The New England Black Wolves prevailed in a matchup of playoff-hungry teams this weekend, but the future is looking a bit murkier.

The Pack likely enjoyed its last game with league-leading scorer Callum Crawford in the near future, as the talented offensive weapon is facing a six-game suspension due to a high hit on Toronto Rock’s Bradley Kri.

Crawford was able to play, and excel, in Sunday’s 17-11 victory against the Colorado Mammoth due to an appeal. If the suspension is not rescinded, that will be a huge blow to the New England offense. It will take a team effort to replace his production, which added up to 11 points this week.

Not helping the team’s case is a road-heavy remaining schedule.

The main candidates to fill in are Reilly O’Connor and Stephan Leblanc, who notched seven points and six points this week, respectively.

New England outscored its foes 12-7 in the second half, expanding on the team’s one-goal halftime lead. Between the pipes, Doug Jamieson had another strong game and seems to have won the competition with Alex Buque. He made a career high 49 saves.

Rough final days in Roch

It may be time to put a fork in the Rochester Knighthawks’ playoff hopes, a crazy proposition considering the promise this team showed during the 2018 season.

Rochester dropped its fifth straight game, allowing a seven-goal run to the Georgia Swarm in the second half in a 14-9 loss.

The Knighthawks hung around, with the game tied at seven at the break, but weren’t able to hold off the feisty Georgia offense for 60 minutes.

“Being in the position they’ve been in before in previous years, we know they’re scratching and clawing to get back into this thing, and we knew that they were going to give us their best,” Georgia forward Shayne Jackson told NLL.com. “It was going to be a big battle, and that’s exactly what it was. It was hard-hitting and fast-paced, but that makes for good lacrosse.”

Jackson and Holden Cattoni notched five points each for the Swarm, while defenseman Bryan Cole had a rare offensive night with his first career hat trick.

“I’m just trying to be up there and move bodies and cut the middle hard and kind of do my job up there,” Cole said. “Those guys are good. They’ll find you pretty much anywhere on the floor, so I’m just trying to stick to the game plan and run our offense.”

Rochester dropped to 2-8, matching the team’s loss total from all of last season. Georgia, 8-4, stayed within close striking distance of both the Bandits and Rock.

With Buffalo already at nine wins, Georgia at eight and New England and Toronto each at seven, the K-Hawks are dangerously close to needing to run the table to even have a shot at a playoff spot.

If there’s a bright side for Knighthawks fans, it seems losing the roster to Halifax will be less painful than initially expected.

Rush win third straight

The Saskatchewan Rush’s defense has taken steps to resemble the unit we’ve gotten used to since the team moved the past two games, allowing single-digit scoring both times. This week the Rush got a bit of revenge, defeating a Calgary Roughnecks squad that prevailed at the Sasktel Center for the first time ever four weeks ago.

Jeff Shattler scored three times and dished out four assists as the Rush, in their familiar place atop the West, earned a 15-9 victory against their prairie foes. Saskatchewan has now won three straight.

“It took a lot of hard work,” Shattler told saskrush.com. “They got the better of us last time they were here and we had to come out and prove something.”

Saskatchewan got ahead early with a 6-3 first quarter, then buried the Riggers in the fourth with a game-ending 4-1 run. Evan Kirk made 33 saves in net.

Seals take season series

San Diego defeated Vancouver for the second time this season, taking the season series 2-1 and solidifying the Seals’ playoff chances with a 13-10 home victory.

The Seals never trailed, getting out to a four-goal lead in the first half, but needed a late push after Vancouver tied the game at nine with about four minutes left in the third quarter. San Diego’s next four goals came from three different players, with Kyle Buchanan scoring twice while Dan Dawson and Austin Staats found the net one time each.

Special teams was a real difference maker. San Diego scored on four of its six power plays and killed off two man-down situations.

“We knew we couldn’t be on the losing side of special teams and expect to win the game,” Seals coach and general manager Patrick Merrill said. “Coach Sanderson worked hard with our offense creating new looks for our power play and we knew it was just a matter of getting shots on net tonight.”

At 5-4, San Diego joins Saskatchewan as the only West Division teams over .500. The Warriors, now 3-8, sit a half game behind the Mammoth for the last playoff position in the division.

Week 13 Preview

Bandits at Wings
Friday, 8 p.m. ET

The East Division-leading Bandits, fresh off a bye week, close out their season series with the Wings. Buffalo won the first two matchups, 17-15 to open the season and 14-10 in January. The team is riding a five-game win streak, while Philadelphia is likely in the same position at the Knighthawks.

Swarm at Bandits
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET

Georgia catches Buffalo on a back-to-back and could surpass the Bandits with a win and a Buffalo loss in Philly. The Bandits surprisingly crushed the Swarm in the teams’ last meeting, 19-9 down in Gwinnett. Buffalo’s Dhane Smith is on pace for 100 assists, smashing Mark Matthews’ previous single-season record of 84.

Seals at Mammoth
Saturday, 9 p.m. ET

Colorado gets a great shot at one of the two teams right above the Mammoth in the standings. The first time these teams played wasn’t a pretty sight for the Mammoth, as Austin Staats notched nine points in a 17-12 Seals victory back in December. Home turf may not be an advantage either, since Colorado has lost three straight in the Pepsi Center.

Rock at Roughnecks
Saturday, 9 p.m. ET

Toronto’s six-game win streak was snapped last weekend by New England, while the inconsistent Roughnecks are riding a two-game losing streak after winning two straight. The Rock bring their balanced offense to face a Roughnecks team that has allowed five more goals than they scored. Riggers’ Zach Currier is making a run for Transition Player of the Year, leading the league in caused turnovers and ranking second in loose balls.