The Vancouver Warriors and Saskatchewan Rush delivered a defensive showdown as expected, with both teams showcasing their strong back-end play. The Warriors made a late push in the fourth quarter, but ultimately fell 10-7 on Marvel Superhero Night at Rogers Arena.
Warriors’ General Manager and Head Coach Curt Malawsky liked his team’s defence, goaltending, and work in the faceoff circle, noting exceptional play from defenceman Ryan Dilks who blocked three shots, forced three turnovers and scooped up 11 loose balls.
Saskatchewan averages 13 goals per game, but the Warriors’ defensive corps held the Rush to 10 goals. Vancouver also went four of six on the penalty kill.
“I think our defence has been good all year – I thought Dilksy had a whale of a game and he’s one of our older guys and I think guys can learn a lot from that. Outside of 45 (Keegan Bal) I thought our offence was perimeter,” Malawsky said.
“We have to do a better job of controlling momentum, we implemented some systematic stuff and it’s working for the most part, but I think sometimes you’ve got to get more than 11 or 12 [goals], that’s what you have to get, seven’s not going to get it done, [and] we’re not holding teams to six. I don’t have a problem with our defence and our goaltending, it’s our offence and I’ve got to fix it.”
Vancouver and Saskatchewan were deadlocked at 3-3 at the end of the first quarter, Adam Charalambides breaking the ice with the first goal, Riley Loewen putting one past Rush goaltender Frank Scigliano, and Kevin Crowley scoring shorthanded.
Five minutes into the second quarter with Warriors’ forward Marcus Klarich on a breakaway, he drew a holding penalty from Rush defenceman Bobby Kidd III – who also made an illegal substitution – which gave the Warriors two back-to-back penalty shots.
Malawsky said he’s never seen two back-to-back penalty shots in a game, and he went to his leading goal scorer, Keegan Bal, to take both shots. Bal missed the first, but made the second, scoring his 200th career goal.
The Warriors bench boss had a lot of praise for Bal who reached another milestone this season.
“He works so hard away from the game and he’s always practicing and he’s a humble guy. He puts his body on the line night in, night out and he’s always our most consistent player,” Malawsky said. “He can score from the outside, get to the middle of the floor, he cares so much about this organization you wouldn’t believe it, the guys in the room too [will tell you], he’s just a phenomenal, phenomenal leader. When good things happen to good people, you’re happy for them.”
The Warriors stayed in the fight and went into halftime down 5-4.
Vancouver had difficulty scoring in the third, but Steph Charbonneau scored his first goal of the season on a two-on-one with Reid Bowering as the Warriors made a comeback in the fourth quarter.
“We just need to keep putting together a full 60. We maybe lapsed a few times there; we had our game plan and stuff that we prepared for that we slipped up on. So, just sticking to the game plan, keeping that stuff in mind, but we’re great on defence and goaltending is great when we play our way,” Charbonneau said.
Charbonneau said the loss is frustrating, but they take the positives from the game, learn from the negatives and make adjustments.
“Yes, obviously frustrated, disappointed, but we like our group, we like our team, we like our locker room, and we have a lot to build on,” he said.
The Warriors were cold in the third quarter and Malawsky talked about making lineup changes to get more movement and speed in the offence for their next game.
The group is going to use the bye week to rest and recover while they continue to put in the work in the gym and on the floor.
Goaltender Aden Walsh was hit with the flu this week and stopped 34 shots he faced while still recuperating. He’s looking to be back at full strength in time for the Warriors second matchup against the San Diego Seals.
