With just under 30 seconds remaining, the Roughnecks appeared to have tied the game at 13-13, but after video review, the goal was disallowed, sparking a major uproar from the Roughnecks bench and crowd.
The goal was overturned on the grounds of the ball not traveling over the goal line between the moorings after Seals goaltender Frank Scigliano fell back, knocking the net off its mark.
“I think they got it right that the ball didn’t cross between the planes to where the net was supposed to be, but what they didn’t get right is when the goalie knocked the net off,” said Roughnecks head coach Curt Malawsky.
“When the goalie intentionally knocks the net off like that, it should be a delay of game penalty. That’s my understanding and that’s what we were kind of looking at. At the end of the day, it is what it is. That’s the call that was made and we just have to live with it.”
The Roughnecks got off to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead just over three minutes into the contest with both goals coming off the stick of the reigning MVP, Dane Dobbie.
The Seals would answer back shortly after with two quick goals from Austin Staats and Kyle Buchanan, before the Roughnecks would restore their two-goal cushion thanks to markers from Dobbie and Tyler Pace. The clubs would swap goals one more time to close out the opening quarter, a quarter in which Dobbie finished with four goals.
The fast-paced scoring continued in the second frame as the Seals would score three goals in the opening 1:18 to take a 6-5 lead. The lead would change hands multiple times throughout the quarter, with Dobbie netting another two goals in the quarter, giving him six in just two quarters of play. Staats was able to capitalize on a late Roughnecks penalty to give the Seals the 9-8 lead heading into the break.
The Seals would extend their lead to 11-8 following the intermission with two quick markers from Staats. After nearly seven scoreless minutes, the Roughnecks and Seals would swap goals before a Reece Callies marker would draw the Roughnecks within two goals heading into the final frame.
Both defenses tightened up significantly in the fourth quarter with just three total goals being scored, including the eventual Seals game-winner from Casey Jackson.
“We just build off of it. We had a bad first half, and that sunk us a little bit,” said Dobbie.
“We just have to keep our composure and battle through adversity.”
Dobbie finished the evening with seven goals to lead the Roughnecks offense, one shy of tying the franchise record for goals in a single game. On the other end, Staats and former Roughnecks forward Wesley Berg headed the Seals offense with eight points apiece. Staats finished with five goals and three assists, while Berg ended with one goal to go with seven helpers.
Between the pipes, Roughnecks goaltender Christian Del Bianco stopped 44 of the 57 shots he faced, while Scigliano turned aside 26 of the 30 balls that came his way for the Seals, and backup goaltender Nick Damude stopped 18 of 26 shots in relief action.
Up next for the Roughnecks will be a road date with the North Division-leading Toronto Rock.
Roughnecks forward Curtis Dickson said it’s going to be important to put tonight’s loss in their rear-view, and focus their attention solely on the Rock.
“It stings, it stinks. It’s a divisional loss to a team that’s chasing us in the standings, and it’s a game we have to have,” said Dickson.
“It is what it is, but at the same time we’ve got a big one next Sunday in Toronto. They’re playing well right now and we have to find a way to play a full 60 minutes.”
Three Stars
- Dane Dobbie – CGY
- Austin Staats – SD
- Kyle Buchanan – S
