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Game Preview - Halifax vs Rochester

Jan 16, 2025

The Halifax Thunderbirds will be in search of their third consecutive win when they welcome the Rochester Knighthawks to Scotiabank Centre to wrap up the season series between the two teams on Saturday night. Opening face-off is set for 7:00 p.m. AT. 

Scouting the Thunderbirds

It was an extremely productive night for the Thunderbirds on the offensive end of the floor, as 14 different runners – and the goaltender – registered a point in their victory in Rochester. 

Randy Staats (7G, 32A) continued his strong start to the year, setting a new season-high in points with 10. He also had a four-goal outing, surpassing his season total in a performance Thunderbirds have come to expect from the star righty. Clarke Petterson’s (8G, 24A) final second goal was the difference, and he finished with two goals and four points. 

In his return to the lineup, Thunderbirds captain Cody Jamieson (2G, 5A) had a two-goal, five-point night. Dawson Theede (15G, 12A) also had five points, and the lefty leads the Thunderbirds with 15 goals on the season. The Thunderbirds also got good support from rookie Mike Robinson (5G, 7A) Jason Knox (8G, 10A), and Bo Bowhunter (4G, 1A). 

Robinson was also named the NLL’s Rookie of the Week for his efforts. 

In transition, Graeme Hossack had three assists, Johnny Pearson had a goal, and Ryan Terefenko, Jake Withers, Curtis Romanchych, Mitch Wilde, and Drew Hutchison had an assist each.

Hutchison turned away 42 shots while helping his team to a victory last weekend. Hutchison has a pair of wins on the year along with a 14.71 goals-against average and a .726 save percentage.

Scouting the Knighthawks

It was the Knighthawks’ big guns who helped them post 18 goals a week ago in the first matchup between these two teams. But it was a 10-point night from Thomas McConvey (11G, 18A) that led the way for Rochester on the night. Connor Fields (13G, 26A) had three goals and seven points as well while leading scorer Ryan Lanchbury (12G, 30A) had a seven-assist night. 

Ryan Smith (18G, 11A) also had four goals and seven points.

The Knighthawks also looked to push transition heavily, with Matt Gilray and Ryland Rees each scoring a goal and Josh Medeiros adding a pair of his own from the back end. 

Mike Sisselberger has also gotten off to a solid start at the face-off dot for Rochester. Through two games, the Lehigh product is 44 of 70 (63%) on draws. 

Riley Hutchcraft started the game, but he was lifted for Kevin Orleman before returning to the cage in the final minutes of regulation. He will likely get the nod again for the Knighthawks in this game. He holds an 11.88 GAA and a .790 SV% through seven games so far this season.

Milestone Watch

  • Dawson Theede needs six loose balls to reach 200 for his career
  • Ryan Terefenko needs 18 loose balls to reach 500 for his career
  • Thomas Hoggarth needs 10 assists to reach 100 for his career
  • Randy Staats needs 15 points to reach 600 for his career
  • Cody Jamieson needs 34 points to become the 17th player in NLL history to reach 1,000 career points

Broadcast Info

Thunderbirds fans can catch all of the action on Saturday night on TSN+ in Canada, ESPN+ in the United States, and NLL+ Internationally

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