Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Warriors (6-7) rode an MVP-type performance between the pipes from the newly acquired Christian Del Bianco to a 13-8 win over the Toronto Rock (4-9) on Friday night at Rogers Place in Vancouver. The Rock’s three-game road winning streak was snapped in the process.
“We were chasing it the whole game,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer. “Uncharacteristic turnovers both on offence and defence. It wasn’t our night.”
The game started well enough for the Rock. After giving up the opening goal, they quickly punched back with a Tom Schreiber goal 31 seconds after the Warriors initial marker. Vancouver potted two more to lead 3-1 after one.
Vancouver scored the next three goals to make it a five-goal run, taking a 6-1 lead. Josh Dawick scored on a no-look over the shoulder chuck at the goal that found its way by Del Bianco to break up the Warriors run. Vancouver scored twice more before the end of the half to lead 8-2 at the break. The Rock held a 33-30 edge in shots on goal after two quarters.
The third quarter was more of the same from the Warriors. A 5-2 frame gave them a 13-4 lead heading to the fourth quarter. Gowah Abrams came in to relieve Troy Holowchuk in the Rock goal for 8:01 and stopped 6 of the 7 shots he faced.
Holowchuk re-entered the game to start the fourth quarter in the Rock cage and shutout the Warriors over the final 15 minutes. The Rock scored four times including a beautiful goal from Zack Kearney who has been an absolute workhorse for the Rock over the last two games.
The final shots on goal favoured the Rock 55-45. Toronto was 3-for-5 on the power play, while Vancouver was 1-for-3 on the man up.
The Rock will return home to face the Philadelphia Wings next Saturday night at 7pm ET at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga. It’s Marvel Super Hero™ Night and it will be a must win game for the Rock as they will likely need to win each of their final five games to have a chance at a playoff spot.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
