The Georgia Swarm and the Saskatchewan Rush are 1-2 in overall NLL standings at the schedule’s halfway point, and both teams will be pushing hard into spring to be first at the end and earn home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs.
The big question now is, are any of the other seven teams capable of blocking a Swarm-Rush Champion’s Cup scenario?
The Swarm, 8-10 in 2016 and 7-1 today, are exceeding expectations. The Rush, 13-5 before winning a second straight title last spring and 6-2 now, are as strong as everybody predicted they would be.
Five more Rush wins and Derek Keenan becomes the winningest head coach in regular-season pro indoor history. Darris Kilgour holds the record, 121 wins, and Keenan is second with 117. The late Les Bartley won 93. With one more win, Troy Cordingley ties him for fourth place.
Week 10
Six games are on deck and every team is in action. Buffalo and Rochester square off twice and Calgary also plays twice.
(All times Eastern)
FRIDAY
Rochester (3-6) at Buffalo (3-5), 7 p.m.
This will be the first of three meetings, with the second to follow 18 hours later as a rare 1 p.m. game in Rochester.
Rochester is coming off a 12-8 come-from-behind win at Vancouver that ended a four-game losing streak. The Knighthawks are averaging a league-low 9.3 goals per game.
Buffalo is gunning for a third straight win after a 15-12 home win over Toronto. The Bandits are allowing a league-high 14.6 goals per game but the Knighthawks may not be able to score that many.
Buffalo acquired lefty attacker Pat Saunders from New England for a second-round draft pick on Tuesday. He’ll get the roster spot created by the release of Daryl Veltman. Saunders scored 10 goals in eight Black Wolves games this season after netting 44 in 2015. Given how well lefties Mitch Jones, Blaze Riorden and Brad Self meshed on the attack last weekend, I’m curious to see how Saunders will fit in.
Big thanks to all the philly and @NEBlackWolves fans over the last few season. Excited to start with the @NLLBandits #banditland
— pat saunders (@14patsaunders) February 28, 2017
New England (3-6) at Toronto (5-3), 7:30 p.m.
This is the first of only two meetings. They’ll clash April 2 in Connecticut. The Black Wolves won 14-10 in Toronto the last time they met, last April 9. The Rock need a win to ensure they’re still second in the division come Monday.
New England’s 14-9 home loss to Colorado last Sunday was its second straight setback and last year’s division finalist will have to get its act together soon or risk missing the playoffs. The Black Wolves rank 8th on offense and will have trouble scoring against the league’s No. 1 defense. They announced Wednesday that leading scorer Shawn Evans won’t be in the lineup as he deals with an injured left ankle.
Toronto lost 15-12 in Buffalo last Saturday. The Rock haven’t lost two in a row this season.
Daryl Veltman, signed by New England soon after his release in Buffalo, suits up for his second game with his new team. The Black Wolves, who are 1-4 on the road, will be without big Bill O’Brien on the back end as he begins a two-game suspension for the high hit on Ryan Benesch in Week 8 that has sidelined the Bandits star lefty.
Calgary (3-5) at Colorado (5-4), 9:30 p.m.
This will be the third of three. Calgary won 14-12 in Denver on Jan. 20 and 12-8 at home on Jan. 28.
Calgary’s 12-11 OT loss at Saskatchewan last Saturday was its fourth straight setback.
Colorado won 14-9 at New England last Sunday when goaltender Dillon Ward stole the show. If he maintains this level of play, the Roughnecks will have a much tougher time scoring on the Mammoth than they did in January.
Calgary is a solid 2-1 on the road.
SATURDAY
Buffalo at Rochester, 1 p.m.
Moving Brad Self from the back end to the attack to compensate for the injury absence of Ryan Benesch paid off last weekend, as Self scored three goals in the win over the Rock.
As for the rebuilding Knighthawks, they can still win any game because Matt Vinc is showing why he’s been goaltender of the year a record five times.
Georgia (7-1) at Calgary, 9:30 p.m.
This will be the first of two meetings. They’ll go at it again March 17 in Georgia.
Georgia is coming off a bye week, while Calgary flies home from Colorado to play its second game in two nights.
Calgary is 1-4 at home. Georgia is 3-1 away.
Lyle Thompson has been sensational in leading the Swarm in scoring. They are averaging a league-best 15 goals per game to Calgary’s 11. Christian Del Bianco, the Roughnecks’ 19-year-old backup goalie, played so well in getting the start in Saskatoon last weekend that he deserves this start. If he gets it, we’ll see if he can last the full 60 against the tricky Thompson brothers.
Saskatchewan (6-2) at Vancouver (3-6), 11 p.m.
This will be the second of three meetings. The Rush won 16-12 at home Jan. 27. They’ll see each other again April 8 in Saskatoon.
The Rush needed OT to beat visiting Calgary 12-11 last weekend, while the Stealth blew a 4-1 lead and lost 12-8 at home to Rochester.
The Stealth are 0-4 at home.
Vancouver’s Corey Small has a league-high 61 points in nine games and Thompson has 59 in eight. Saskatchewan’s Mark Matthews is third with 56 in eight. Only Georgia is scoring more goals per game than the Rush.