NLL Insider

Check back all night as I blog live during the NLL final here in Calgary at the Saddledome. Game time is 7:30 local (mountain time).

First, let me give you my thoughts going into this tilt. You can analyze this game a thousand ways, but I believe it ultimately comes to Calgary’s offence — specifically five-on-five — versus Matt Vinc.

Calgary had the best defence during the regular season, allowing only 10.4 goals against. So far during this playoff run, they have allowed only 13. So, too, have the Titans, of course.

Still, while Powell will get his points and his impressive  supporting cast on O will get their goals, Calgary should be able to hold New York to 12 or less. That means if the Riggers attack fires like it has this post-season (32 goals in two games), they will win.

Speaking of Powell, one of the most interesting battles tonight should be CP and Jeff Moleski, who likely draw the uneviable job of limiting the star’s offensive damage. Moleski — who should have been the defender of the year, plain and simple — has been stellar this season. Against the Mammoth, Moleski was tight against Gavin Prout, stripping the ball twice at a dead run. Not easy to do against a guy like Prout, someone who is a world-class midfielder and used to avoiding checks from short sticks in box and outdoor.

One other angle to follow is the elevation here and how it will affect the Titans. Both clubs are extremely athletic and move the ball up the floor well. The Riggers home-field advantage may have given them a huge edge there. They are used to all-out play at this altitude. The Titans aren’t.

PREGAME – Fireworks, flames and pre-game intros of the Roughnecks players now happening.

Anthems are done, it’s almost showtime. Tee minus a minute or so.

Calgary Stampeders quarterback Henry Burris, fellow Temple alumnus and NLL commish George Daniel and Riggers Brad Banister do the ceremonial faceoff. MC Hammer was just on jumbotron telling fans to get up and make noise.

Roughnecks ball to start.

First shot by Kelusky, save Vinc . Time clock never started. Ref stoppage.

14:37 – Mike Carnegie knocks Jordan Hall’s helmet off with check. PP Titans

13:29 – Great passing by Titans on PP. Got ball moving fast. Mundorf feeds Maddalena for a quick stick. 1-0 Titans.

12:34 – Moleski all over Alrich. Strips ball along boards. Great D.

11:34 – Rory Smith off to the box. Riggers turn to even up on the PP.

11:21 – Merrill off to box. 2-man advantage for Riggers.

10:34 – Wow. Great shot by Kelusky. 1-1.

9:48 – Huge stop by Vinc off a quick stick right at the top of the crease. Vinc looks very sharp early. A few big saves already.

9:18 – TV timeout (even though there is no TV). Good start. Both teams look a little tenative on offence. No real flow yet. Both PPs look good, obviously.

8:06 – Huge hit by Moleski on Boyle. Knocked him down. Boyle lost ball.

7:04 – Riggers D swarms Titans O. Forces shot clock violation.

6:14 – Codd strips Powell and knocks him down. Calgary D looks good. Ball goes up the floor and Kelusky throws pass to Malawsky who misses it and flutter ball goes in net. 2-1. Ugly, ugly.

5:02 – Nice outside bouncer from Mundorf. Quick as that 2-2. Couple of weak goals.

3:15 – Solid D by both teams. Titans just forced Riggers to wear out shot clock by holding them to outside. No penetration. Very tentative offences at both ends still.

2:13 – Titans D just shutting Riggers attack down. Just cost them a penalty though.

1:00 – Toth just loaded up his huge shot on PP, steopped into it and unloaded. It hit a player getting to the net. Turnover. Riggers PP struggling.

0.0 – Definitely all about the defence so far. 2-2 after 15 minutes. Both goalies have made some big saves and both defences have pressured hard. Titans have had more luck getting inside on Calgary’s D, but only one goal at regular strength. Riggers need to find a spark. Very quiet on offfence with little movement.

Cheerleaders are out dancing and Calgary offensive coach Dave Pym just had a quick word with his guys. Probably told them to get their feet — and the ball — moving. Titans O huddled up, as well.

Now saying Malawsky tipped that pass from Kelusky and he is getting credit for goal.

SECOND QUARTER

14:07 – Vinc just stoned Mazlawsky again. Malawsky was naked at the top of the crease, faked high and went low. Ball goes back up and then back again. Shattler just scored on a breakaway. Finally, a little transition action in this game.

13:27 – Powell goes down on a scrum for loose ball. Trainer out. Titans fans hold collective breaths. He’s up after 30 seconds but hobbling a bit. Meanwhile, Malawsky and Dobbie talk trash with Titans D at other end.

12:07. Titans get PP. King makes a great extra-man save on delayed call. Coming way out to challenge shooter. Shattler off for holding.

10:41 – Vinc stones Dobbie on shorthanded breakaway. So far, Vinc has been great. With 15 seconds left on PP, Riggers get ball back.

9:46 – Riggers offence looks to be shaking the cobwebs off. Getting more creative and moving ball. Too many moves, though. Need to shoot more. Titans just hit crossbar.

9:02 – Dobbie scores. Great feed from Kelusky on a hard cut to the net.Got another chance off faceoff. Mike Carnegie pulled down in front of Vinc. No call.

8:51 – Riggers doing solid job of containing and shutting down Powell.To be fair, Powell has missed the net on a half-dozen outside shot. He’s hurting himself, as well.

8:15. Powell trying to be one-man show. Not passing and trying to run through whole team. Riggers just got penalty.

7:27 – King makes two huge saves. Looks very confortable in his net. Very confident.

6:32 – Can’t stop him all night. Powell scores on a bounce shot from outside as PP was set to expire. Titans back in it.

4:55 Titans D wearing Calgary attackers like a cheap suit. All over them. No one open.

3:51 – Powell dumped again, loses stick and ball. Calgary playing him hard.

3:00 – Alrich spins and fired blind low shot that finds the twine. Titans have gone on 2-0 run while Vinc and D have slammed the door shut.

Roughnecks have to get pick and rolls going. Cutters are not getting open. Guys like Kelusky and Ranger are great one on one and the ball need to be in their sticks more.

30.6 – Sanderson goes around two guys and bounces it in. Not surprisingly, Titans challenge it. With less than a minute left, might as well get ref to take a second look. Appeard good on first look on jumbotron. On replay, close but think it will stand. Tough to wave off goal you already called as good considering how close.

Goal stands, crowd cheers. Raise a little Hell is played on sound system.

2.0 – Titans pull goalie for extra attacker. No go. Little jostling. Finally some emotion. Smith yapping at Malawsky. Mother of all miss-matches. Not like Curt will drop mitts with him. Two seconds left. Dobbie and Greer to box. Riggers call time out. One last gasp.

Un-freakin-real. Toth winds up from just inside time line and fires a bullet as time expires. It goes top shelf right at buzzer. Unreal. Never seen anything like that.

Toth is known for having a rocket of a shot. That was up there with his game winner against Rochester. Not as important, but memorable. What a rocket. Topleft corner over Vinc’s right shoulder.

If you were giving an MVP right now, was going to say coin flip between King and Vinc. After that last goal, I say King. Neither offence has been good, but it has been because the defences and goaltenders have been sharp.

Other random observations:

Powell has been held in check. When he did get open, missed the net a lot. Moleski has played him tight.

Kelusky was hot early has done little since. Needs to have the ball more. He’s suited to take on this defence.

Mundorf has shot a lot from outside, but not many were quality chances. Boyle has had very little impact.

Dobbie has missed two outside shots, as well, and been stoned in tight twice. He needs to make more of an impact in the second half.

THIRD QUARTER

Two minutes to showtime. Calgary up 6-4. I’m expecting a wild second half.

Interesting, no player with multiple goals in this game. Who would have expected that?

13:02 – Hall just scored. Of course he pushed the defender with his free arm all the way to the net. Wow. No call and a goal. Field rules in effect?

12:20 – Stephen Peyser gives Scott Ranger a bearhug at top of crease. Penalty.

10:56 – Riggers brutal on PP. Terrible passing and no good shots.

10:14 – King stones Hall on shorthanded breakaway.

Dobbie has been terrible in this game for Calgary. He was the third-leading goalscorer in the league during the regular season and played great in two playoff tilts. Tonight, missing the net left right and centre (more left) and shooting right into goalie.

9:00 – Dobbie read blogs? He picks up a bad pass from Toth on the run and puts it past Vinc.

8:27 – Powell scores on diving goal. Waived off. Powell tells his bench to challenge. No way Comeau gambles this early with timeout in a game this close.

8:13 – So far, this game has lived up to hype. Two best teams in league putting on a show.

7:41 – Malawsky is taking a beating in this game. Going to top of crease and itans defenders just pummeling him. Gotta hurt!!!!

7:22 – Carnegie off to penalty box again for folding. Penalties not helping their cause for usually disciplined Riggers.

5:22 King gets piece of Maddalena  quick stick. Titans get ball back and Powell bounces one through his legs at top of crease. Just sick, as the kids say.

This game is old-school lacrosse. The refs are letting the hits go. Guys are taking a serious beating. Paying the price to catch and shoot. Like it.

4:33 – Titans have ball. Down by a goal. This one is tight, tight, tight. Not like the two other playoff games the Roughnecks played. Crowd not used to this. Probably about 13,000 in the stands.

13,026 they just announced.

2:28 – Toth stoned on breakaway. These missed chances are going to cost them. Moleski set him up right in the slot. Perfect. pass but no finish.

2:12 – Shattler stoned on partial breakaway. Where’s the finish? Vinc has been great in second half.

1:00 – King doing his part. Titans can’t find twine, either.

7-6 after three quarters. Who’s going to step up and take this. Carpe Diem – Seize the day. You can smell a run coming on. If either team can piece together two or three in a row, would likely be enough to salt it away with the way the defence and goalies are playing.

FOURTH QUARTER

14:18 – M undorf scores from a sharp angle. All tied up. King would love to have that one back.

13:47 – Calgary fights hard for a losse ball, gets it back and Sanderson finds Ranger all alone. He throw 10 fakes on Vinc and scores. Big momentum killer for Titans.

11:18 – Kelusky missing the net a lot in second half. Wow. Codd just scored on a partial break with a defender drapped on him. Make that two on him. And Cod is only 5-foot-7.

Huge. Calgary gets a powerplay up 9-7.

9:33 – Refs timeout. Titans have ball. 1:30 left in the powerplay. Calgary had the best PP in the league this season. Only 1-4 tonight. They have to convert here. That would give them a three-goal lead.

Moleski’s first-quarter yard sale on Boyle voted hit of game on jumbotron.

8:39 – 32 clicks left in PP. Sanderson’s shot is saved. Wow. What a crazy game. Fans on edcge of their seats.

Titans kill PP. Calgary 1-5. Making their lives harder, that’s for sure.

7:35 – Sanderson scores – again. Smallest guy on floor has stood tallest tonight.

7:09 – Titans get powerplay. Chance to stop bleeding.

6:45 – Powell scores on bouncer from outside. Crowd goes quiet. Titans back within a pair. That was a pivotal goal. Can Calgary answer back? Titans get ball off faceoff. King stones a shooter to be named later. Couldn’t see him.

Less than five to go …

4:32 – Shattler absolutely mugged on breakaway. No call. Refs letting players decide this one.

3:52 – King robs Mundorf down low by jumping and getting shoulder on it.

Under three to go . . .

2:51 – Calgary D implodes. They let Powell run outisde around three guys before diving and scoring on King. Ouch. Challenge flag thrown. Awaiting replay.

Absolutely inexcusable what the Roughnecks D just did. Looked like pylons as Powell went to net. Could be down to one. Goal looked good to me. Great shot by Powell in the air.

59.9 seconds left. Titans call timeout. They have ball and looking to tie this up. This game is what sports is about at its finest. Two best teams going to wire. Crowd screaming and music pumped to screw up Titans timeout.

Goal is good.

Under two to go… Ref timeout … Calgary up 10-9 … Titans have ball. This is crazy. Best NLL game I have witnessed in almost nine years of covering league. Simply amazing.

Loose ball push on Powell. Would have been over and back. Bad call at thjis point. Let them play. Game now under minute and a half.

Vinc out.

Scott Carnegie scores on empty net. 43.1 seconds left. Unreal.

Close, close, close. What a crazy game. Faceoff time.

Codd empty net. It’s over. I’m out.

Rate This Story:

(+55 rating, 12 votes)

 Loading ...