PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 18

*Reminder these are Power Rankings. To see the Standings please head to NLL.com

1.       Buffalo Bandits – 11-3 (Last Week: #1)

Bandits were double booked this weekend hosting Vegas on Friday before traveling to Albany on Saturday. The job was done early vs the Desert Dogs jumping out to an 8-0 lead to start the game and an 11-2 lead at half before coasting the rest of the way. Although the final score was 13-10, the game was never in jeopardy. As they bussed to Albany, the miles and wear took its toll on the Bandits as did the long OT period that they’d drop 11-10 vs the Firewolves. Bandits held a 6-4 lead at half, but Albany would score the first 6 of 7 to take a 3 goal lead in the 4th. Josh Byrne would tie the game with 1:44 left, before Dyson Williams would go beast mode with his highlight reel winner 8:08 into OT. Although the team went 1-1, I think a lot of questions were answered for me that I had going into the weekend. The offense is fine. It was a big get right weekend for both Dhane Smith (4/9/13) and Chris Cloutier (4/3/7) who had both been struggling of late. As far as the defense. There were a lot of moving pieces between Friday and Saturday’s game between injuries and rest. They were also without Steve Dietrich all weekend who is recovering from surgery. It is weird to say, but I am more confident in this team moving forward than I was before this slate of game even with the 1-1 result. The next stretch of games should be very interesting as their final 4 are against teams in playoff spots atm. Their first test is against new member in the top 8 of the rankings, the Warriors on Saturday night. 

2.       Halifax Thunderbirds – 9-5 (Last Week: #2)

It wasn’t an easy one but Halifax maintains their hold on the #2 ranking this week after their 17-16 win over Ottawa on Friday night. The Black Bears held a 9-7 lead at half before Halifax began the 3rd quarter on a 5-0 run to grab a 3 goal lead. It would go back and forth being tied until Graeme Hossack (3/2/5) gave the Birds the 2 goal lead with 1:46 to go in the game. The wealth was spread around in this one with 11 players netting at least 1 goal and 6 goals coming from those out the back door. What is even more impressive in this game is that although the power play advantage strongly favored Ottawa, 4 for 10 vs 0 for 2, Halifax outshot Ottawa 75-52 forcing Zach Higgins to make 58 stops in the loss. Warren Hill lasted just 7:10 of the game making just 3/7 saves before Drew Hutchison took over making 33/45 saves. For as well as Hill has played, he has not finished 2 of the last 3 games he has started. Sitting 9-5, this team is getting closer and closer to locking up a playoff spot. However, with Hill struggling and the end of the schedule looking rough with Georgia, San Diego, Buffalo and Toronto to come, a home playoff game could be in jeopardy. They head down south to the Swarm on Sunday.

3.       Saskatchewan Rush – 10-4 (Last Week: #3)

A much needed reset week for the Rush who are 1-2 in their last 3. In fact, in their last 4 games, they are averaging 8.4 goals a game all while allowing 10 against. This team is far too talented to be struggling to put the ball in the back of the net, hopefully the bye week was enough to regroup and solve any problems that might be there. The last time we saw this team play they lost 17-9 in a big way to Halifax. Looking forward they have Colorado twice who are missing big time stars, Calgary who is 1-4 in their last 5 and Ottawa who is hanging on by a thread. With how challenging of a schedule Buffalo has coming up, the 1 seed is still within grasp although the Bandits would need to go 2-2 at best with the Rush finishing 4-0 to be able to jump them in the standings with the Bandits holding the tie breaker. They get back into action as they host the mammoth on Saturday night.

4.       San Diego Seals – 8-6 (Last Week: #5)

In my opinion, the biggest game of the weekend was Seals v Roughnecks. So much was riding on this game. A Seals win pushes them further up the standings and drops the Roughnecks out of a playoff spot. And that is exactly what happened with an 16-12 win in Calgary to get the Seals into that 4th spot in these rankings and in the standings to host a playoff game. Back and forth all game until San Diego would go on a 8 to 1 run spanning half of the 3rd and most of the 4th. Rob Hellyer (0/8/8), Zach Currier (3/2/5) and Ben McIntosh (3/7/10), were the support system for my current MVP Favorite, Wes Berg (5/3/8) who continues to be their leader on offense. The back end got reinforcements with Kyle Rubisch and Trevor Baptiste coming off the injured list. In addition, in net, Chris Origlieri made 39/51 saves in the victory. Winners for 3 straight and 5 of 6, they are hitting their stride at the perfect time and getting healthy before playoffs. This Saturday is a massive game for the Seals who travel to the red-hot Knighthawks. A win likely secures a playoff spot, but a loss sees Rochester jump them in the standings for that home playoff game.

5.       Rochester Knighthawks – 8-7 (Last Week: #7)

It’s tough to be on bye and jump up 2 spots in the standings but maybe that is what was needed to right a possible wrong from last week’s rankings. I admitted I was likely too low on the Knighthawks, but still thought the 6 in front of them were better at the time. As we know, the NLL is a week-to-week league and my opinions of teams change the same. With 4 weeks left of the season, Rochester is capable of hosting a playoff game with how their schedule is shaping up. However, it will all come down to this weekend when they host San Diego. A win gets them to 9, but even bigger has them jump the Seals in the standings as well as gives them the tie breaker. They will close out the season with another bye and 2 home games vs Ottawa and Toronto. Before the season began, Phil and PK loved this team on paper. They struggled with so many games in a row, but they seem to be hitting their stride at the perfect time winning 4 straight and 5 of last 6.

6.       Colorado Mammoth – 8-6 (Last Week: #4)

Without 3 of their starting forwards in Eli McLaughlin, Zed Williams and Connor Kelly as well as starting goalie Dillon Ward, Colorado final found out how many missing pieces were to many to get a victory. Ottawa got their must needed win 14-9 over Colorado on Sunday afternoon. The Mammoth held a 7-6 lead midway through the 3rd, but the Black Bears would score 8 of the final 10 to pull away. Ryan Lee was involved in 8 of the 9 goals for the team going 3/5/8 on the night. Will Malcolm was 2nd on the team going 2/3/5, but they were simply too depleted to be able to mount any sort of comeback. Nathan Whittom was solid in his first ever NLL start making 39/53 saves in the loss. This once title contending team is still in a good spot to make playoffs but it will not be an easy task with their remaining 4 games left to come. They get the Rush on the road, before hosting Buffalo and SAS before closing out the season in Calgary. If they do not get back some of the missing pieces of have other guys step up, this team could finish 8-10 and on the outside looking in.

7.       Vancouver Warriors – 7-7 (Last Week: #9)

Up 2 spots is the suddenly lethal offensive unit of the Warriors after with 15-13 win over Georgia on Saturday night. Who knew all the team needed to do was trade for a goalie to fix their offense? Vancouver held a 5 goal lead twice in this one just for Georgia to battle back each time but were never able to find that tying goal they needed. Christian Del Bianco was solid once again making 43/56 saves in the victory. However, to me the offense is what stood out for this team. Keegan Bal (3/9/12) continues to be their main guy on offense but it was the depth guys that made the team go this week. Kevin Crowley (2/4/6), Marcus Klarich (3/2/5) and Ryan Martel (4/1/5), all likely had their best games of the season in the victory. They have now scored 28 goals in their last 2 games or 18.7% of their year total. Sitting 7-7 and in the 7th spot in the standings, the Warriors control their own fate when it comes to playoffs with 4 games to go. 3 of their final 4 games are against teams not currently in a playoff spot, but that one that is, is Buffalo who they get to visit on Saturday night. They likely need to go 3-1 down the stretch to be certain of a playoff spot, but 2-2 with help could get you in.

8.       Albany Firewolves – 6-9 (Last Week: #10)

Welcome back to the top 8, the Albany Firewolves after their electric 11-10 OT win vs Buffalo Saturday night. Trailing 6-4 at half, the Firewolves used a 6-1 run to start the 2nd half to carry a 3 goal lead midway through the 4th. Although the Bandits would tie it late, Albany took them deep into OT and used their already tired legs against them to win the game on an electric behind the back goal from Dyson Williams (3/1/4) to cap off the win and get back into the thick of the playoff race. Doug Jamieson to me was the biggest reason the game resulted in the way it did. He made 57/67 saves including 17 in the first quarter and 30 for the half. If not for him, this game could have had a 10 or 11 to 4 first half score. Although getting the win was needed, all of Albany will be waiting on pins and needles during their bye week to see how bad the left knee of Alex Simmons is who left in the 3rd in extreme pain. They wrap up with season vs Vancouver and a home and home with San Diego and likely need to go 3-0 with help to sneak in, but all eyes remain on Simmons when they leave their bye week.

9.       Georgia Swarm – 7-7 (Last Week : #8)

10.   Calgary Roughnecks – 7-8 (Last Week: #6)

11.   Toronto Rock – 5-9 (Last Week: #11)

12.   Ottawa Black Bears – 6-8 (Last Week: #12)

13.   Philadelphia Wings – 5-9 (Last Week: #13)

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