The Colorado Mammoth (2-9) had high hopes for the end of the season after defeating the Boston Blazers 9-8 in their first home win since 2009, but last night those hopes were slightly dashed when the Edmonton Rush (4-9) – the closest team to them in the race for the last spot in the playoffs – defeated them 14-10 in Edmonton.
The second leg of a home and home match up between the two teams will conclude tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver, with Colorado needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. While they won’t technically be eliminated outright if they lose, Edmonton will be six points ahead of them with only a single match up between the two remaining on the schedule, not good odds for a team like Colorado that has been scrambling for any wins they can find all season long.
John Grant Jr. and Alex Gajic will both try and continue the strong nights we saw from them last night, both netting four goals a piece for Colorado. Former Captain and former Rush player Gavin Prout is still trying to regain his goal-scoring form with his new (old?) squad. He’s scored a couple but has been largely struggling with consistency in his first two games back in Colorado.
Goalkeeper Chris Levis is going to have to out-duel his counterpart Matt Disher tonight with a lot more efficiency than he did last night, when he allowed 14 goals on only 50 shots as opposed to the 10 out of 57 that Disher allowed. As a supposed all-star, Levis will need to prove his ability to lead the still shaky Mammoth squad. The defense will also need a boost. Since the 2009 home win curse was broken last week, hopefully the home crowd will become a boost to the team instead of just another reminder that they can’t win at home.
Go Mammoth!