The Calgary Roughnecks are going to the National Lacrosse League playoffs and that has Jeff Moleski excited for a number of reasons.
The Roughnecks won a nailbiter, 14-13 over the Vancouver Stealth Saturday night in Langley to clinch third place in the NLL West and that gives Moleski, the 33-year-old Roughnecks defenceman from Prince George, another shot at winning his third Champions Cup.
Moleski will start that playoff run in Denver, his favourite road stop, where the Roughnecks will play the second-place Colorado Mammoth on Saturday.
He's relieved to see the last of Rhys Duch, the Stealth sharpshooter who shredded the Roughnecks' defence all night. If not for a spectacular game-saving stop off Duch from goalie Frankie Scigliano with 11 seconds left, overtime would have been needed.
"There were a lot of momentum swings and they got off to a good start, and it was just a good game -- the crowd (4,933 at Langley Events Centre) was really into it," said Moleski.
"We just hung on at the end. Rhys was tough to stop, he beat me for a few. He had my number last night, I wasn't overly impressed."
Vancouver (5-13) opened up a 4-0 lead before the game was five minutes old and Duch was in on three of those goals. The Roughnecks (7-11) outscored the Stealth 7-1 in the third quarter to build a 12-9 lead but Duch tied it with three unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter, on his way to six-goal, eight-point game.
Jeff Shattler fired in the winner 9:49 into the fourth quarter and also finished with eight points, including four goals. Calgary forward Shawn Evans added to his record single-season point total with three goals and four assists to end up with 18 goals and 130 points in 18 games.
Conrad Chapman of Prince George, who plays transition for the Stealth, was a healthy scratch Saturday.
The Roughnecks went penalty-free in the game and were 1-for-2 on the power play. They outshot the Stealth 65-44.
"We hit 10 or 12 posts minimum and the score could have been worse but their goaltender (Tyler Richards) held them in there," said Moleski. "I think our experience made a difference, we have a group of veteran guys who know how to handle it more when big games are on the line and know how to win."
Calgary lost in the NLL final last year to Rochester and the core of that team remains intact. Moleski joined the Roughnecks as a free agent this season after four years with the Stealth.
Based on the season series, it's tough to predict which team will win Saturday night in Denver. The Roughnecks lost 17-16 to Colorado at home in January, then split a weekend series in April, losing 9-8 in Denver, followed by a 14-9 Roughnecks win the following day in Calgary. Colorado finished with a 9-9 record.
"It'll be an intense game," said Moleski. "That'll be a great atmosphere and a real loud building They'll come close to selling out the (18,010-seat) Pepsi Center."
The winner of Saturday's game will play the Edmonton Rush (13-5) in the West final May 16 in Edmonton. In the NLL East, the Toronto Rock (14-4) awaits the winner of Saturday's semifinal between the second-place Rochester Nighthawks (12-6) and third-place Buffalo Bandits (11-7).
