PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 9

1.       Toronto Rock – 5-0 (Last Week: #1)

This team just continues to dominate in our rankings. 7 weeks as the top team for the BSC and they seem to just keep getting better. Taking down the #4 ranked team in Georgia 12-9 with 9 2nd half goals. Before the game the Rock put TD Irelan on the IR after he was injured in the Halifax game a week prior. That did not stop the team from allowing 10 or less goals for the 5th straight week. Mar Matthews had a rare off night with just 3 points but it was Corey Small who picked up the slack netting 4including a 3rd quarter hat trick. Dan Craig continues to have a solid season with a 5 point night and leads the team in points with 22. Although the team remains undefeated on the year, it is the defense that I believe is responsible for that record. 10 more CTO in this one as they have 3 players I the top 12 on the year. And in net Nick Rose does what he always does and provides a safety net if a team is able to break through that lock down defense, making 38 saves. If this hot start continues he will not be able to be denied that Goalie of the Year title any longer. The team host the Bandits on Saturday night as they look for revenge for the playoff losses last year.

2.       San Diego Seals – 4-2 (Last Week: #5)

Coming off a busy weekend last week that saw them go 1-1, we have the team that was able to defeat the red hot Firewolves. Up to #2 this week are your San Diego Seals. Austin Staats and Curtis Dickson netted 4 each while 7 other players had multi point nights. The 14 goals also broke a 4 game streak of Albany allowing 10 or less goals. And on the flip side, this was the first game under 11 goals for the Firewolves. Just an absolute beat down for the Seals. The play of young Chris Origlieri might have been the most impressive aspect to this game though. 44 saves in the win to continue his elite season. 2nd in GAA at 9.83 and Save % at 80%. Alex Simmons, Tye Kurtz, Ethan Walker and Sam Firth combined for 3 goals on 32 shots. Impressive win for the Seals as they travel back East Saturday to take on the well-rested Wings.

3.       Albany Firewolves – 6-1 (Last Week: #2)

Their first loss of the season comes at the flippers of the Seals. This just seemed like an off night for the team so I can only drop them 1 in the standings down to #3 on the week. A 14-7 loss is never good but if you look a little bit deeper into it, the score was actually closer than the final. After going down 4-0 and 7-2 at half, Albany battled back to cut the lead to 7-6 before a Seal goal with 4 seconds left in the 3rd. a Tye Kurtz goal with 8:22 left in the 4th brought the score to 9-7. But 5 straight by the Seals to end the game was the final nail for Albany. The shooters struggled in this one especially Alex Simmons who had just 1 goal on 15 shots. In fact only 4 of the 7 goals came from their young forward group. The most concerning part though will be the health of Doug Jamieson. He did not return after halftime. If he misses any time, that will put even more pressure on this Albany team that started the season on fire. No better time for their bye week then this week to try and get Dougie back healthy before hosting Vegas out of the break.

4.       Georgia Swarm – 4-3 (Last Week: #4)

Holding steady in the #4 spot are the Georgia Swarm. And I just now realized that the #4 team just faced the #1 and the #2 and #3 team played one another last week. Anyways the confusing season for the Swarm continue. A 12-9 loss to the Rock is nothing to hang their heads on. They are our #1 ranked team for a reason. But for Georgia, of the 7 games they have played, they have scored single digit goals in 4 of them. It might be time to start to question how good this tem truly is. Up 8-7 going into the 4th, Toronto would score 5 of the final 6 goals to win the game. Lyle Thompson led the way with 3 goals on his 6 point night, but the lack of offensive support by Shayne Jackson hurt their output. The defense broke down in the 2nd half allowing 9 of the 12 goals to be score. Brett Dodson made 35 of 46 shots against him in the losing effort. Georgia is a team that has to find a way to get their offense moving and quickly as they are 12th in the league in scoring but tied for 3rd in Goals against per game. They travel to NY this weekend who are winners of 2 of their last 3 games but also give up the 13th most goals.

5.       Buffalo Bandits – 3-3 (Last Week: #3)

A tale of 2 halves for the Bandits once again this week but they were not able to complete the comeback this time. Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith each had 7 point nights and are currently leading the league in points with 40. Chase Fraser had his best game of the year scoring 4 with 6 points while Ian MacKay and Tehoka Nanticoke netted 2 each. But it was the 2nd quarter that did the Bandits in. 7 straight goals from NY in a 7:09 stretch to take a 10-3 lead and an 11-6 halftime lead. But out of the break the Bandits would score 7 of the next 9 to tie the game 13 all with 2:09. The Jeff Teat does Jeff Teat things and score the game winner against Matt Vinc. This seems to be the problem with the team through 6 games. 5 times the Bandits have given up 5 or more goals in a quarter and 3 times they have given up 7 or more. If the Bandits are able to clean up those bad quarters this team has a chance to stack up wins. But if the defense continues to play soft on opposing teams for half the game, you can expect this team to be in more shootouts then I think they are ready for.

6.       Rochester Knighthawks – 3-2 (Last Week: #7)

Bye week sees the Knighthawks slide up 1 spot to #6 in this week’s rankings. After starting the season 3-0, Rochester has dropped 2 straight to the Seals and the Bandits with a date in the nest vs Halifax on deck. The offense has not been the issue for this team. Yet to score under 13 goals in a game and leading the league in scoring averaging 14 a game. It has been the back end that has haunted them. Dead last in goals against per game at 14. If this team wants to have title aspirations for this season, they need to figure it out on their back end. Yes they are relying on their back up in Hutchcraft to guide the ship. But that just means the defense in front of him needs to step up their game. If they are able to figure out that part of their game, with this offense firing how they have been, they are t title contending team.

7.       Panther City Lacrosse Club – 2-3 (Last Week: #8)

Another team that slides up one during their bye week. Panther city was able to stop the bleeding last time we saw them in action to end their 3 game losing streak with a 14-12 win over NY. It was also the first game since the opener they scored over 10 goals. This team is a little like Rochester but in the inverse. They are 5th in goals allowed at 11 per game but tied for 10th averaging 11 a game. While I am pleased to see the scoring output in their last game, we need to see that be more consistent and from the players not named Callum Crawford. This was a talking point I had of them prior to the season kicking off if they had enough fire power to keep pace in this league. That question remains out there as they will travel to Vegas to face off vs the Desert Dogs in a revenge for their OT loss in week 2.

8.       Calgary Roughnecks – 2-3 (Last Week: #6)

Down 2 spots in this week’s rankings are the Calgary Roughnecks. A back and forth affair between the 2 teams that saw 4 lead changes and 5 ties in the first 3 quarters. Then Colorado would score 3 straight in the 4th to extend their lead to 11-7 as Calgary would fall on the road 13-10. Jesse King would have a hand in 70% of the goals with his 7 assist night, while Tanner Cook, Thomas Hoggarth and Haiden Dickson would account for 7 goals. But on the defensive side of the ball, Calgary seemed to have no answer for Connor Kelly who netted 4 of his own in the game. To me the issue remains as it has for the season. I don’t know who the go to guy on offense is. Jesse King is having a fantastic season with 36 points, but the team currently has 1 player in double digit goals. Everyone else is under 2 goals a game for this team. As the season progresses I am looking to see if that go to guy emerges from this group. They have a very solid group up top, but they need someone who can take over a game. They are off this week and will host NY when they return on the 2nd of February.

9.       Halifax Thunderbirds – 2-3 (Last Week: #9)

Bye week and we have the Thunderbirds holding steady with that #9 spot. Losers of 3 straight, with 2 of those seeing the offense score a combined 19 goals. 9.5 goal averages is 3.5 below their season average. Now both of those losses came against the 2 best defensive units in the league through 8 weeks so I can only do so much with those results. But the fact remains. Halfiax the last 2 seasons has fallen short of their goal to get by the 1st round of the playoffs at the hands of Toronto. They need to find ways to win these lower scoring games. In the last 2 seasons, they are 12-3 when scoring 13 or more in a game and 0-8 when they score fewer than 13. They likely will need to hit the over on that number vs Rochester this weekend.

10.   Philadelphia Wings – 2-3 (Last Week: #10)

Another bye week for Philly who will be extra rested when they host San Diego on Saturday night in their first action in nearly 3 weeks. Their weird season continues sitting at 2-3 on the year with wins vs NY and Halifax. In their wins they are averaging 14.5 goals for and 12.5 goals against. In their 3 losses they are averaging 8.67 goals for and 14 goals against. Small sample size I know. But it goes back to what I was saying. The Wings are a weird team to track atm. One week you think they are on track to stack wins with a nice 16-15 win over Halifax. Then the following week they get the doors blown off by NY. With this long of a break you hope they will finally be healthy as they have back to back home games to try and get over .500 on the year.

11.   Colorado Mammoth – 2-4 (Last Week: #14)

Up 3 spots to #11 this week for the Mammoth in what I believe was their most complete game of the year vs Calgary in the 13-10 victory. Colorado led 8-7 going into the 4th until they went on a 3 goal run to take a 11-7 lead early in the 4th. Calgary would cut the lead in half with back to back PP goals with 4:32 remaining but that would be the closest they’d get. Connor Kelly is proving to be a great addition in this offense to take the place of Ryan Lee who is out for the year. This is a team that started off the season slow and injured, but might be turning the corner after breaking their 2 game losing streak. If Dillon Ward is back to being his normal self in net after this 37 save win, Colorado could be primed to move up the rankings. My biggest concern for the team right now though is the play of Zed Williams who has been very quiet in his 5 games. He has 14 points on the year and 6 of those came in their Vancouver win. He needs to find a way to be more productive if this team is going to make that run we have come to expect from this team. They get a rematch vs Vancouver this week. 

12.   Vancouver Warriors – 2-4 (Last Week: #13)

Up 1 for Vancouver to the #12 spot this week. The first half felt like this was set for another Warriors loss on the year. 4-0 2nd quarter saw the Rush take a 7-3 lead into half and 9-5 lead after 3. But that Mike Triolo goal at the 4:57 mark in the 3rd would be the final one from SAS. 6 straight from Vancouver in the 4th and 4 in 2:10 gave the team a great come from behind victory. Adam Charalambides was an animal in this one. 4 goals and 7 points including 3 in the 4th. Keegan Bal netted a hat trick of his own in this one. In net Aaron Bold was great making 38 saves and allowed just 2 goals in the 2nd half. But the play in front of him might have been the best performance of the year for this group. 20 CTO including 4 guys with 3 each. Sitting at 2-4 on the year is not ideal but if they are able to get more from their offensive unit who is averaging just 10.33 goal a game, they have some nice pieces to continue to build as they look to climb up in the standings with a rematch vs Colorado on Friday.

13.   New York Riptide – 2-4 (Last Week: #15)

Up 2 spots for NY might not be enough of a jump to be honest with you. Winners of 2 of the last 3 games to get to 2-4 on the year after a 15-13 win in Banditland. A 7 goal run in 7:09 in the 2nd was something you do not typically see out of either team. NY going on one and Buffalo allowing one. But they New York took an 11-6 lead into half in front of a shocked fan base. Coming out of half Buffalo would go on a run of their own scoring 7 of the next 9 to tie the game with just 2:09 left in the game. That is with Jeff Teat leaped into action, literally, scoring on Matt Vinc with a dive through the crease which ended up being the game winning goal. He’d finish the night with 4 goals and 10 points. But he was not alone up top. Stephen Keogh (4/1/5), Reilly O’Connor (1/7/8), and Kiel Matisz (2/5/7) were all key in the win. On the back end you saw the defense cause 10 turnovers in front of Cam Dunkerley’s 46 save performance. While giving up 13 is not how you want to be winning games, they made all the goals difficult for the Bandits in this one. They host the Swarm on Saturday with a chance to stack wins and get back into the playoff race.

14.   Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 2-3 (Last Week: #12)

Nothing like a bye week and falling 2 spots in the rankings. What’s more shocking is if the playoffs started today, Vegas would be heading to Albany to play. Yes this team is 7th in standings. Yes they are 2-3. Yes they just had a big upset win vs San Diego last time they played. But with all that said, that’s why power rankings and standings are 2 different things. This is still a team trying to find their identity as they are kicking off year 2 of existence. I like some of the pieces they have. But they have a ways to go. In the 5 games, they are averaging 9.4 goals per game which is dead last. They are 12th in the league in goals against at 12.8. Now those numbers are a bit skewed due to the 17-5 loss to SAS so let’s take that out. 10.5 goals for and 11.75 goals against. That would still be 13th and 9th respectively. Those numbers are still in the back half of the league. They look to stack wins vs Panther City on Saturday.

15.   Saskatchewan Rush – 1-4 (Last Week: #11)

All my talk about believing this was the time you’d see the Rush start their climb in both these rankings and in the standings. And 3 quarters into the game it felt like the right call with a 9-5 lead. Then the 4th quarter happened and you saw the Warriors score the final 6 goals of the game to pull out the come from behind win. Robert Church and Ryan Keenan combined for 3 goals on 21 shots. But the biggest issue I see on offense was the lack of involvement from Zach Manns in the shotting department. He was still productive with a 5 point night but only 4 shots from a guy who is tied for 11th in goals on the year. That total needs to be doubled. On the flip side this was another solid performance by Franck Scigliano in net. 40 saves in the loss but he made plenty of nice saves to keep the team in it. The Rush get another off week before hosting Panther City on the 3rd to try and avoid a 3rd straight loss.