The Toronto Rock (5-12) played their final home game of the regular season Friday Night at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga dropping a 16-9 decision to the Halifax Thunderbirds (11-7). The Rock offence was paced by Chris Boushy’s goals, while Josh Dawick reached a milestone few Rock players have.
“When you look at the other Rock 40-goal scorers, it’s pretty cool to be in the same sentence as some of those players”, Dawick said after reaching the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I would trade it to be playing in the playoffs.”
The first quarter belonged to the Thunderbirds, building a 4-0 edge over the course of the opening almost 15 minutes. With less than a second left in the frame, Corey Small scored to get the Rock on the board and give the home side some life, trailing 4-1 heading to the second quarter.
Josh Dawick’s 39th goal of the season drew the Rock to within a pair just shy of the two-minute mark for the second quarter. It was a wild period on the scoreboard, as Chris Boushy scored a hat trick, while Halifax tallied four times and at the break, Halifax led 8-5.
The Rock seemed to find their groove in the third quarter and Rock netminder Troy Holowchuk, who faced a ton of shots on this night, really settled in. Dawick netted his 40th early in the quarter and Boushy and Justin Martin scored shorthanded to tie the game 8-8. The game wouldn’t remain level for long as Cody Jamieson scored on the power play for Halifax just 25 seconds after Martin’s game tying goal. The Thunderbirds carried a 9-8 lead into the final 15 minutes.
Dawson Theede took control of the game in the final quarter, scoring three times and extinguished any hopes the Rock had of a win on Fan Appreciation Night. Halifax scored seven times in the fourth quarter to finish this one off, while the Rock got just a single tally from Boushy which was his fifth of the game.
