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Buffalo Bandits 2016 NLL Photo: Bill Whippert
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Race to the NLL Champion’s Cup – It Ain’t Over Yet!

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

The NLL Champion’s Cup is so close, we can almost smell the polish. Only two weeks of regular season action are left and there’s still plenty left on the table and two open playoff spots.

I’ll take care of getting us filled in on the Swarm, Bandits, Rush and Stealth home games while the great Ryan Conwell drops knowledge on the Rock, Mammoth and Knighthawks hosted battles! On we go…

NE Black Wolves (9-6) @ Georgia Swarm (6-9)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
N England 1 3 2 3 9
Georgia 4 7 1 4 16
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
46 26 74 15-29 4-7
60 26 83 14-29 6-9

Quick Thoughts

  • Get out your rally caps!
  • This game got rowdy
  • Did Shawn Evans fight someone? Yes.

Man, the boys were feisty on Friday night in-front of a crowd heavily impacted by the spring varsity season in Georgia. Around three-thousand were on hand to witness their Swarm get back on track with a good handful of goals and almost just as many scuffles throughout the night. It’s clear now that Georgia is legitimately making a late push for the post-season, while New England is letting the #1 start to slip away.

Georgia Notes

Georgia Swarm NLL 2016
Photo: Paul Sasso

Look at you, Georgia! Was it all of the experienced gained or beginner’s luck? 4 hat tricks is something serious, and Randy Staats would have had one too if it weren’t for all of those meddling posts. That’s okay, the freshman all-star still managed to add 7 assists to his couple of goals. Hats off for the 3-goal performances from Lyle Thompson, Shayne Jackson, Kiel Matisz and Johnny Powless, the four combined for a total of 25 points, proving just how potent the offense can be. Joel White and Miles Thompson also got a goal up on the scoreboard, while Jesse King stayed out of the spotlight but found a way to hook his mates up with 4 helpers.

Transition is back where it needs to be and the Swarm found a way to outwork the Black Wolves in nearly every category, never backing down from the constant badgering. After riding him all night, Jason Noble got Evans off the floor for 5 minutes, Jordan MacIntosh stood up for himself against a little dirt-bagging from O’Brien and even Johnny Powless didn’t walk away from the extra-curricular contact. 29 minutes on 10 infractions isn’t exciting, it’s the fact that a very young and overall smaller team stood up for themselves for all four quarters and went punch for punch with the Black Wolves.

Georgia Swarm NLL 2016 Photo: Paul Sasso
Photo: Paul Sasso

Three different Bees put in work at the draw circle, Alex Crepinsek finished with a clean 3 of 3 wins while Jordan MacIntosh handled the majority of the duties but only won 10 of 22. Ethan O’Connor tried his hand but only came up with a single win from four attempts. In goal, Brodie MacDonald stood tall for all 60 minutes, collecting the win on a low 37 saves on only 46 shots on cage. The defense constantly rattled the Wolves offense and kept the stars’ production at a minimum. The win set up some serious implications for the following night’s trip to Rochester. What a beautiful web they’re weaving!

New England Notes

Georgia Swarm NLL 2016 Photo: Paul Sasso
Photo: Paul Sasso

The Swarm were in Shawn Evans’ head all game long. He went back and forth with Jason Noble for three long periods before he had enough and came out swinging from frustration in the final frame right as the Wolves were giving up a bomb to Powless where Tye Belanger left the crease but failed to put Powless on his keister. It was a chippy game all night long, Bill O’Brien took their captain off the floor in a 2nd quarter scuffle, Brett Manney got into it with Staats and Dan Ball ruffled Powless’ feathers in the 3rd. New England tried to bully their way over the inexperienced Swarm, but it ultimately cost them 6 goals on the powerplay and 32 minutes on 13 infractions.

Evans was only able to find twine once in the game on 18 total shots, adding to a trio of helpers. Kyle Buchanan led the team in goals, finishing with a hat trick, a point behind the 2 goal, 2 assist performances by both Pat Saunders and Kevin Crowley. Crowley rattled 10 shots off the mark, the entire team was less than 64% accurate on their 72 total shots, scoring on less than 13% The only other runner to beat MacDonald was defenseman Stephen Hoar, burying his 1st goal in his 2nd game of the season. Hoar also went 3-4 while facing-off, assisting Ryan Hotaling, who fell under 50% with 12 of 25 wins.

Between the pipes, Evan Kirk was relieved of his duties after the 4th goal of the 2nd quarter, the 3rd in about a minute. Kirk was able to stop 13 of 17 in the 1st, but when he started to get picked apart, it allowed the Swarm shooters to get on a 7-3 run that would slow down until the second half. It’s not like he, nor Belanger, had much help from the backline. Finishing with only 4 caused turnovers, 7 less goals and a scroll of penalty minutes is not a great trade. They can’t afford to start slowing down, especially after setting up their slingshot past Buffalo. The #1 seed isn’t out of the realm of possibilities just yet. They only have one game next weekend, back to straighten things up against the Swarm before they take on Rochester and Buffalo in the final weekend. Losing can’t break their season, but it’s the difference between a bye and a one-game conference semifinal.

Buffalo Bandits (10-5) @ Toronto Rock (5-10)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Buffalo 3 4 0 2 9
Toronto 3 2 3 4 12
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
50 17 77 17-25 0-3
58 21 85 8-25 3-7

Quick Thoughts

  • Dhane who?
  • Toronto really appreciated their fans
  • Dhane Smith may be more valuable than we realized

On Toronto’s Fan Appreciation night, signaling the Rock’s final scheduled home game, the fans were treating to a show as the Rock pummeled the visiting Bandits. There were several great storylines here, but the most notable had to be Dhane Smith. The MVP front-runner was limited to just a single goal and a single assist. It was not through lack of trying, but Buffalo cannot afford a repeat like that.

Buffalo Notes

Buffalo Bandits Toronto Rock NLL 2016

If you are into conspiracy theories, here’s a great one. As some of the box lacrosse media is gearing up for MVP discussion, the runaway favorite all year has been Dhane Smith. Discussion recently started to turn towards the word “valuable” in that award and names like Shawn Evans and Evan Kirk of New England started popping up. Who was really more important for their teams’ success. Sure, Smith has gaudy numbers and the MVP typically goes to the points champion, but Evans is the centerpiece behind a dramatic swing in success for the Black Wolves from last season to this one.

Enter Dhane Smith’s 1-1 night in Toronto. It was certainly achieved no though lack of effort. Smith himself logged 23 (23!) shots in this game and only got one to fall. I don’t have the stats, but I’m sure he had several near assists as well. That does start to drive some combination as to how key Smith is to the Bandits’ success.  With another off night from him sink the team in the playoffs, or did they learn from this one?

Buffalo also had some trouble spreading the ball around. Only Smith, Ryan Benesch, and Mark Steenhuis finished the night with more than 10 shots. Nobody else had more than four. Jay Thorimbert was his typical productive self at the faceoff dot while Anthony Cosmo turned in a respectable effort in-goal as well.  This game really would have been closer if not for a six goal run by the Rock spanning the third and fourth quarters. Buffalo was held to no goals in the entire third. The Rock weren’t doing anything where they’d score, get the ball, and score again. Instead, they ground out their points and just kept the Buffalo shooters frustrated.

Toronto Notes

Buffalo Bandits Toronto Rock NLL 2016 Photo: Graig Abel
Photo: Graig Abel

Toronto had every reason to keep fighting through this game. While the playoffs may have seemed like a bit of a pipe dream, they were not mathematically eliminated, so to quote Lloyd Christmas “So you’re saying there’s a chance?!”. They took that small sliver of hope and turned into a fantastic win in front of the home crowd. Given the way their season started, a win like this was huge for the fans. They broke their losing streak to start the year by beating the Bandits at home (which happened to be the last time they played each other), and ended their home slate in the same way.

In what shouldn’t be a surprise, the Rock were led in scoring by Rob Hellyer, who had a pair of goals and five assists. Overall, the Rock were very balanced and had multiple point nights from six different players, including five points from rookie Dan Lintner. There were not a ton of penalties in this game, but the Rock’s trio of extra man goals proved to be the difference. Their third one wasn’t as much as it was a Kasey Beirnes goal with under a minute left, and the game was in hand at that point.

The game ended with goalie Nick Rose taking the microphone at midfield to address and thank the fans. In what was a great show of support, he immediately gave the fans a proper chance to thank Josh Sanderson for his years in the Rock uniform. Sanderson was a late addition to the Rock this year, so his status going forward will very much be in question. The Rock are not going to be quiet in the offseason, so relying on too many players close to retirement again probably is not in the cards.

Sask Rush (11-4) @ Colorado Mammoth (10-5)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Sask 1 3 1 6 11
Colorado 0 2 2 1 5
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
56 13 69 14-20 0-2
47 17 67 6-20 1-3

Quick Thoughts

  • The Rush are deadly in transition
  • Aaron Bold is amazing
  • Dillon Ward kept Colorado in the game

This game was shockingly low scoring over the first three quarters, when a combined nine goals had been scored. The dams opened right away though as the Rush went on a fast three goal run to start the fourth. This run was complimented by three more goals before the Mammoth would score a late one of their own to end the game.  The Mammoth had not been held to only five goals all season, and it was just a year and a week since they were last held that low, but it was Rochester in 2015 who did it.

Saskatchewan Notes

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016 Photo: Jack Dempsey
Photo: Jack Dempsey

As much as you want to say about Colorado’s lack of scoring, the Rush were not far behind. They only had 5 goals through the third quarter, which was bringing back memories of their seven goal output during their last trip to the Pepsi Center. The fourth quarter really was a different game. A nice Robert Church goal from the top of the crease on their second possession of the quarter got things rolling. Chris Corbeil grabbed the loosie off the next faceoff and fed Kyle Rubisch across the crease for a transition goal a mere nine seconds later. Less than a minute after that, Jarrett Davis took a gorgeous pass from Mark Matthews to go up 8-4.  A pair of Ben McIntosh goals and a transition shot from Ryan Dilks would close out scoring for the Rush. Dilks’ goal was especially heartbreaking for the Mammoth. Dillon Ward had made the save, by the ball dribbled out of his pads and rolled gently across the goal line before anyone could jump in to knock it back out.

The Rush defense is who should really get the major credit for this win. As is typical of them, they played very physical and were denying the Mammoth good looks on goal all night. They only won the loose battle by two, did not rack up a ton of caused turnovers, nor did they pile in transition goals. What they did was limit the Mammoth’s scoring opportunities and allowed Aaron Bold to have a stellar night between the pipes, saving just under 90% of the shots he faced.

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016 Photo: Jack Dempsey
Photo: Jack Dempsey

The win gave the Rush a big leg up in the Western Division standings, but they would need to win the following night in their rematch game to lock up the top seed. The really interesting tidbit that I loved from the broadcast was how both teams shared a charter flight from Denver to Saskatchewan. A nasty storm was rolling into Colorado and most other flights were being grounded. With all the travel headaches pro lacrosse players get over a season, this had to be a nice treat, even if it was with the enemy.

Colorado Notes

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016 Photo: Jack Dempsey
Photo: Jack Dempsey

The game was woefully bad for the Colorado offense that is used to producing big numbers in big moments. They were short Adam Jones, but they did have John Grant Jr. return to the lineup after missing the previous two games. Unfortunately, Junior would only score a single goal to go with his two assists and 12 shots.  The 1 for 12 shooting seems pretty bad until you note that Jeremy Noble went 0-14, Callum Crawford was 2-18, and only two other players registered more than 3 shots. The Mammoth certainly do rely on their big guys to get them their points, but they really were lacking a support group in this one.

While Joey Cuipido grabbed a pair of assists, the transition game as a whole was relatively quiet.  For most of the game, the defense really did hold strong and limited the opportunities of the Rush. There were really just a few small lapses in the fourth which Saskatchewan took full advantage of. Dillon Ward finished with a respectable 80% save percentage and held the Rush to a reasonable low score considering their explosive potential.

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016 Photo: Jack DempseyColorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016 Photo: Jack Dempsey
Photo: Jack Dempsey

Colorado really needed this win to help secure home field throughout the playoffs. The loss setup and tough situation where they would need to win in a sold out SaskTel Centre the next night to keep their hopes of a Division lead alive. The Mammoth should still be in good shape going forward, but a game like this in a few weeks will mean that they’ll be joining their summer teams sooner rather than later.

Toronto Rock (5-11) @ Buffalo Bandits (11-5)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Toronto 2 1 2 3 8
Buffalo 3 6 3 2 14
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
58 16 62 11-26 1-6
56 22 96 15-26 4-7

Quick Thoughts

  • Toronto is the first team out of the hunt
  • Great Dhane back in the groove of things
  • Buffalo loves their Bandits

Banditland showed up huge, ushering over seventeen-thoussand faithful through the turnstiles at the First Niagara Center. After what most would consider a miserable night for the Bandits on Friday, the Buffalo boys bounced back big (say that three times fast) against the same Rock that put them in their place the night before. The fans got their money’s worth when it came to scores and skirmishes, there was plenty to cheer/yell/boo about; here’s the skinny.

Toronto Notes

Buffalo Bandits 2016 NLL Photo: Bill Whippert
Photo: Bill Whippert

That’s all she wrote for the Toronto Rock season. Yes, they have a couple games left, but their hopes and dreams of the 2016 NLL Champion’s Cup have been squashed. Everything was going so good, they actually found a way to knock off the #1 team in the Eastern Conference the night before, if only they had that blue and red crowd behind them instead of the sea of orange and black, it could have been something different. Instead, the Bandits got the best of them for the first three quarters and that’s all it would take to confine them to their couches come May.

Not going down without a fight, Stephan Leblanc rang up 4 goals and 1 assist with rookie Turner Evans standing as the only other shooter with a multi-goal night, stick 2 shots with 1 helper. Fellow rookie Dan Lintner hit a solo shot in the 1st quarter and Josh Sanderson put in a loner in the 2nd, the only other scorers of the night. Scoring slowed to a halt at times, but the penalties kept flowing. All in all, they racked up 49 minutes in the game which the combination of Brandon Miller and Nick Rose had to deal with. After allowing his 8th goal on 25 shots, Miller was pulled for Rose, who cleaned up with 28 saves on 33 shots. After winning the gold with Canada in the fall, Miller has struggled to find his footing this season, allowing Rosey to shine for the Rock. I hope to see Miller soaking up shots in the last couple of games to try to find whatever rhythm he can before the year closes out.

They’re on the road the next two weeks, in Colorado and Calgary. This is their chances to evaluate what they’re working with before the turn to rebuilding in the off-season. We’ll see what sort of effort they take to the Pepsi Center this Saturday night, although there’s nothing keeping the Mammoth from playing it safe. Unfortunately that game has the formula to be a snoozer. Finger-crossed that it’s not.

Buffalo Notes

Buffalo Bandits 2016 NLL Photo: Bill Whippert
Photo: Bill Whippert

Buffalo can finally clinch the East Division title with a win this weekend over Rochester and a Swarm victory of New England or they can just win the last two and lock it up that way. Either way, getting at least one win over the weekend kept the Black Wolves at bay, for now.

After knocking himself off course from the projected 150 point season by going 1+1 on Friday, Dhane Smith got back on the saddle with putting together a 5 goal night. Smith absolutely took over the Rock defense, but he was all goals and no assists. Although he was a goal behind, Ryan Benesch was actually the points leader of the night with 4 goals and 4 assists. Defensive-minded Nick Weiss put together 2 goals, scoring the first goal of the game, shorthanded and unassisted, and the second to last on the empty net, along with 2 assists. Also finishing with the 2+2 was veteran Mark Steenhuis while Alex Kedah-Hill’s 3rd quarter tally was the only 1 goal performance for Buffalo.

Buffalo Bandits 2016 NLL Photo: Bill Whippert
Photo: Bill Whippert

Starter Anthony Cosmo took the second night of the weekend to let Davide DiRuscio get some floor time. DiRuscio made 50 stops on 58 shots on goal, with only a 3 goal run against him coming in the 4th after the Bandits lead was already to 7. That said, he still found a way to block another 16 shots in the final frame alone. Trying his best to keep the ball at the other end of the floor, face-off star Jay Thorimert is back and went 14-25 with 10 loose balls.

After the first night, you could cut the tension with a knife. The entire bench racked up 14 minutes of penalty time in the 1st quarter alone, in contrast to Toronto’s 12. The shenanigans went on all night long and were capped off with a Brodie Merrill /Steve Priolo battle of the heavyweights. Toronto knew it was fight or die, so it’s what they did. Buffalo proved the could respond to the blows while maintaining a safe lead.

Georgia Swarm (7-9) @ Roc Knighthawks (6-9)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Georgia 2 8 2 5 17
Rochester 3 1 5 2 11
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
57 17 75 14-32 4-6
43 15 63 18-32 0-2

Quick Thoughts

  • Georgia can score, eh?
  • But really, their rookies are really good
  • All the keepers played!

This game had major playoff implications if I’ve ever seen them. The win from Georgia actually puts them in the driver’s seat for that third playoff spot. Georgia still has Vancouver and New England, both of whom they’ve shown they can play with. Rochester still has to deal with Buffalo, New England, and Saskatchewan. Ouch.  The schedule certainly favors the Swarm right now, but crazier stuff has happened. The Knighthawks need Georgia to lose both of their games since only a better overall record will do. Georgia owns the season series between the two 2-1, so a tie will give the nod towards them. If Georgia does lose out, and Rochester wins their next two, the last playoff spot would be decided on a Sunday evening in Connecticut as the Knighthawks visit the Black Wolves for the final regular season game.

Georgia Notes

Georgia Swarm Rochester Knighthawks NLL 2016

The Swarm utilized 10 different scorers in this game, but were led by nine points from Jesse King, and seven from Randy Staats. Lyle Thompson was not far behind with five of his own where he had four goals on just ten shots. Most of the shooters really had solid days, which was a big reason why Rochester and the resort to playing both of their keepers…just like they did for their own team, too.

Despite their offensive prowess, the Swarm still ran very well in transition. Jordan MacIntosh grabbed 17 loosies and chipped in a goal and assist while Joel White fittingly had 11 loose balls and a goal on an empty net to close out the game. Chad Tutton had a handful of opportunities, but was unable to convert on any of them. He still maintained himself as a physical presence inside, keeping the Rochester forwards a little bit off their game all night.

If it wasn’t for the totally dominant second quarter from the Swarm, this game would have be totally different.  Eight goals where only two were on power plays are fantastic in this league. Doing that while holding a team like Rochester to just a single goal? That’s a whole different level.  Jesse King was the straw that stirred the drink in this run, scoring the first of the quarter, and helping on three others.

Rochester Notes

Georgia Swarm Rochester Knighthawks NLL 2016

Rochester really needed this win. They lost some ground by virtue of Georgia’s win over New England the previous night, and this was the head to head tiebreaker between the two teams with regards to the playoff race.  While Georgia did go on their huge 9-1 run in the first half, Rochester answered right back to start the third quarter with four straight of their own. After those four, they traded goals with Georgia for most of the remaining time in the game. They let in a pair of late empty net goals as they were trying to close the gap, but some great plays by Georgia sent the ball the other way faster than Rochester could catch up.

Rochester was led by six points a piece from Craig Point and Dan Dawson. Cody Jamieson had four goals and an assist, Joe Walter and Cory Vitarelli each had a goal and two assist,  Stephen Keogh with a pair of assists, and Scott Campbell had a goal and an assist.  Brad Self, Scott Self, and rookie Josh Gillam joined Campbell on the scoring table from the defensive ranks as well.  Both Matt Vinc and Angus Goodleaf finished under 80% in save percentage.

Georgia Swarm Rochester Knighthawks NLL 2016

All around, this was a pretty rough night for the Knighthawks. A few weeks ago, they appeared as a virtual lock for the final playoff spot in the East, and now they have their backs up against the wall. They are now in that odd spot where based on recent history, I would not be at all surprised to see Rochester pull it off.  I also would not be surprised to see Georgia getting the spot instead of them either. The Knighthawks did a great job injecting some youth into their lineup this year, but it may have come just a little bit too late for them.  I’m still not counting them out yet, but they have a tough couple of games ahead of them.

Colorado Mammoth (10-6) @ Sask Rush (12-4)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Colorado 2 3 2 1 8
Sask 3 2 6 0 11
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
44 20 54 8-23 0-1
54 17 83 15-23 0-0

Quick Thoughts

  • Rush lock up Western title and bye
  • Another SaskTel sell-out
  • Mammoth went at it with Junior

The people of Saskatchewan did it again! Even before game day rolled around, the Rush announced that they, once again, have sold out the SaskTel Centre for the last regular-season home game of the 2016 season. The homers gave them something to cheer about, finishing with a nearly clean sheet, 11 total goals and a Western Conference divisional championship.

Colorado Notes

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016

Although they lost their shot at a first-round bye, it wasn’t all bad for the Mammoth. Newcomer Callum Crawford registered his 100th point of the season, making his the 2nd player in franchise history to do so. Along with his 1 goal, Crawford helped on 4 assists to claim 5 points, matching the 3 goal, 2 assist night from the sophomore Jeremy Noble. Dillon Ward also faired well in the loss, making 43 total saves in his second game back from injury.

Adam Jones was held scoreless, with 3 assists, while his partner in crime, John Grant Jr., didn’t dress for the Mammoth after Friday’s loss. They were out-worked on nearly 30 loose balls, never got the shot at a powerplay and only produced five different scorers against the #1 team in the West. The team has been crazy good at points through the season and they’re the most veteran unit to have a real shot in the conference. They have the tools to make it happen, but that all relies on them picking up their feet and getting the job done.

They got their final two games at home and they know they’ve locked up a first round game at the Pepsi Center. They need to use the time to work on diversifying the offensive production to get a head full of steam heading into the postseason so they don’t get stunned by the Roughnecks (most likely) and to keep going before the meet the Rush again in a series to go on to the Cup.

Saskatchewan Notes

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016

Seven different shooters put at least one goal on the scoreboard, with only one coming from the defense. This stat should raise your eyebrows, considering every time we see that many scorers, it’s usually Ryan Dilks or Chris Corbeil getting in on the fun, but instead it was only face-off specialist Jeremy Thompson getting a goal for the d-side. Each just punching in 1 goal a piece, Zack Greer, Mark Matthews, Jarrett Davis and Robert Church combined for 9 assists, while rookie Dan Taylor did his thing with 5 assists alone. Leading the group, Ben McIntosh racked up a hat trick with a pair of assists, Curtis Knight wasn’t far behind with a hat trick of his own.

Scoring five times in less than four minutes, the Rush snapped the 3rd quarter tie and ran away with the game. Although they couldn’t beat Ward in the fourth frame, Saskatchewan would do enough to hold the Mammoth from taking off on a run. Backing up the defense, Aaron Bold was looking like his usual self, knocking down nearly 82% of everything thrown at him. The entire team pulled together for an impressive 17 caused turnovers and 83 loose balls, while only collecting a single minor on a holding call.

Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush NLL 2016

Now that they’ve locked up the #1 seed, the Rush can put it in cruise control a bit and iron out and inconsistencies before they lower their helmets and make another charge for the Champion’s Cup. First up is Vancouver, and boy are they desperate. The can’t overlook the Stealth, facing a lose-and-out scenario, or the Knighthawks, on the verge of getting surpassed by the Swarm, the following week. The don’t need to win, but they can’t afford to get flat-footed before the Western Conference finals.

Calgary Roughnecks (7-4) @ Vancouver Stealth (4-11)

1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Calgary 3 4 3 2 12
Vancouver 2 5 3 3 13
SOG SOFF LB FO PPG
54 23 80 19-28 3-6
59 32 83 9-28 4-9

Quick Thoughts

  • Calgary are no longer win and in
  • Can this loss come back to haunt the Necks?
  • The Stealth can score again!

There was no love lost in another typical Calgary-Vancouver showdown. Both teams spent a solid amount of time in the sin bin, but it would be Vancouver coming out on top with 13 less PIM on 4 fewer violations. Around three-thousand fans strolled into the Langley Events Centre for what could have been the last real game of the season. Lucking for British Columbia, it wasn’t the case.

Calgary Notes

It seemed so simple, win and you’re in. They already had the best of Vancouver this year, so I guess the Stealth were due for one, but the lack of offensive production against their all around desperate opponent kept them from the clinch. Not struggling to put the ball into the back of the net against his former squad, Tyler Digby had a big night scoring 4 goals, but was outdone by Jeff Shattler’s 4 goal, 4 assist performance. With 2 goals and 4 assists, Curtis Dickson was the only other Roughneck to put up significant numbers. Wes Berg and defenseman Jon Harnett each had a goal, despite Berg and Dane Dobbie combing for well over 20 shots. It wasn’t a championship caliber display by any means, but the positive was Digger muscling up to pound in four of his own.

Curtis Dickson Calgary Roughnecks Vancouver Stealth NLL 2016

Mike Poulin carried a heavy load, making 46 saves on 59 shots on goal, 17 coming in the 2nd quarter, the highest scoring period for the Stealth. At the draw circle, Tyler Burton won 19 of 28 takes, continuing to be a solid addition to the Roughnecks defense and transition. Burton has a total of 10 loosies, but it was Dan MacRae circling the floor, picking up a team-high 12 loose balls, part of their combined 80. I can’t see this coming back to haunt them, but racking up 42 PIM and only having three guys score multiple goals isn’t ideal when gearing up for the playoffs.

Calgary has just one game left, hosting Toronto on the final Saturday of the regular season. If Vancouver loses this weekend, the Riggers will finally be locked into the #3 seed in the Western Conference. If that’s not the case, they’ll be forced to beat the Rock and pray the Stealth can’t win four in a row, with their last two games in the final weekend.

Vancouver Notes

Vancouver Stealth NLL 2016

They aren’t dead yet! In fact, if they find a way to slip past the #1 ranked Rush this weekend, things are going to get absolutely crazy in Week 18. Thirteen different runners scored at least 1 point, one of the most positive stats to come from the club in nearly two months. Rookie Jordan Durston put in his 3 goals and 1 assist, slightly outdone by a hat trick and 4 helpers from Logan Schuss. They let Schuss rattle of well over 20 shots, to which he didn’t waste the opportunity.

To no surprise, Rhys Duch actually led the team in points with 2 goals and 6 assists. Corey Small and Cliff Smith both closed the night with 2 goals and 1 assist and defenseman Ian Hawksbee found a way to bury his 1st goal of the season to close the first half with a tie. A three goal spurt in the final frame would be enough to extend a lead that Calgary just couldn’t match. Going clutch, Durston hit another on the powerplay, sandwiched by Smith’s two late goals, both assisted by defenseman Chris O’Dougherty.

Vancouver Stealth NLL 2016

Tyler Richards is still doing the job between the irons, making 42 saves on 56 shots on goal. Richards and the defense sputtered through the 2nd, but were able to find some traction coming out of halftime, tightening up on their discipline to ward off Calgary in the 4th quarter to beat them by a goal. Rookie Jarrett Toll struggled at the draw circle, winning slightly under a third of his attempts with only 9 of 28 wins. They’ve got the toughest road of any team still left ahead. Three must-win games, in two weeks, and the hopes of a Calgary loss to an already eliminated Toronto stand between them and the postseason. It all starts this Saturday when they host the Western Conference division champs, Saskatchewan. God speed, gentlemen.

SISU Guard Official Mouthguard of the NLL

Let us know your thoughts on the playoff race! Can Vancouver still get in? Who wins the East? Tell us in the comments below!