The quest for a road win remained elusive for the Minnesota Swarm, who suffered a 15-9 pummeling by the Colorado Mammoth Saturday night at Pepsi Center.
John Grant, Jr. led the Mammoth (2-2) attack, racking up an impressive 11 points, getting five goals and six assists. Jamie Lincoln also scored a hat trick for Colorado.
Minnesota's (1-3) three-game streak of at least one rookie scoring a hat trick ended. The only player who scored more than once was Jordan MacIntosh, who earned two goals and an assist for three points. He also won 17 of the 24 face-offs he played, but that was one of few gems for Minnesota.
Swarm rookie Matt Gibson appeared in his first career NLL game, and notched his first career goal with 5:55 left in the third quarter.
The game was headlined by a sequence of unusual events that took place in the fourth. Mammoth goalie Matt Roik was given a game misconduct penalty for illegal equipment, with officials saying his gloves were too big. Since the penalty was assessed with 6:29 left in regulation, Roik could not return. He finished with 36 saves.
Dan Lewis manned the crease in Roik's place, continuing the brilliant defense of his predecessor. Lewis made seven saves out of eight shots on goal.
Another peculiarity surface with 31 seconds left in the fourth, when Grant, Jr. was awarded a penalty shot following a disrupted breakaway attempt. In fitting fashion, he capitalized on the solo run for his fifth goal of the game.
The Swarm started with a 3-1 advantage before the Mammoth assumed control with 4:49 remaining in the first period. A pair of goals from Grant, Jr. launched an 8-1 Colorado run that spanned to the halftime intermission.
Minnesota attempted a response, earning the first three goals of the third, but they could not get closer than two points for the rest of the game despite a more aggressive offense. Both Tyler Carlson and Evan Kirk saw playing time at the goalie position, but neither were effective for Minnesota's defense.
The Swarm had a 52-44 edge over the Mammoth in shots on goal, but converted only one of their five power play attempts. Colorado was far more efficient, scoring on four out of five power plays.
Minnesota returns home for their next game on Friday, when they host the Toronto Rock.
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