Rochester Knighthawks at Buffalo Bandits – NLL Game of the Week

Editor’s Note: We’re back with another NLL Game of the Week! Thanks to the help of the innovative team at SISU Guard, the Official Mouthguard of the NLL, we are beefing up our National Lacrosse League coverage for 2016! We hope you enjoy our look at the NLL season through a new lens with the aid of our partner SISU!

The clock is on! With not many games left in the NLL regular season, the pressure is building on the franchises that have yet to clinch the four remaining playoff spots. We’ve got five games on the docket this weekend, one in the West, one in the East and the other three are split between the two. Colorado and Saskatchewan have already booked their trips to the postseason dance and after the weekend, we could see at least one more team lock in their spot. Let’s put our focus on the big game in New York this weekend, because it has the most on the line…

NLL Game of the Week

Rochester Knighthawks (6-7) at Buffalo Bandits (9-4)

When: 4/9/2016 – 7:30 pm ET
Where: First Niagara Center – Buffalo, New York
Watch: Fox Sports GO

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[mks_one_half]Standing: 3rd in Eastern Conference

Watch For: The gloves could drop tonight because energy is more important now than it has been all season.

Points Leader: Cody Jamieson – 24 goals, 49 assists

Things to work on: Ball movement on offense needs to pick up. Too often does Dawson try to carry the load and now that their forwards are getting back in a scoring groove, they need to take advantage of the momentum.

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[mks_one_half]Standing: 1st in Eastern Conference

Watch for: Goals to keep falling for the Bandits. Last week, 8 players combined for 18 goals, 3 runners had 2 a piece.

Points Leader: Dhane Smith – 53 goals, 58 assists

Needs to work on: Building a wall in front of Cosmo. The veteran is playing at the top of his game and is putting up a .786 save percentage. They need to limit shots and keep the interior clear.

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The Thru-way rivalry picks up again on Saturday, again in Buffalo for the second of three meetings in the regular season. The Bandits captured their first win in the series on March 11th, 13-10. Since the loss, Rochester is 2-2, beating Georgia and New England back to back before dropping two-straight to the Black Wolves. Buffalo met with the Stealth and Swarm in the weeks since, winning both matches by out scoring their opponents 35-24. Rochester has their backs against the wall this weekend. They have five games left and only one of them is against a non-top ranked team (Georgia). Taking on Saskatchewan, New England and Buffalo twice is a brutal test for a team only holding onto their playoff spot by two games. The Swarm and Rock are both only two games back and their playoff hopes are by no means shattered.

Both goaltenders have been at the top of the NLL for years and each will put the opposing shooters to test. The two are competing neck and neck, Anthony Cosmo has earned a .786 save percentage while Matt Vinc is a hair behind with a .785 average. The two defenses can lock down a game, but both are fairly short in numbers that stack up well against the other offense. Tempo will be set by the transition teams, Buffalo is without dominant face-off man Jay Thorimbert so it’s anyone’s games at the draw circle. The score last time proved this game can be a shootout. Dhane Smith put up 8 points last week and is showing no sign of slowing down but he had a whole cast supporting him last week. At 111 points, Smith has one less goal than Rochester’s top points men, Jamieson and Dawson, combined. Buffalo has 8 runner with over 20 points, ahead of Roc’s 6.

With a win, the Bandits will finally clutch their berth and have a little room to breathe before the postseason. That doesn’t mean they can take their foot of the gas, New England is only a game and a half behind after being tied with the Bandits just a couple of weeks ago. With their first playoff run already in sight, the Black Wolves aren’t going to slow their roll until they have a shot at that coveted first round bye. The Bandits have four games to iron things out before they host New England for their last game of the season. Before that happens, they’ve got Toronto and Rochester not once, but twice, closing the season out with five-straight Eastern Conference games. If I was a betting man, I would put my chips on the Bandits locking up the #1 seed. The best part is, it’s anyone’s game, meaning that Buffalo can’t start counting their eggs before they hatch. They could quickly drop to the third seed in the blink of an eye and their playoff run still isn’t guaranteed.

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Week 12 Games

Friday

• Saskatchewan Rush at New England Black Wolves – 7:00 pm – Fox Sports GO

Saturday

• New England Black Wolves at Toronto Rock – 7:00 pm – Fox Sports GO
• Vancouver Stealth at Calgary Roughnecks – 9:00 pm – Fox Sports GO

Sunday

• Colorado Mammoth at Georgia Swarm – 2:00 pm – Fox Sports GO

Which game are you looking forward to the most? Make your predictions for this weekend and the rest of the 2016 NLL season in the comment section below!