A defensive miscue on the opening shift resulted in a prime scoring chance for the Edmonton Rush, and while it didn't cost the Vancouver Stealth on that particular play, it was a sign of things to come.
The Rush pummeled the visiting Stealth 19-7 on Saturday night at Edmonton's Rexall Place in National Lacrosse League action in what was a showdown for top spot in the West Division.
Instead, Edmonton improved to 5-4 while the Stealth fell to 4-5 to drop to third place.
The Colorado Mammoth — who visit the Langley Events Centre on Saturday (March 21) at 7 p.m. — sit in between the two clubs at 5-5.
"We can't afford to do that," said Stealth coach Dan Perreault, referring to the 38 turnovers his team committed against Edmonton.
"It was sort of the way the evening went. There were not too many things that went right."
Before the game was even seven minutes old, the Rush had jumped to a 3-0 lead.
The Stealth did cut the lead to a pair of goals, 4-2, early in the second quarter, but that was as close as they would get. Edmonton blew things open in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 7-1 in the period to turn a 9-4 game into a 16-5 beat down.
Perreault did give credit to their opponent.
"That was a heck of an Edmonton team we played," he said. "They played a great game."
One of the problems the Stealth had was in getting shots on goal as Edmonton out-shot them 65-36.
Perreault said the game's outcome was a combination of self-inflicted mistakes and a great defensive effort from the Rush, who were coming off a pair of overtime losses.
"That is a very good Edmonton defence; they pressure you and we played on our heels," Perreault said.
"It felt like we were constantly passing the ball back instead of attacking."
"We addressed it and we know what we have to do to be successful," he added.
"Our feet weren't moving enough and the ball wasn't moving enough. We will improve on that. We are all aware of what we have to do to be successful this Saturday."
Rhys Duch led the Stealth with two goals and five points, while Tyler Digby, Corey Small and Joel McCready each had a goal and two helpers.
Johnny Powless had three assists.
Ilija Gajic led the team with seven loose balls.
Mark Matthews and Tyler Melnyk led the Rush with four goals apiece while Robert Church had a hat trick.