NEW ENGLAND SPOILS SASK’S HOME OPENER

SASKATOON – Grinch found a home at the SaskTel Centre on Saturday night and he was wearing orange.

The New England Black Wolves had a pack mentality and used it to their full advantage as they topped the Saskatchewan Rush 12-8, spoiling the Rush Nation home-opener in the process.

Callum Crawford (3 goals, 3 assists) and rookie Andrew Kew (2 goals, 4 assists) each had six points for the Wolves while goaltender Doug Jamieson was the biggest difference-maker of all as he totaled 43 saves.

“I tried to go steady and make the saves I should and my defence played awesome,” said Jamieson.

The Rush offence never really got on track despite the best efforts of Mark Matthews, who scored four goals, including a first-quarter penalty shot tally and two in the fourth quarter as the Rush tried to mount a comeback.

The Black Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Dave Emala and Reilly O’Connor and went out in front 6-1 resulting in Rush starting netminder Evan Kirk getting pulled in favor of Adam Shute. The change did give the Rush a little bit of a boost as Matthews fired home a shot from the slot, Mike Messenger got another back on a great diving effort, and Kyle Rubisch scored on a transition opportunity.

The Rush continued to claw their way back into the game just 23 seconds into the second half when Rubisch scored his second of the night on another breakout chance and Jeff Shattler deftly picked the far side from in tight to make it 9-6.

With a rally in mind, the Rush looked for more offence in the fourth, but Jamieson was there to slam the door. Matthews potted his third and fourth of the night just 1:23 apart in the late stages but a miscue behind the Saskatchewan net between Shute and his defender allowed Nick Chaykowsky to tuck the ball into a gaping net and lock down the decision for the Black Wolves.

It was a tough night all around for the Rush as they went 0-for-1 on the power play and won just seven of 24 faceoffs.

“I just think the compete wasn’t as good as it should be in the first half,” said Rush GM/Head Coach Derek Keenan.

The Rush get next week off before heading out on the road for a post-Christmas clash as they meet the expansion New York Riptide for the first time.

(Rush PR)