The San Diego Seals (6-6) got a much-needed bye after playing 10 games over a nine-week stretch and they’ll look to use that break to their advantage when they return to the turf this Saturday night for an important road contest against the NLL’s top team, the 10-3 Saskatchewan Rush, at the Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon. Faceoff is 6 p.m. PT.
For the Seals, it will be a chance to right the ship after dropping two straight before the break and it will be an opportunity to avenge a 12-9 loss to the Rush in San Diego on Feb. 7. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Seals, who dominated early and led 4-0 after one quarter, only to see the Rush outscore them 12-5 over the final 45 minutes. Connor Robinson scored a season-high four goals for the Seals, but Saskatchewan’s Robert Church was up to the task and matched Robinson’s effort with four goals of his own, including three in the final quarter.
The Seals definitely won’t be intimidated when they step on the field Saturday night at the Sasktel Centre as they come in with a 4-1 road record and are the only team in the NLL with just one road loss this season. And they’ll be looking to hand the Rush their first home loss of the season as Saskatchewan is a perfect 5-0 inside Sasktel.
For the Seals to knock off the Rush, they’ll look to get a great effort in net from goaltender Chris Origlieri. Colorado and Vancouver managed to score 23 combined goals against the Seals’ netminder but in the previous six games, five of which resulted in Seals victories, Origlieri stopped 221 of 270 shots (81.9%) and allowed only 50 goals.
The Seals will also lean heavily on two of the League’s top transition players in faceoff specialist Trevor Baptiste and Zach Currier. Baptiste leads the League in both faceoff wins (230) and faceoff win percentage (77%) and in all honesty, it’s not even close. The Rush’s Jake Naso is tied with Calgary’s Justin Inacio for second in faceoff wins (203), 27 behind Baptiste. Currier meanwhile ranks second to Halifax's Jake Withers in loose balls secured (148 to 144) and he’s had 11-or-more in six of the Seals’ last seven games. Currier also leads the Seals with 16 forced turnovers, two ahead of Danny Logan, who’s second with 14, and he’s tied with Eli Gobrecht for second on the team with 8 blocked shots, four behind James Barclay who paces the Seals’ defense with 12.
Offensively, 15 different players have scored goals for the Seals this season, led by forwards Tre Leclaire (25), Dylan Watson (19), Wes Berg (18) and Connor Robinson (17). Berg, who’s expected to play in his 150th career game on Saturday night, and Leclaire have both been just as adept at setting up goals for their teammates as they rank 1-2 on the squad in assists with Berg tallying 35 for a team-leading 53 points, while Leclaire has dished out 26 helpers and is right behind Berg with 51 points.
Seals Head-to-Head vs. Saskatchewan
All-time, the Seals and Rush have met 13 times and Saskatchewan leads the series, 8-5, including the 12-9 win over the Seals earlier this season at Pechanga Arena. The Rush are 3-2 against the Seals in games played at the Sasktel Centre and 5-3 in games played in San Diego.
Broadcast Information
Saturday night’s game against the Rush will be broadcast locally in San Diego on Spectrum Cable Channel 4 and streamed to a global audience on ESPN+.
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