Game Preview - Halifax @ Saskatchewan
Dec 12, 2024
The Halifax Thunderbirds look to get their first victory of the year on the road when they head West for a showdown with the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday night. Opening face-off is set for 9:00 p.m. AT.
Head to Head
The Thunderbirds and Rush will go up against one another twice this year – just as they did a season ago. It was Halifax who had the edge in both meetings last year, winning 17-12 in the opening game of the year before taking a 19-6 victory on the road in Saskatchewan last February.
The Canadian rivals will face off on Saturday and then finish off the season series in Halifax on Mar 14.
Scouting the Thunderbirds
The questions about the Thunderbirds’ new-look offence were answered in the team’s first game of the season, with the team posting 17 goals and five Halifax forwards having five-plus points on the night.
Clarke Petterson (2G, 7A) and Randy Staats (1G, 8A) led the way against Calgary. But it was the Thunderbird debuts of Thomas Hoggarth (4G, 2A) and Jason Knox (3G, 2A) that were bright spots.
Dawson Theede (4G, 2A) also continued his strong play from last year into the season opener. Mike Robinson had a solid showing in his NLL debut, scoring a goal and adding two assists while also taking shifts in transition.
Ryan Terefenko had a big opener for the Thunderbirds, scoring twice while adding three loose balls and a caused turnover. He’ll be relied on all year to push the pace for Halifax out of the back gate.
The Thunderbirds won just 26 percent of their draws while filling in for Jake Withers as he served a one-game suspension. The two-way ace returns for this contest. Withers is coming off a year with 360 face-off wins and a 74% win percentage at the stripe. He also added 282 loose balls and 16 points in transition. He and Terefenko form one of the best loose ball tandems off draws in the entire NLL.
Warren Hill will look for his first win of the year in Saskatchewan. The Halifax starter turned away 38 shots but was saddled with the loss last weekend.
Scouting the Rush
The Rush had to go to an extra frame to decide their season-opener in Albany, but they managed to come out with a victory on the road.
Zach Manns (4G, 1A) and rookie Brock Haley (2G, 3A) were the top producers for the Rush in that game, but it was former Thunderbird Austin Shanks (2G, 2A) who came up with the winner.
The Rush also have two top veterans in Robert Church (4A) and Ryan Keenan (1G, 1A) who combined for 190 points last season. Clark Walter (1A) is coming off a career-best season.
Mike Triolo is also a large body up front that can open up space for himself and his teammates.
Saskatchewan likes to get out and run in transition. Holden Garlent, Jake Boudreau, and Mike Messenger all had points in their opener. Boudreau and Messenger also finished with 27 points apiece in transition last year while Ryan Barnable had 17 points.
Frank Scigliano will man the cage for the Rush, the veteran starter took his first win of the season two weekends ago, with a 49-save performance against Albany. He holds an 8.03 GAA and a .845 SV%.
Milestone Watch
- Thomas Hoggarth needs five points to reach 200 for his career
- Clarke Petterson needs nine assists to reach 200 for his career
- Mitch Wilde needs 13 loose balls to reach 500 for his career
Broadcast Info
Thunderbirds fans can catch all the action on Saturday night on CTV2 locally as well as on TSN+. The game will also be live on both ESPN+ and NLL+.