The Colorado Mammoth struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Saskatchewan Rush on Friday night at Pepsi Center as the squad lost for the first time at home this season, 11-5.
In a game between teams that entered action tied atop the West Division, the Mammoth was shut out for the first 25 minutes. Mike Burke’s goal to put the home-team on the board cut the Rush lead to 4-1. Callum Crawford registered the assist – his 68th – to set a new team single-season record. Crawford added two goals later in the game to establish a new single-season career-high 97 points. As for the night as a whole?
“Extremely disappointing,” said the forward. “We need to forget about it. We can bring it all back if we get a ‘W’ tomorrow, so that’s the focus.”
The teams meet on Saturday at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon for the back-end of the weekend home-and-home series. A Colorado win on Saturday would keep the Mammoth in contention for the West Division title; a loss would mean the two-seed entering the playoffs.
John Grant, Jr.’s around-the-world goal late in the third quarter brought Colorado to within one, 5-4. But the final frame belonged to Saskatchewan, as the visitors reeled off six straight to put the game away.
Goaltender Dillon Ward returned from injury and recorded 45 saves. His counterpart, Aaron Bold, stopped 42 shots.
Saturday’s face-off from Saskatchewan is at 7:30pm MDT. The game will air live on FOX Sports GO, and will be shown on Altitude on Sunday, Apr. 17 at 10:00pm.