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!
Whoa, baby! The big game last weekend turned out to be the Stealth’s overtime thriller with the Roughnecks, so we voted to chalk Vancouver up as the Game of the Week as they take on the Colorado Mammoth, in Denver, this Saturday night!
We’ve seen four overtime finishes, could this Western Conference rivalry be the same? There’s five games slated for this weekend, but here’s what we know about one in particular…
NLL Game of the Week
Vancouver Stealth (3-4) at Colorado Mammoth (6-2)
When: 2/27/2016 – 5:00 pm ET
Where: Pepsi Center – Denver, Colorado
Watch: Watch ESPN, TSN GO
[mks_col]
[mks_one_half]Standing: 3rd in Western Conference
Watch For: The defense was tested against Dickson last week. Expect them to come into Denver with a strong plan of attack, backed by veteran Richards. The offense needs probability on their side to beat Ward, so getting shots on goal early will be key.
Points Leader: Logan Schuss – 13 goals, 32 assists
Things to work on: Consistency across the board. They’ve started off on the wrong foot most of the season and playing a team they’ve seen twice should be the key to getting hot early. Watch Grant off the boards, move the ball on offense and don’t try to push the tempo against the quick Mammoth transition.
[/mks_one_half]
[mks_one_half]Standing: 1st in Western Conference
Watch for: All of the scorers are starting to hit their strides and the transition team has pushed for a ton of opportunities so far, although they’re struggling to bury them. Ward is a tough goaltender, but if they keep him moving they can find success early.
Points Leader: Callum Crawford – 15 goals, 34 assists
Needs to work on: Creating offense from more than just the Big Three (Grant, Crawford, Jones). Noble and McLaughlin have potential, they just need to have more coring chances to free up the pressure on their stars.
[/mks_one_half]
[/mks_col]
The third of four meetings between the Colorado Mammoth and the Vancouver Stealth is shaping up to be a real showdown on Saturday night, or an absolute dud. The previous two games were lopsided, Colorado winning on the road, 14-5, then Vancouver staking their claim at home, 15-7. Now tied and shifting the series to Denver, we stare down a game that could really fall either way. The Mammoth started this season on fire, winning four straight before getting stopped twice by Western Conference opponents, only to turn around and get wins over the same two teams the following weeks. Now coming off a bye week, Colorado squares off with a Vancouver squad who haven’t really played a bad game since Week 3, despite their 3-4 record. After their eight goal win over the Mammoth, they’ve split back to back overtime games, the second of which coming on a huge comeback where they rallied past a 0-6 first quarter.
What we know is the Stealth can dig holes but they can also find a way to climb out of them. Coming off his best season yet, Corey Small has been clutch for the Stealth so far, sinking the game-winner last weekend and posting a five-goal performance against the Rush in the 1st win of 2016. On the other side of the floor, Rhys Duch has been characteristically consistent, putting up three goals, or more, in each game from January 30th on. Team-leader Logan Schuss has been up and down when it comes to goals per game, but his off-ball fight and ability to hook up assists is making him lethal on offense. They’re a challenge built for the Mammoth defense led by Dan Coates and Greg Downing, two of the best takeaway defensemen in the league right now. At 5-1, goaltender Dillon Ward is putting up some of the best number out there, his GAA rests at 10.08 while he’s stopping .797 of the shots he’s facing, 2nd best in both categories. If last weekend showed us a preview of the rest of 2016, Tyler Richards is going to be the main man in Vancouver once again. After breaking out of retirement, Richards came in for Eric Penney last weekend to help rally back and claim the OT victory and likely the new starting role.
Colorado played one game, two weeks back, without Adam Jones and his vacancy couldn’t have been more apparent. If they can take him out of the equation, they’ll be better off but Colorado has two other scorer’s in the Top 5 of the NLL. The Stealth have been able to take down the Mammoth in recent years when limiting both Grant and Jones, now they have human highlight reel Callum Crawford to worry about to. If the addition of Richards adds stability to the defense, they can be in good shape. If Noble and McLaughlin can throw a few goals in the mix, along with a couple in transition, this should be Colorado’s to win.
The two most effective powerplay units in the National Lacrosse League will be going at it, so it will be a focus of both benches to stay out of the sin bin to minimize risk. At the draw circle, Mitch McMichael has been pleasantly solid for Vancouver while the job has juggled around the Mammoth bench, and both of their primary draw men are registering under 50%. The Stealth are clearly surging and are rolling in to Colorado to go nose to nose with the best team in the league. The Mammoth win means staying at arm’s length away from the Rush in 2nd, but also a chance at staying away from the bottom rung for the Stealth. Nearing the mid-point of the season, no wins can be taken for granted and we can’t forget that the Pepsi Center faithfuls always add a whole new element to the game. It’s going to be wild on Saturday night in the Rockies, clear your schedule for an expected barn burner!
[mks_separator style=”solid” height=”2″]
Week 9 Games
Friday
- Buffalo Bandits at Saskatchewan Rush – 8:30 pm – Fox Sports GO
Saturday
- Rochester Knighthawks at Toronto Rock – 7:00 pm – Fox Sports GO
Sunday
- Georgia Swarm at New England Black Wolves – 3:00 pm – Fox Sports GO
- Saskatchewan Rush at Calgary Roughnecks – 4:00 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!
