Bullfrogs Continue Their Mastery of the Blades : Roller hockey: Despite being outshot, 53-35, Anaheim wins, 6-4, to set a RHI record for victories with 19.
INGLEWOOD — With playoff appearances already secured, the Blades and the Bullfrogs went about putting their own agendas in order Saturday night.
For the record, the Bullfrogs bested their rival for the fourth time in a row, with a 6-4 victory before an announced crowd of 5,467 at the Forum.
Bullfrog goaltender Rob Laurie turned in another sparkling performance, his third in a row, by turning away 49 shots. Brad McCaughey scored a goal seven seconds after a faceoff, establishing a team record, and the victory was a Roller Hocker International-record 19th, against two losses and one tie.
The Blades, who outshot the Bullfrogs, 53-35, got a three-goal performance from Andy Akervik, but fell to 8-10-4.
As much was happening off the floor Saturday night as on it. Blades Coach Bobby Hull Jr. said his team was trying to build momentum entering the playoffs and he was pleased with the way his team played.
“We haven’t played with consistency all summer and we hope we are starting to come around,” he said.
With two games left, the Blades remain in the seventh spot in the eight-team playoff ladder, bunched with four other teams. They need to win one of their last two to advance.
The Bullfrogs, who finish on the road at Phoenix Wednesday and San Diego Friday, have earned the top-seeding throughout the playoffs, so their current needs are quite different. They were tending to an array of injuries Saturday, not the least of which is an apparent pulled stomach muscle or possible hernia to Darren Banks. Coach Grant Sonier scratched Banks from the starting lineup and Banks applied ice on the injured area for most of the game. He will see a doctor Monday and his status is uncertain.
Fredrik Jax (thigh bruise) and Brad Tiley (bad back) did not make the road trip, which began Friday with an 8-7 victory against San Jose. Defenseman Darren Perkins did not play Saturday because of a sore neck sustained in San Jose. Defenseman Joe Cook, coming off a concussion suffered a week ago against the Blades, played, but bruised his thigh and McCaughey, who played defense for only the second time in his career, endured chronic back pain.
Sonier, a leading candidate for an assistant spot with the Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League, talked with Ice Dog officials after the game, but no announcement was made.
Banks didn’t figure to play, but when he went to serve a penalty for McCaughey early in the third period, he found himself back on the floor on the far side of the rink from the Bullfrog bench. As he crossed the floor, the puck rebounded in front of him and Banks alertly shot it. The puck beat Blade goaltender Sean Gauthier, giving the Bullfrogs a 5-2 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left.
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