The Vancouver Warriors beat the Toronto Rock 13-8 at Rogers Arena on St. Paddy’s Night.
It was Christain Del Bianco’s first game at Rogers Arena since his signing with the team last week and the 27-year-old netminder delivered a 49-save performance.
Warriors’ General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky saw contributions up and down the line-up, noting Del Bianco was instrumental in establishing an early lead. The Warriors led 8-2 at halftime, taking the game 13-8, an important win for the group looking for a playoff position in The March to May.
“There’s a lot to like about Christian; he gets the transition going, he gets the ball up before really quickly. The captain [Brett Mydske] had that big goal, that’s a momentum changer for us,” Malawsky said.
“Not only does it translate to get the ball over centre, when it comes to the 30-second clock, we’re now working with about 24-25 seconds, as opposed to 17-18, which is tough when we want to play offence by committee and grind teams down. It’s tough to do that when you’re short clocking yourself, so that was a big part that helped us.”
Del Bianco said it was easy to communicate with the Warriors’ defensive group on the floor, especially as he’s played with a number of them in the past. It felt good to get into NLL game action again and he’s looking forward to the rest of the season.
“It’s a pretty special thing and seeing the stands pretty filled up is obviously an awesome thing in your home city. Coming to Warriors games this year and getting to play in one finally, it feels pretty good,” Del Bianco said.
“It’s hard not to say that there was some pressure there. I was joking around with my fiancée and a couple of people close to me and they said ‘It’s ok if you don’t have your best night’ but you obviously want to deliver. A lot of people took a risk to get me here and I understand that the organization had to give up a great person in Brayden Laity to get me here so I owe it to everyone to go out there and do everything I can to perform.”
The team built on the momentum from their game in San Diego, starting the game on time with a solid first quarter and then outscoring the Rock 5-2 in the third. Their third quarters have been their lowest-scoring quarters this season; coming into the game against the Rock with 21 goals in the third over 12 games.
“When the game was still tight and was on the line, I thought we got the middle of the floor. I thought Keegan Bal was outstanding, [he] shot the ball really well. I thought a big turning point in the game was when they were pushing and Bides [Adam Charalambides] got that shorthanded goal. The individual effort around the net and he came in and scored that – that just shows a lot of leadership and passion,” Malawsky said.
Leadership and passion define the ultimate dawg mentality. Watch Bides go to work for his shorthanded goal…
Keegan Bal had a game-high nine points (4G, 5A), finding the back of the night four times on 11 shot attempts. Bal scored his first goal of the night 10 seconds into Vancouver’s first power play.
“As an offence, we were moving the ball really well, changing planes from high to low and low to high and everyone was contributing, and that’s what you want,” Bal said.
Adam Charalambides chipped in six points (3G, 3A), Riley Loewen tallied four points (1G, 3A), and Kevin Crowley potted a goal and two assists. In his season debut with the Warriors, forward Dylan McIntosh netted two goals and an assist, while captain Mydske scored his first goal of the season. Defenceman Owen Grant scored his 12th goal of the season.
As Malawsky mentioned, the Warriors started on time, Crowley scoring the first of the game just over a minute into the contest. At the end of the first quarter Del Bianco had 15 saves, the Warriors were one-for-one on the power play, and the Warriors held a 3-1 lead.
In the second quarter, McIntosh scored his first of the season on a delayed penalty at six-on-five and his second in the third quarter. He worked on his game and built a lot of confidence playing for the Maple Ridge Burrards in the WLA over the summer.
“Getting in for the first time this year, I was just trying my best to stay prepared, stay in shape, keep the stick in my hands of all time and luckily, it turned out pretty decent for me,” McIntosh said.
Malawsky said the 25-year-old right forward is a good example for young players coming into the league that hard work and biding his time gets rewarded.
“He bangs and competes, he’s just dying to get on the floor and when he got out there, he created a lot of space, got that big goal six-on-five, and then scored a big one in the third quarter too. I think he created a lot of space for a Keegan and for Crowley, so I really liked his game. He’s in phenomenal shape. He might be in the best shape on the team, and he just wants to get to the middle floor, and we need toughness to get to the middle and he did that tonight,” Malawsky said.
Watch the full game highlights here: https://twitter.com/NLL/status/1900768628900794608
The Warriors are back at Rogers Arena next week for a tilt against the Georgia Swarm on Saturday, March 22nd. Game time at Rogers Arena will be at 7:00 p.m. PT.
For season tickets, group tickets, premium options, and all ticketing options, please go to vancouverwarriors.com for all the details.
