The Colorado Mammoth picked up its first win of 2011, an 8-7 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks, in the team's road-game season premiere at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night. Despite scoring just one goal in the second half, Colorado walked away a winner against its West Division rival. The Mammoth, which evened up its record at 1-1, jumped out to an early lead 4:15 into the first quarter as transition player Ilija Gajic, fresh out of the penalty box, took a feed from defenseman Steve Toll and beat Roughnecks goalie Mike Poulin. Less than two minutes later, captain John Gallant scored his first of the year to make it 2-0 after Calgary gambled by pulling Poulin to bring on an extra offensive player. Toll recorded his second assist of the first quarter as forward Jamie Shewchuk buried a short-handed breakaway with the Mammoth down a man 7:45 in. Following the man-down goal, Colorado forward Brian Langtry drew two defenders and found forward Mike McLellan wide-open on the crease. McLellan scored the power-play tally at 14:35 to give the Mammoth a four-goal lead. After controlling possession on the ensuing face-off, Calgary again pulled Poulin to bring on the extra attacker - this time it worked. Roughnecks 4th-year forward Dane Dobbie beat Mammoth goalie Chris Levis five-hole with just two seconds remaining in the first quarter to cut Colorado's lead to three, 4-1. Dobbie's goal was his only tally of the game despite taking 21 shots. In the second quarter, Mammoth forward John Grant Jr. added to his early-season, highlight-reel goals, netting a behind-the-back goal in four-on-four action 2:45 into the period. Forward Cliff Smith's power-play goal less than two minutes later made it 6-1, giving Colorado its largest lead of the year. The Roughnecks responded, scoring the next three goals. Transition player Geoff Snider won the ensuing face-off cleanly and fed Calgary 1st-round pick Curtis Dickson, who was camped out on the crease. Dickson's goal, his fourth this season, came just seven seconds after Smith's. Roughnecks forward Scott Ranger then scored a power-play goal that ricocheted off Chris Levis' right hip to make it 6-3 Colorado, while former Mammoth forward Cory Conway's laser from the outside brought Calgary within two midway through the quarter. Following a Chris Levis save, Mammoth defenseman Tom Ethington started a slow break and fed a streaking Shewchuk. A quick-stick from the team's leading-scorer from a year ago got by Poulin at the 9:33 mark, giving Colorado a 7-4 advantage. The Mammoth wouldn't score again for more than 35 minutes. Calgary transition player Jeff Shattler had a goal waived off, as the officials called offensive interference on one of his teammates. But Shattler was not to be denied. Less than a minute later, he freed his hands enough to unleash a shot that beat Levis and pulled the Roughnecks within two. Just before the half, Mammoth rookie forward Jason Jones, making his NLL debut, received a 10-minute match penalty that resulted in his ejection and put his team down a man for five minutes. The penalty, which carried over into the second half, was unkind to Calgary, as the Roughnecks were unable to take advantage of the power play. Ranger's second, a short-handed tally 6:29 into the 3rd, made it 7-6, and Snider's goal at 4:59 in the 4th tied the game at seven. "You just have to think of it as another shot, and that the score's now tied, 0-0," said Levis, referring to Snider's equalizer. The Colorado goaltender came up with yet another save, his 54th of the game, with less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Mammoth Head Coach Bob Hamley pulled Levis to bring on the extra attacker, and the move paid off. Smith brought the ball across the midfield line, then slowly weaved around his defender, Mike Carnegie. Just as the second-year Mammoth forward wedged between two other Roughnecks defenders, Smith unleashed a bounce-shot that found the back of the net, giving Colorado an 8-7 victory. "I was supposed to get rid of the ball there," admitted Smith. "But, the defender slid to my teammate that I was supposed to pass to so I took the shot." Smith's shot was Colorado's 33rd of the game. Calgary, meanwhile, put 61 shots on goal and tested Levis throughout. "Chris allowed us to stay in the game and was huge for us," said Hamley. The victory brings Colorado within a half-game of the West Division-leading Roughnecks (2-1). Three goals were overturned following replay challenges. Grant had two consecutive goals in the 2nd quarter overturned because of crease violations. The first was called immediately on the field, while the second was a challenge by the Calgary bench. The Mammoth played its second-consecutive one-goal game this season after nine of the team's 16 games a year ago were decided by just a single score. Colorado ended a two-year, four-game losing streak to the Roughnecks and won for the first time at the Saddledome since 2008. Colorado returns home to Pepsi Center to take on the Philadelphia Wings (0-2) on Saturday, January 22, at 7pm. Tickets are on-sale now.
