PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 8

1.       Toronto Rock – 4-0 (Last Week: #1)

And the streak is up to 6 weeks for the Toronto Rock atop of the BSC Power Rankings. A 5 goal 1st quarter saw the Rock take a 5-1 lead into the 2nd quarter. Halifax battled back multiple times cutting the Rock lead to 1 on 2 separate occasions, but timely goals from Dan Craig (2/2/4) and Challen Rogers (2/3/5) kept the team on top. The team was outshot 54-39, Halifax won at the dot 19-5, and yet the team from Toronto ends up on top due to some incredible work on the defensive side of the ball. 11 caused TOs in this game were critical with Mitch de Snoo (1/2/3) and Chris Weier (0/1/1) leading the way with 3 each. Nick Rose continues to deliver Goalie of the Year numbers by allowing just 9 in a 45 save outing. They are sitting at 4-0 and have yet to give up more than 10 goals in a game. That test does not get any easier with Georgia coming to town on Saturday.

2.       Albany Firewolves – 6-0 (Last Week: #2)

This team is simply unbelievable. It is truly incredible what this team has been able to accomplish 1/3 of the way into their season. A 6 game winning streak is already a tough thing to manage in a league this tough. But to do it coming off a 3 win season and with the young core they have is amazing. The Firewolves never trailed in this game and led 8-3 after one thanks to more solid performances by Travis Longboat, Colton Watkinson and Ethan Walker who each had 2 goals. They extended that lead to 10-3 early in the 3rd which chased Brett Dobson from the game. Georgia would attempt to make a comeback with a 3 goal run into the early 4th but a timely Marshall Powless (1/3/4) goal stopped that in its tracks. The work by Doug Jamieson (36 Saves) and the defense has been the thing that has been most impressive to me as the winning streak has continued. In 5 of the 6 games, they have held teams to 10 or fewer goals which has been key to their success. They are 2-0 in that stretch of 3 games I said would determine if they were a legit threat. That 3rd game is Saturday as the Seals come to town.

3.       Buffalo Bandits – 3-2 (Last Week: #5)

The Bandits move up to the 3 spot this week with a solid 15-13 win over rival Rochester on Saturday night. It was a tail of 2 halves for this team. 10-10 at half which saw Rochester go on a 5 goal run and Buffalo go on two 3 goal runs. Then the defense for Buffalo came to life. After allowing 2 goals on a 5 minute major penalty to give Rochester a 12-10 lead, the defense wouldn’t allow another goal for 15:23. This was the opening the offense needed to go on a 5 goal run of their own to take a 15-12 lead which they would not give up. Chris Cloutier (3/2/5) and Josh Byrne (3/3/6) led the way in the goal department and Dhane Smith (0/6/6) made sure to keep everyone involved in a game all but 1 player recorded a point. I do not know what Matt Vinc behind his 51 save night had to say in the locker room at half but the defense cut down on the space they were giving Rochester’s forwards. The Bandits have always been a 2nd half team and they showed exactly why Saturday night. They host New York as a standalone Friday night game this week.

4.       Georgia Swarm – 4-2 (Last Week: #3)

Down week for the Swarm and you see that with the 12-8 final score against Albany. This was a game that had a lot of the leagues eyes on and the Swarm did not come to play. Albany was all over Georgia in this one extending a halftime lead and making it 10-3 early in the 3rd which chased Brett Dobson (21 saves) from the game. But this was not just an off night for the goalie department. What I have been saying for weeks came to fruition. Shayne Jackson (0/4/4) and Andrew Kew (1/2/3) were shut down on offense. That left Lyle Thompson (3/1/4) and Brendan Bomberry (2/1/3) to try and pick up that goal scoring. It did not happen. This game could have been worse had Albany scored on any of their 6 PP chances. If you take out the 2 games vs Colorado, this team is averaging 9 goals a game. That is not a winning formula. And it doesn’t get any easier with them traveling to Toronto to face the best defense in the league Saturday night.

5.       San Diego Seals – 3-2 (Last Week: #4)

A rare double header weekend for the Seals see them go 1-1. Friday night they drop the game 10-8 vs Vegas as their offense just pulled a disappearing act. Wes Berg (4/2/6) and Kyle Jackson (3/0/3) contributed 7 of the Seals 8 goals while Tre LaClaire, Dane Dobbie, Curtis Dickson and Austin Staats walked out of sin city with 1 combined goal on 23 shots. A disappointing game when your goalie, Chris Origlieri played well enough to win making 37 saves. Flash forward to Saturday night as they looked for revenge for the playoff last year, the team took out the Mammoth 12-8 in a game that was never really close. 6-1 early in the 2nd before an 8-4 halftime lead. Both teams would go on a 3 goal run but it was San Diego that would come out on top at the end of the night. A much better game for the goal scorers as 9 players chipped in at least one. In his first game back for the team, Mac O’Keefe picked up where he left off netting 2 on 9 shots. But once again it was the play of young Chris Origlieri that led the way. What was their biggest question mark going into the season has become their most steady position on the team. He is 3rd in the league in GAA with a 10.4 and tied for 3rd in SV% at 79%. The kid is electric. The Seals head to Albany to take on the 6-0 Firewolves on Saturday night.

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

In an emotionally fueled game with the their first match up since the departure of Curt Malawsky, Calgary got the better of him this time doubling them up with a 14-7 win. A 3 goal run to start the game and a 6 goal run from the 2nd into the 3rd saw the Roughnecks dominate all aspects of this game. Tanner cook led the way with a 5 goal night, While Josh Currier and Jesse King added a hat trick each. The defense chipped in 13 CTO in this one and Christian Del Bianco was is old self making 48 saves. Just a thrashing for Calgary as they are finally unleashing an offense I wasn’t sure they had in them. Small sample size I know but in their last 2 games, they are averaging 15.5 goals a game. And that run might continue with Colorado on the docket next and revenge on their mind as the Mammoth defeated Calgary in the Western finals last year.

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

13 goals in a game is usually enough to walk out with the W. Unforatunly when you allow 15, you are on the losing side of things. This team could do no wrong on the offensive side of the ball in the 1st half vs the Bandits. A 5 goal run between the 1st and 2nd quarters saw them take an 8-5 lead and a 10 all tie into half. Kyle Waters and Ryan Smith collected 4 goals each, while Connor Fields and Thomas McConvey added 2 each. Sadly for the team that offense dried up in the 2nd half. They took a 12-10 lead on the 5 minute PP they were awarded but the Bandits would go on a 5 goal run of their own in the 4th to close the door on the Knighthawks night. Riley Hutchcraft performed well making 47 saves. It was the defense in front of him that seemed to let up. Losers of 2 in a row will look to use this bye week to prepare for the trip to the nest in Halifax on the 27th to try and right the ship.

8.       Panther City Lacrosse Club – 2-3 (Last Week: 9)

Losers of 3 straight went into New York to try and stop the bleeding and did just that. Sliding up 1 spot in this week’s rankings after a 14-12 win vs the Riptide. This game was a good old back and forth matchup 5 ties and 7 lead changes, But it was a 4 goal run by Panther city in the 3rd and another 3 goal run in the 4th that saw them build that lead that they would not give up. NY would make it very interesting late scoring 3 in the final 2:29 but that was the most excitement we’d end with. There are 2 big takeaways from this game. First was the scoring by players other than Callum Crawford (3/2/5). Jason Knox scored 4, Jonathan Donville scored 3, and 4 others chipped in 1. This is what PC needs for them to be able to continue their winning ways. The second is the play of Nick Damude in net. After a rough outing in Georgia that saw him get yanked just 18 minutes into the game, he shined in this one making 45 saves in the win. The team gets another week of rest before heading the Vegas to take on the Desert Dogs on the 27th.

9.       Halifax Thunderbirds – 2-3 (Last Week: #7)

Down two spots this week after their 3rd straight loss. This time a 11-9 defeat to the Rock. Toronto jumped on Halifax early in this one taking a 5-1 lead into the 2nd. The Thunderbirds would cut the lead to just 1 with a 3 goal run in 1:27 in the 4th, but a timely Challen Rogers goal with 4:41 put the game out of reach. The team was short Austin Shanks who was unable to get into Halifax in time for the game, but the typical goal scorers in Ryan Benesch (1/1/2), Clarke Petterson (1/3/4), Dawson Theede (0/0/0), and Cody Jamieson (1/3/4) combined for 3 goals on 24 shots. Jake Withers was one of the few standout performers on the night. He dominated the FO dot and collected 1 goal, 2 points, 21 LBs and 5 CTO. Just an unbelievable game. The other player oi thought stood out was Ryan Terefenko. His play in the transition game helped the team when the offense was not performing on his 2 goal, 3 point night. Halifax will get a bye week before hosting the Knighthawks on the 27th I a very important game.

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

No change for the Wings as they had their game vs the Rush postponed due to weather. This might end up being a good thing for the team. To start the season it was the forwards who had the injury bug for the team. Once they got healthy, it kicked back to the defensive side of the ball. But take the injuries out of it. This is one confusing team. They can’t seem to get on any roll to start the year. A solid win to start the year followed by 2 losses where they got outplayed badly against better competition. But then a big OT win vs Halifax felt like they were back on track until an ugly 16-9 loss to NY. Their next game is not scheduled until the 27th when they play host to the Seals. That’s means as it stands today, they will have 20 days between games. I can see this going 2 ways. One they are able to use this rest to get healthy. Or two, they get rusty and are unable to string any consistency together.

11.   Saskatchewan Rush – 1-3 (Last Week: #11)

If there was anyone else as disappointed about the postponing of this game as Rush fans, it might be me. Which is a weird to say about a 1-3 team. But I do think this is a team ready to pop. We have seen a steadier Frank Scigliano in the Vegas and Albany games. We have seen a younger offense that looks to be as good as the top teams in the league. And a defense that had just held Albany to their lowest scoring output of the year with 11. Now none of this means it will translate with wins. But all the advanced numbers say this is a team to watch. And why not. Their next 3 matchups are with Vancouver and Panther City at home and then a trip to Vancouver. All are winnable games that can get the Rush back onto the playoff conversation. And that kicks off Saturday vs those Warriors.

12.   Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 2-3 (Last Week: #15)

Up 3 spots in this week’s Power Rankings is a big jump for Vegas. Now this is not some indorsement that says I think they are about to go on some sort of big run. But it was a very big 10-8 upset win over San Diego. They keys in this one are pretty simple. Limited the offense for the Seals allowing 2 layers to score 7 of their 8 goals. Getting production from your top players like Jack Hannah adding 4 goals and Zack Greer netting 2. A stand out performance for Landon Kells in a 41 save victory. And doing a better job of staying out of the box taking 7 penalties. Now those 7 are still way too much for this team to be taking when they are still in the rebuild process. You saw the Seals go 4-6 on their PP chances. But considering they are usually in the 20s in penalty minutes it’s a good sign of things to come. They are off once again before hosting Panther City on the 27th with a chance to stack wins and get back to .500

13.   Vancouver Warriors – 1-4 (Last Week: #12)

Well that was a letdown huh? First game of the New Year and they drop it 14-7 vs their coaches old team. This one was lost in the 2nd quarter when Calgary would go on a 5-0 run that would extend into the 3rd and eventually the pulling of Aaron Bold. But it was not on Bold solely in this one. The scoring has not been there all year long. They are averaging 10.2 goals a game which is 13th in the league ahead of just Vegas and Colorado. Ryan Martel led the way with a 2 goal, 3 point night. Only 3 other players had multi point nights. Simply not good enough. I know there was talk before the season about the moves made and the players brought in to change the culture in Vancouver. But 5 games in and it seems like the problems are still there. They will get their first chance to stop this 3 game slide in Saskatchewan on Saturday night.

14.   Colorado Mammoth – 1-4 (Last Week: #13)

Another loss on the season for Colorado and their fall in the rankings continue. When a team comes into your house after just playing less than 24 hours before, you would think you would have the edge. But it was the Seals team that looked fresh. San Diego would jump out to an early 2nd quarter 6-1 lead which proved to be enough to take out the Mammoth and hand them their 4th loss. The offense is just not there this year. Eli McLaughlin and Connor Robinson contributed 5 of the 8 goals in this one. But on the year they are averaging a league low 9.2 a game. 5 games in and we have seen this team have 1 good half of lacrosse. I have been saying it for a while that this team has proved in the past they know how to win games later in the season but with the unified standings, I don’t know of the Mammoth can turn this around without bringing in something new to the offense. And nothing get easier with Calgary coming to town on Saturday.  

15.   New York Riptide – 1-4 (Last Week: #14)

So much for stacking wins and going on some sort of a run. The game was close until a 3 goal run by Panther City in the 4th put it out of reach. Jeff Teat had a 4 goal, 6 point night. Connor Kearnan, Reilly O’Connor, Larson Sundown and Kiel Matisz all had 2 goals themselves. And Cam Dunkerley made 38 saves. To me this was a breakdown on the defensive end of the floor which has been a common theme for this team since they came into existence. Panther City was not a big goal scoring team so to give up 14 is not a good look. This was a game they needed to have as their schedule gets very difficult. They travel the Banditland on Friday but then they have Georgia, Calgary, San Diego and Toronto. If they are unable to pull off any upsets in that stretch you could be looking at a 1-9 team that is looking to sell.