PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 14

1.       Toronto Rock – 8-2 (Last Week: #1)

If you like low scoring, drag it out games, this was the game to watch last weekend. The game was tied 2-2 at half until 10 of the 14 games goals were scored. 7 of which came from the sticks of the Rock players. The game was tied at 5 after 2 quick Warriors goals in the 4th. That’s when Toronto would net the next 4 to put the game out of reach. Tom Schreiber and Chris Boushy led the way in scoring with 2 each while Mark Matthews delivered a 5 point night. The leader for Goalie of the Year, Nick Rose made 45/50 saves to boost his already league leading GAA and Sv % numbers. It was a gutsy win by the club who say Challen Rogers, Dan Craig and Mitch De Snoo hit the IR in the lead up to the game. If those 3 miss an extended amount of time, they will need other players to step their games up. They head into a double header weekend taking on Las Vegas on Friday before traveling to San Diego on Saturday in a matchup that will sure to have all the eyes on it. The team has 2 losses on the season by a combined 3 goals. They are title contending team and have shown it thus far into the season winning in many different ways. To me with 8 weeks left, the Rock are the team to beat.

2.       San Diego Seals – 7-3 (Last Week: #2)

Holding onto that 2nd spot again this week are your aquatic animals, the Seals. This might be the best San Diego team we have ever seen. From top down they are a threat. And they showed it again Friday night vs Georgia. Down 3, 2 different times in the 3rd to fight back and take it 12-11 in OT shows that this team can win in many different ways. Wes Berg, my MVP pick, netted a sock trick in his 7 point night including the OT winner. Curtis Dickson chipped in 2. And while it was not a good shooting night for one Austin Staats, 1 goal on 16 shots, he assisted on 5 goals in the victory. In net Chris Origlieri continues to make me look silly for having any doubts about him entering the year. I said in the preseason that I was nervous about the goalie spot because the team was a title contending team. Origlieri has been even more then I think the Seals expected and they signed him to a 5 year deal in the offseason. If the playoffs started today, it would be tough for someone to convince me the Seals or the Rock were not going to win the whole thing. It’s an important weekend to show out for the team as they get Panther City on the road Friday and fly home for a 1-2 matchup with the Rock Saturday night.

3.       Albany Firewolves – 8-2 (Last Week: #3)

I think you can just call this team Buffalos Kryptonite as they have won 3 of the 4 match ups dating back to last year. It was a goal filled 1st half that saw Albany lead 8-7. Just one goal in the 3rd until the Firewolves would score 2 more to kick off the 4th to build up a 4 goal lead they’d hold onto to win it 13-10. Tye Kurtz was incredible in this game scoring 6 to become just the 8th rookie since 2005 to do so in a single game. While Alex Simmons scored just 1 goal on 13 shots, he did hand out 5 assists on the night. And Doug Jamieson was electric in net once again making 46/56 saves. But wat stand out to me once again is the defense being played for Albany. In 7 of their 10 games, they have held opponents to 10 goals or fewer. Those opponents include Halifax and Buffalo who are 1 and 2 in GF per game on the year. 8-2 is already an impressive start, but looking ahead on their schedule it can continue to grow. Of the 8 remaining games, only 3 are against current playoff teams in Panther City, Toronto and Calgary. They also get NY and Rochester twice with Vancouver mixed in. They get one of their 2 games vs the Riptide Saturday at home.

4.       Halifax Thunderbirds – 7-4 (Last Week: #4)

A great bounce back game for the Thunderbirds after their 17-11 loss to Calgary last Sunday. Halifax went into Saskatchewan on Saturday night and whopped the Rush 19-6. When this team scores at least 12 goals they are 7-1. And wow can this team score goals. They are averaging 13.55 goals on the year which is nearly a goal more per game than any other team. 6-1 after the 1st, 11-4 at half and 16-4 after 3 vs the Rush. They had 5 runs of 3 or more goals. The longest goal run the Rush were able to muster was 2 in the 4th. 12 players including Warren Hill had points in this one. Ryan Benesch continues to score goals netting 4 more to go with his 6 point night. Randy Staats (3/3/6) and Clarke Petterson (3/5/8). Finished the night with hat tricks. Jake Withers (15LBs) and Ryan Terefenko (17LB) combined for 32 LBs, 2 Blocked shots and a CTO in the victory. And in net Warren Hill made 38/44 saves. This team is on the cusp of entering that elite tier with Toronto and San Diego, but their next 4 games are tough and will have a big impact on where they finish in the playoff seeding. Georgia, San Diego, Panther City and Toronto before ending the season with 3 teams currently out of the playoffs in Rochester, Vancouver and Colorado.

5.       Calgary Roughnecks – 5-5 (Last Week: #8)

This team likes streaks. They started the season losing back to back games before winning 2 to get back to .500. They’d then lose 3 in a row before winning 14-11 on Saturday to extending their now 3 game winning streak to once again get back to .500 on the year. The Roughnecks were down 10-8 early in the 4th. But Calgary would go on to score 6 of the next 7 goals to seal the victory at home. Dan Taylor (4/1/5) and Josh Currier (3/1/4) combined for half of the Roughnecks goals while Jesse King, Tyler Pace and Tanner Cook combined for 4 goals and 13 assists on the night. Christian Del Bianco continues to have another solid season making 36/47 saves. In their last 2 games Calgary is averaging 15.5 goals per game and 11 goals against. But the 4 games before the averages were 9.5 GF and 11 GA. They remain inconsistent in the goal scoring department. The team is 5-1 when they score 11 or more goals and 0-4 when they score 10 or less. To me that says if you can even get league average scoring (11.59) this team can continue on their upward trend. They will look to sweep the season series with the Wings in Philly on Saturday.

6.       Panther City Lacrosse Club – 5-4 (Last Week: #9)

Up 3 spots this week for the Lacrosse Club into #6. After leading 5-3 after 1 and 6-3 just 16 seconds into the 2nd, PC would not score another goal for just over 40 minutes of game action. Teams that go that long without a goal typically do not win the game. But in those final 4:42 of the game, Panther City would score 4 of the final 5 goals including the game winner with 40 seconds to go to walk out victorious 10-9. Jonathan Donville led the way with a 3 goal, 5 point night. Callum Crawford finished the night 2/4/6 including that game winner. And in net Nick Damude made 42/51 saves. Their last 3 games have been decided by 1 goal, 2 of which they have won. They have also won 4 of the last 5 games after starting the year 1-3. It seems like they have figured out what is working for them as they get a double header weekend getting both the Seals and Rochester ad home on Friday and Sunday.

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

If you had told anyone that the Buffalo Bandits who brought back everyone but Ethan O’Connor and Max Adler that they’d 5-5 going into week 14, I don’t think a single person would have believed you. But that is where they sit after their 13-10 loss to Albany. Before the game they got good news that Zach Belter, Frank Brown and Tehoka Nanticoke were healthy and ready to get into game action. Unfortunately to make room they put Justin Robinson, Brandon Robinson and Matt Vinc on the IR. That led way to Devlin Shanahan to get his first start in the league since being drafted in 2018. While there is certainly improvements that need to be made in his play like ball tracking and rebound control, he made 46/59 saves to give his team a chance to win. Sadly, even with the drastically improved defense, the offense went on a goal drought of 24 minutes. Josh Byrne went 3/3/6 and Chris Cloutier added 2 goals in his 5 point night but it wasn’t enough. Whatever Albany does to get under the Bandits skin, they have a very valuable secret. Albany went 4/8 on the PP in this one which was a major reason for the outcome we saw. Buffalo heads to Vancouver on Friday night in must win territory to keep their title defense intact.

8.       New York Riptide – 5-6 (Last Week: 5-6)

What a tail of 2 halves for the Riptide coming in at #8 this week. Leading 8-6 at half time and the offense looked like it was firing on all cylinders. Then the 2nd half kicked off and the pistons misfired. Colorado would score 2 back to back goals within 26 seconds of one another to tie the game. Kevin Brownell would give NY the lead back just 1:12 later. But then the crumble began. Colorado would score the next 10 goals in a 16:05 span to take the game 18-10. Jeff Teat and Connor Kearnan both finished the night 2/3/5 while Reilly O’Connor collected 2 goals himself. It was not a good time in net for either Cam Dunkerley or Will Johnston who combined to make just 36/54 saves. After winning 4 in a row and 5/6, NY has now lost 2 in a row as they head into Albany on Saturday. They are currently in 9th place and will look to get back in the win column vs the young Firewolves bunch.

9.       Georgia Swarm – 6-6 (Last Week: #7)

We said it on last Fridays show and I put it in last week’s article. It was a massive weekend for the Swarm with their double header. And everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The team dropped both games by a combined 2 goals. Friday they saw 2 3 goal leads in the 3rd disappear and actually trailed to the Seals late into the 4th until Seth Oakes (4/3/7), tied it with 3:21 remaining. 4:12 into OT, Wes Berg ended the Swarms chances of starting the road trip on a high note. Shayne Jackson was the only other player besides Oakes to have a multi goal night while Dobson did all he could making 46/58 saves. Flash forward to Sunday when the team traveled to Texas to take on Panther City. Another close fought battle that saw the Swarm lose control of another 4th quarter lead and fall 10-9. This time it was Lyle Thompson who led the way with a 3 goal, 5 point night. Andrew Kew returned after missing the Friday game to be the only other Swarm player with a multiple goal night. Brett Dobson again was a force between the pipes making 47/57 saves. In total on the weekend, Dobson went 93/115 which is good for 81% save percentage and an 11 GAA. The team will play their league leading 13th game Friday in Halifax and will look to get back over .500 with 6 to go.

10.   Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 4-6 (Last Week: #13)

A 5 goal run to end the game give the Dogs the win in Rochester 12-8. It was a back and forth game through 3 quarters before LV took control of it and secured their 4th win of the year. Rob Helleyer (3/3/6) and Casey Jackson (3/2/5) each provided the hat tricks on the night accounting for half of the teams goals while young guns Jack Hannah (2/3/5) and Dylan Watson chipped in 2 each. James Barclay was an animal on the floor collecting 16 LBs in the victory and Landon Kells stood on his head against one of the best offenses in the league making 47/55 saves. The 12 goals ties the season high for them and that reflects why this team is currently 10th in the standings. They just can’t get consistent scoring. They have been held to 10 or fewer goals in 6 of their 10 games but have 2 wins in there. Since their 21-12 loss to Panther City on January 27th, LV is 2-2 and Landon Kells is averaging an 82% save percentage and a 9 GAA. Those are elite numbers. If he continues this run and they find more consistent scoring, Vegas could make some noise in this back half of the year. They get their next test Friday when they host Toronto.

11.   Colorado Mammoth – 4-7 (Last Week: #14)

Just when I thought they were out, they pull me back in. Losers of 3 in a row, the Mammoth came into Friday night’s game vs NY in must win territory. A loss might have sent their playoff chances to the gutter. But with a 10 goal run and a 12-2 2nd half, Colorado took down NY and up into 12th place in the standings with 7 games remaining on their schedule. Leading the comeback were Zed Williams (3/2/5), Tyson Gibson (4/2/6), Eli McLaughlin (4/5/9) and Connor Robinson (3/4/7) who combined for 14 of the teams 18 goals and 9 of their 12 second half goals. Dillon Ward who has been up and down all year made 32/42 saves in the comeback and had a stretch of nearly 31 minutes allowing just 1 goal. Every game is critical for this team now as hey play host to the Rush on Saturday with a chance to jump them in the standings and take the possible important series from them.

12.   Saskatchewan Rush – 3-5 (Last Week: #10)

Every time I think this team is about to pop they let me down. After starting the season 1-4 the team entered Saturday night on a 2 game winning streak with a chance to get back to .500 on the year. That didn’t happen and they dropped a very ugly game 19-6 to Halifax to lose the season series. In fact they were doubled up 36-18 between the 2 games. No goals in the 3rd and only 1 multiple goal run at all in their defeat. These types of games just can’t happen if they want to try and snag a playoff spot. Zach Manns (1/3/4) and Robert Church (0/4/4) had a hand in 4 of the 6 goals for the Rush while Clark Walter scored2 on the night. The only bright spot was the play of Bobby Kidd III who collected 9 LB, blocked a shot and caused 5 TO in the game. Frank Scigliano had a rough outing playing nearly 40 minutes before giving way to Laine Hruska. But before he exited Scigliano made just 27 saves on 41 shots. I’ve said it in multiple articles now but this end of the season run the Rush have is crazy. They have only played 8 games through 13 weeks and no play 6 games in March, 8 in 36 days, and 10 in 50 days. It starts Saturday in Colorado who is looking to jump them in the standings.

13.   Philadelphia Wings – 3-6 (Last Week: #11)

Down 2 spots are the Wings in what remains a disappointing season for a team that a lot of people had higher hopes for. After starting the season 2-2, they have lost 4 of the last 5 with their sole win a 10-8 victory in Vegas. Their latest loss came in Calgary 14-11. The team was leading 10-8 early in the 4th until the Roughnecks would score 6 of the final 7 goals to take the game. Mitch Jones (2/5/7) Joe Resetaris (2/4/6), Holden Cattoni (3/2/5) and Ben McIntosh (2/3/5) combined for 9 of the 11 goals on the night and 14 assists to go with 33 of the teams 47 shots. The 13 other runners combined for 2/5/7 on 14 shots. It was a top end game and in the 4th, Calgary was able to lock off those 4 guys. Zach Higgins faced over 50 shots once again making 38/51 saves. Sitting 13th in the standings with 9 to play. They get their home game vs Calgary this Saturday with a chance to split the season series.

14.   Rochester Knighthawks – 3-6 (Last Week: #12)

A back and forth game through 3 quarters until their offense went to sleep and Rochester extends their losing streak to 6 games. Vegas scored the final 5 goals including 4 in the 4th to take the game 12-8. Connor Fields continues to produce going 3/3/6 with 11 LBs while Ryan Smith added another 2 goal, 6 point night. Unfortunately the return of Curtis Knight with Ryan Lanchbury, Thomas McConvey, Kyle Waters, and Dan Lomas could only combine for 3 more goals on 24 shots. In net Riley Hutchcraft made just 28/40 saves. Rochester has 9 games remaining on their schedule and 7 of those are against currently playoff teams with NY whose in 9th also mixed in there. I know anything can happen and teams go on big runs all the time, but when do they look towards next year? The other issue is Buffalo holds their first rounder next year and with each loss that stings more and more. They get another chance to break the drought Sunday in Panther City.

15.   Vancouver Warriors – 2-8 (Last Week: #15)

When the #1 team faces the #15 team it is usually a recipe for disaster. That’s not exactly what we got. Yes we saw the result we expected with the Rock beating the Warriors. But the game itself was very close. 2-2 at half and 5-5 with 13:59 to go in the game. But that’s when you saw the title contending team go to work and score the next 4 to take the game 9-5. As you’d expect not a ton of stats to show for it. But the shots were there for the Warriors putting 50 on net. But finishing the night shooting 10% isn’t going to get it done. Adam Charalambides and Keegan Bal who are the teams go to guys on offense were held scoreless on 18 shots. Ryan Martel led the way with a 1/3/4 night having a hand in 80% of the goals scored. In net we saw the young Aden Walsh who played pretty well in his first start of the year making 37/46 saves. With their record sitting at 2-8 and 8 games remaining on their schedule, it might be time to ship out what is not in your future plans to see what you can add for future success. They get Buffalo at home on Friday night this week.