THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON — The 0-6 start is beginning to seem like a distant memory for the Edmonton Rush.
Jimmy Quinlan had four goals and an assist as the Rush surged into a playoff position, moving ahead of Calgary for fourth place in the West Division in the NLL version of the Battle of Alberta, defeating the Roughnecks 11-9 on Saturday night.
It was the second win in a row and fourth in their last five for the Rush (4-7) who started the season winless in their first six. Edmonton is now 2.5 games back of division-leading Colorado.
"Every win is a big win but when you are fighting for a playoff spot the way we have been it’s huge," said Rush GM/head coach Bob Hamley. "We’re very happy right now. It was a game of who was going to make the mistakes at the wrong time and we got a couple goals late. Our offence did a really good job of moving the ball around and not letting them transition. It was a total team effort.
"We’re playing with a lot of character and confidence right now. We’re not taking anything lightly. We’re working hard and then we’re looking up at the scoreboard after the game. If we work hard we will be on the right side of the ledger most nights."
Lindsay Plunkett, Dan Stroup and Mike Hominuck all had two goal nights for Edmonton with Buck Stobart adding a key single goal.
Quinlan says it is a lot more fun coming to the rink now that the team is starting to turn things around.
"It’s a huge win for our organization because we are keeping the momentum going," he said. "I think with each win our team is starting to believe more and more in each other and the game plans that are being implemented. The best thing is that coming to the rink is a lot of fun. Being 0-6 seems like a long time ago. We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Calgary (4-9) has now lost three in a row and four of its last five to sit in fifth and currently out of the playoffs, 3.5 games back of Colorado.
"Any loss is tough but we like to think we still control where we finish," said Calgary assistant coach Terry Sanderson. "We’re putting ourselves in a pretty difficult spot but there are three games left and by no means is there any quit left in this club."
Scott Ranger was the top gun for Calgary with three goals, Josh Sanderson had two and Tracy Kelusky, Kelly Hall, Kaleb Toth and Jeff Shattler rounded out the Roughneck scorers.
.Calgary scored the first goal of the contest at 2:27 as Sanderson , playing in his first game for the Roughnecks since he was acquired from Toronto, paid immediate dividends as he bounced a shot through the legs of Edmonton goalie Curtis Palidwor.
Stroup responded with Edmonton’s first of the game on Roughnecks starter Pat Campbell but Calgary was able to take a 2-1 lead after the first quarter.
Edmonton came out strong to start the second, taking the lead four minutes in as Campbell lost control of a rebound and Plunkett was there to score a diving goal.
The two teams traded goals before Calgary regained the advantage on Ranger’s second goal of the contest on the power play. But Plunkett was able to score his second of the match as well with under two minutes to play in the second frame to knot the game 5-5 at the half.
Ranger put Calgary ahead by one with his hat trick goal just 46 seconds into the third before the game went into a defensive coma all the way until there was just 18 seconds left and Quinlan was able to notch his hat trick marker to make for a 6-6 game heading into the fourth.
The two teams traded a pair of goals apiece early in the final frame and were tied 8-8 just past the midmark of the fourth before Edmonton went back in front as Hominuck took a nice feed from Dan Teat and bounced the ball in past Campbell.
It was all tied up again with five minutes to go however as Sanderson batted a pass out of the air and into the net behind Palidwor to make it 9-9.
Edmonton went ahead 10-9 with two minutes left as defender Stobart took a ball the length of the court and scored his first of the season and then led by two goals as Hominuck tucked in his second of the night to give Edmonton the win.
The Rush are back in action on San Jose on Friday before travelling to Calgary to face the Roughnecks again next Saturday. Calgary has three games remaining to Edmonton’s five but the two teams face each other twice more.
Notes: Edmonton goaltender Curtis Palidwor was named the NLL player of the month on Friday… It was a week of awards for the Rush as Rory Glaves was named defensive player of the week and Chris McKay, playing in his first game with the Rush in their 12-5 win over San Jose, was named transition player of the week…. It was Josh Sanderson’s first game as a Roughneck, acquired in a trade deadline day deal for Calgary’s leading scorer Lewis Ratcliff. …In 11 games with the Rock this season, Sanderson scored 23 goals to go with 27 assists Calgary holds a 5-3 all-time record in games between the two Alberta squads. Both of Edmonton’s previous wins came in Calgary.