Rock Win Clinches Playoff Spot

March 30, 2019

ROCK WIN CLINCHES PLAYOFF SPOT

Toronto Continues Winning Ways At Home 

Toronto, ON – The Toronto Rock (9-5) punched their ticket to the post-season with a 12-11 win over the Philadelphia Wings (3-11) on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena in front of 11,244 fans. The win also gave the Rock a three-game season series sweep of the expansion Wings and was the team’s sixth straight victory at home.

“Any team’s first goal is to qualify for the playoffs and we were happy to do that, especially here at home,” said Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer.

The Rock started well with a goal from Johnny Powless, a sign of good things to come, as the team had struggled out of the gate recently. Two power play goals helped give the Rock a 3-1 lead after one. Challen Rogers scored one of the goals on the power play, which was a bit of a new wrinkle in the Rock playbook as Rogers is a defender and rarely sees any time on the team’s power play unit.

The Rock built on a two-goal run that ended the first quarter and a six-one run gave them a 7-2 lead before the halfway point of the second quarter. Philadelphia tallied twice to close to within three, trailing 7-4 at the half.

In the third quarter, Rob Hellyer tacked on a pair of goals to the one he scored in the second quarter to complete the hat trick. He, along with Tom Schreiber and Dan Craig, helped increase the Rock advantage to four, leading 11-7 after three quarters.

The Wings weren’t done however. The visitors outscored the Rock 4-1 in the final quarter and had a goal called back after video review determined Vaughan Harris had stepped in the crease prior to scoring. Brandon Slade netted the Rock’s twelfth goal, the eventual game-winner, off of a pretty behind-the-back pass from Powless on the crease.

This was without a doubt Powless’ best game in a Rock jersey, recording three goals and adding four assists for a seven-point game and in the process earning the game’s first star. It was also a big step forward for the offence that has struggled recently.

“I think we just looked back at the film and learned from that. I thought tonight we swung the ball really well and if we continue to do that we’ll have success,” said Powless.

Rock goal scorers were Powless and Hellyer with hat tricks that were complimented by two goals each from Craig and Rogers as well as singles from Schreiber and Slade.

Nick Rose provided his usual steady goaltending, stopping 43 of the 54 shots he faced and was particularly good in the first half.

The Rock will be back at home again next Friday night for a huge showdown with the East Division leading Buffalo Bandits at Scotiabank Arena at 7:30 p.m.

2018-19 Toronto Rock Single Game Tickets along with the 6 Ticket Flex Pack are on sale now.  To purchase or for more information, please visit torontorock.com or call 416-596-3075.