By Saskatchewan Rush,

What Bold accomplished this past weekend was twice as good as a bounce back game.

The Rush goalie totaled 78 saves and earned both wins as Saskatchewan swept a home-and-home set from the Colorado Mammoth which clinched first place in the NLL’s West Division. Bold, a finalist for the NLL’s Goaltender of the Year last season, was dominant in both games as he helped the Rush hold the potent Mammoth offence to only 13 goals in the two games.

The victories, and the manner in which they came, were sweet redemption for Bold, who was not his usual self in the Rush’s 14-13 loss at New England two weeks ago. The Rush play their second-to-last regular-season game this Saturday when they visit the Vancouver Stealth.

“Me and the whole defense, we had our challenges and had a bad outing against New England. We fell apart. We needed a good weekend to prove ourselves,” said Bold, a three-time Second Team All-Pro.

Bold, who is now in his fifth season as the Rush’s starting netminder, is supported by the league’s stingiest defense including four-time reigning NLL Defenseman of the Year Kyle Rubisch, team captain Chris Corbeil, and Ryan Dilks, the current league-leader in forced turnovers. The numbers they’ve put up, or if you prefer, the lack of numbers they’ve allowed the opposition to put up are highly impressive.

The Rush have allowed a league-low 167 goals, averaging only 10.44 goals-allowed per game. In the meantime, Bold leads the NLL in wins and goals-against average. Last Friday during the Rush’s impressive victory over the Mammoth in Denver, Bold put up 20 saves before allowing Colorado’s first goal of the game. In both games last weekend, Bold put together lengthy shutout periods, a great deal of which can be contributed to a unique approach he has mastered over the past few seasons in which he breaks an entire game down into five-minute segments.

“It’s even more in-depth than that. It is five minutes, but it’s also every shift and every shot in that five minutes,” Bold explained. “You take five minutes at a time. You find success in those five minutes and then go to the next, and to the next.

“We knew it was a big weekend and it would be a challenge. That was in the back of my mind so I really wanted to be focused. It was a pivotal point in the season and I wanted to do my best.”

It’s a talented, hard-working bunch, but Bold singled out something else when it comes to the group’s brick-wall results against the opposition.

“The biggest thing is that we are such a cohesive unit,” said Bold, who in 2014 set an NLL record with 15 wins plus Rush team records including goals-against average (8.73) and save-percentage (.791).

“We all have confidence in each other. We’re all well-conditioned athletes and have good minds for the game. They’re all talented but you can have a talented team and if they’re not cohesive and working together, you’re not going to have the same level of success. We’re brothers on and off the field. The biggest thing is the way we mesh together. And credit goes to coach Keenan for putting us together and keeping us together as a cohesive unit for so many years.”

Helping Hands: Three members of the Rush improved their status on the team’s all-time assist leaders list. Mark Matthews picked up his 61st assist of the season on Saturday which put him over the 200 mark for his career. Matthews became the Rush’s all-time assist leader earlier this season when he surpassed former Rush captain Ryan Ward (168). Meanwhile, both Zack Greer (133) and Robert Church (131) jumped up a spot on the assist list into third and fourth, respectively.