Josh Sanderson bagged a hat trick and five assists, and Blaine Manning dealt out two goals and eight assists, as the Toronto Rock rode a red-hot power play in the second half to a 16-10 triumph over the defending NLL champion Calgary Roughnecks, before an announced crowd of 17,240 at the Old Post Office in Toronto.

An inspired Lewis Ratcliff led the visitors with four goals and two assists.

A steady stream of Calgary penalties in the late going lit a fire under the Rock, who had been looking every bit like a team that had played on the road the night before, and flown back home this morning.

The Roughies were up two in just over two minutes. Taylor Wray got it going with a bouncer from the slot, and Jason Wulder surprised Toronto goalie Bob Watson with a forty-five-foot diagonal worm burner.

But Toronto settled into their game for the rest of the period. Aaron Wilson, under heavy checking from the Calgary defense, flipped home a heads-up pass from Blaine Manning at 4:30. Then Manning scored the goal of the night. Reaching up to snag a high loose ball at the left post, he snuck a one-handed downwards floater just under the crossbar on the far side to tie the game.

A few minutes later, Rock captain Jim Veltman -- playing post on the power play? -- cashed in a nice pass to give Toronto the lead. Veltman almost struck again at the buzzer, but his floor-length roller hit the empty Calgary goal just after the final buzzer sounded.

3-2 Rock after one.

Throughout the second quarter, Chris Hall's Roughnecks looked like champions, and Terry Sanderson's Toronto looked like mid-division strugglers. Transition terror Jesse Phillips went straight down the middle to tie the game just over a minute in. Josh Sanderson put the Rock back in front twenty seconds later, with a step-in bag job from the high slot.

Rob Williams kicked off Calgary's best run of the night at 2:05, beating Watson in alone on the fast break. After that, this became a game of breakaways, with Phillips stopped cold at one end for Calgary, and Ian Rubel shooting just over the crossbar at the other.

Tracey Kelusky got his only goal of the night with a sweetly deceptive floater over Watson's shoulder at 4:06. The only remaining score of the half was a cheeky step-around slot job from Ratcliff at 8:47.

6-4 Calgary at the half.

Rule one for beating the Toronto Rock is don't take a lot of penalties. Calgary forgot all about this at halftime. In the end, it mattered.

Josh Sanderson ripped home a sidearm screen job from the slot on the power play at 2:15. The Rock then exploded for four goals -- all even strength, but hold that thought about the power play -- in under a minute and a half:

• Chris Driscoll, step-in bomb job at 8:05.
• Colin Doyle, freezing the defence with a twisting back turn, faking, firing home at 8:36.
• Aaron Wilson, reaching high on the doorstep, stuffing it past Palidwor on the run at 9:01.
• Matt Shearer, turning a defender, zipping in to score at the post at 9:28.

Calgary finally got one, Ratcliff with a low screen shot on the power play. At that moment, it's 9-7 Toronto. Calgary's got a great chance to get back in it if the overall team discipline holds.

Toronto's next six goals were all on the power play.

Not only that, they came very quickly. Often, only a few seconds elapsed between the faceoff and the goal. Shearer touched off the run with a reach-around peekaboo screen shot that Palidwor never even saw. A minute and a half later, it was Doyle's turn on a running crease charge just after the restart.

In between those two goals, Bob Watson made a pair of great reflex saves back-to-back. On the first, he dove across his crease to thwart Kelusky (I think) with the scoop end of his stick. A second later, he foiled the rebound with his stick handle. The Watson of old, at least for two seconds.

11-7 Toronto after three.

The fourth quarter was more of the same. More and more Roughneck penalties, more and more Rock goals. Josh Sanderson went right down the middle to complete his hat trick, then Manning finished off a lengthy man-up passing sequence at 5:58.

Ratcliff got one back for Calgary on the run, off a nifty pass from Phillips. Wilson came right back for the Rock, ending another power play with one of his trademarked stuff jobs at the post. Then Doyle zipped one home from the doorstep.

That was it for Palidwor. Young Andrew Leyshon, who once scared the daylights out of the Rock in this rink with the Ottawa Rebel, took over, and was soon beaten on a running thirty-foot bounce job (soft) from Chris Driscoll.

Calgary answered with a pair to close it, Ratcliff along the floor from behind a screen, and Kaleb Toth on a nice scoring run.

NOTES:

This game was marred with five different fights -- all in the final minute! A rising high pressure system of Calgary frustration over the penalty calls hit a standing ridge of Terry Sanderson's old code from the Orangeville Minto Cup dynasty days: "Don't fight till it's over, then pick your partners."

Good win for the Rock, who pull off the rare feat of flying and winning on the same day. A bit of a crash-back for the Riggers, but they're still in first, and Chris Hall will be coaching the Western all-stars as a result.

I'll spare you my usual anti-fight rant -- for now.

Ben Knight is lacrosse and soccer columnist for Sportsnet.ca.