PK’s NLL Power Rankings - Week 5
1. Toronto Rock – 2-0 (Last Week: #1)
The Rock went down to Texas, defeated the Lacrosse Club and went back up north for the Holidays. But this game was actually much closer than you might have thought going in. It was a back-and-forth matchup most of the night with the Rock having a 4-goal run in the 2nd to hold a 7-5 lead at half. PCLC stormed back from being down 9-5 early in the 3rd to go on a 5-goal run themselves to take a 10-9 lead with 8:53 left in the game. That is when Mark Matthews (3/3/6) and the Rock took over scoring the final 4 of the game to take the 13-10 win before the Holiday weekend. Chris Boushy (3/1/4) and Dan Craig (1/4/5) helped on the offensive end while Mitch de Snoo (1/2/3) added 10 LBs and 4 CTOs to help seal the win. Nick Rose was once again solid when he needed to be in net as the Rock start the season 2-0. They host the Riptide on Saturday in a rare 4pm game with the chance to remain undefeated early in the season.
2. Buffalo Bandits – 1-1 (Last Week: #2)
The team was off this last weekend, but we took a bit of a closer look at some numbers. Through 2 games, the 3rd quarter is their best of this young season. They are averaging 4.5 goals coming out of the half, which is 1.5 goals more than any other quarter. This is a similar trend to what we saw last year when the team averaged 3.78 goals in the 3rd which came to 68 total and 10 more than any other quarter. Not sure what goes on in that locker room during halftime, but the team loves playing in the 3rd and the numbers are showing it. They host the Georgia Swarm and their electric offense on Friday night in Banditland.
3. Halifax Thunderbirds – 2-0 (Last Week: #3)
Another off week for the team but before the break this team was rolling. The team is leading the league in goals, averaging 15.5 a game. That’s nearly a goal more than the team in 2nd. They are also tied for 2nd in goals fewest allowed with 9 per game. It’s no surprise that the strength of this team will come from the front end with players like Clarke Petterson (6/7/13) stepping into a more central focused role this year. But the welcome back of Randy Staats who opened his season with a 3 goal, 6-point game to an already electric offense took this team to another level early on. The team will host a limping Wings team in the first game to kick off in week 5.
4. Rochester Knighthawks – 3-0 (Last Week: #4)
In the final game before the Holiday festivities kicked off, the Hawks were able to take down the Warriors in what looked like a possible upset early on. The warriors were doing a great job in the 1st quarter of shadowing Connor Fields and frustrating his play. They held a 5-2 lead late into the 1st. The game seemed to shift with the Austin Hasen goal right before the end of the 1st quarter. Rochester would go on to score the first 5 goals of the 2nd and only allow Vancouver to add one before taking an 8-6 lead into the halftime break. The 2 teams would each add 5 more to the scoreboard for a 13-11 win in favor of Rochester. Ryan Smith added his 3rd straight hatrick, Ryan Lanchbury seems to have integrated nicely into the rotation with his 7-point night, and Matt Gilray continues to add his name to one of the best transition players in the league with another goal to go with an assist and 7 LBs. But the story was in net. In last week’s rankings I talked about what their plan in net would be. I felt Hutchcraft would get the nod, but the team felt differently and went back to Rylan Hartley. It seemed to have been paying off making 25 saves early into the 3rd. But a scary situation unfolded involving Hartley being hit in the mask with a shot causing him to leave the game. Hutchcraft did a great job in relief holding the Warriors to just 3 goals on 23 shots in over 24 minutes of action. The team travels cross country this week to a rested-up Seals team looking to rebound from their loss in week 3.
5. San Diego Seals – 1-1 (Last Week: #5)
And here is that rested up team. The Seals took the loss in Buffalo in their only meeting in the regular season and that could result in a lower seed if the records come into play for playoff time. The offense has been very slow out of the gate and that was not an area I thought would be an issue early into the season. It is only 2 games in, and they did have to go against 2 of the best in the game between the pipes in Del Bianco and Matt Vinc so we will see how they fair with a team like Rochester with Hutchcraft likely in net. The bright spot of this team has to be the play of young Chris Origlieri. Freshly 21 years of age, nothing seems to be too big for him in net. We mentioned how he would fair in Banditland on Banner Raising night and even though he did not get the result on the score board, he played well enough to get the win. If the offense can come around and put more goals in the net, with the goaltending seeming to be a distant concern for me, this team will remain at the top of the rankings all season long.
6. Georgia Swarm – 2-1 (Last Week: #7)
This team loves to face the Mammoth. Sweeping the season series should give them a nice edge when playoff seeding rolls around as they will have that tie breaker in their favor. I was very interested to see what the game would be like after the fireworks that ended their first match up. Add in a bad loss the previous week to the Warriors and now Dillon Ward is back in net, but the game was even more mismatched than their first game. After a solid 3-minute stretch for Colorado in the 1st that saw them tie it up 3-3, the Swarm dominated all parts of that floor. After that 3-3 tie, the swarm would go on to score the next 5 goals of that half for an 8-3 halftime lead as well as 12 of the next 17 goals for the game. Yes, Ward looked rusty in his first game of the season, but this their defense had no answers for this Swarm offense. Seth Oakes led the way with 4 goals, but 8 other players chipped in at least 1 in the 15-8 victory. Brett Dobson bounced back in a big way making 42 saves in the game. The team travels into Banditland this Friday with a chance to upset the champs.
7. Albany Firewolves – 3-0 (Last Week: #6)
I did not want to drop a 3-0 team in the rankings especially in their bye week. So, do not take this as a negative against them this season. I am still coming around as a believer of this offense, but Georgia’s win did warrant their moving up in the rankings. There is not much more I can say about what this team has been able to accomplish this early into the season. 3-0 start with a win over Buffalo. 2nd in the league in scoring at 14.67 goals a game. 5 players in the top 11 of scoring for the NLL and 2 tied for 2nd. All this with 2 rookies in Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz playing massive roles for the team. They get to take on the Rush up in Canada this coming week on a late New Year’s Eve matchup looking to continue their undefeated start.
8. Panther City Lacrosse Club – 1-2 (Last Week: #11)
Very strange to see a team move up in the rankings after a loss but I was very impressed with the loss if that makes any sense. They went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league and battled back on a 5-goal run into the middle of the 4th to hold a 10-9 lead. But the final 4 went the Rock’s way and saw the Lacrosse Club start Christmas on a bad note. While this offense is still something I think will hurt their play as the season progresses, it’s the play of Nick Damude that has me thinking they can make a run back to the playoffs. The team is 1-2 sitting in 10th in the standings but are 4th in the league in fewest goals allowed at 10.33. Phil before the season said Nick Damude was his pick for Goalie of the Year and so far, he has been living up to that bold Prediction. But if this team is going to make some noise, their offense has to improve with more pieces chipping in besides the names Crawford, Donville and Malcom.
9. Vancouver Warriors – 1-2 (Last Week: #9)
A loss to the Knighthawks keeps the Warriors in 9th this week. I loved the play we saw in the 1st quarter. Shadowing Fields to get him off his game and stifle the offensive flow for Rochester was perfect. But it almost felt like they went away from that. I know you can only contain a player like Connor Fields for so long and he will get his, but it looked like in the 2nd that plan went by the wayside. Rochester went on a 6-goal run from 2 seconds left in the 1st until Charalambides (2/3/5) would end the run with 4:07 left in the 1st half. The team was not able to beat a cold Hutchcraft as he came in in relief. The positives are this team looks to be forming an identity. Owen Grant looks to be a legit stud in the making and the defense has shown glimpses of what they can be. The negative is I am not sure if it will be enough this season to push them across the finish line to the playoffs or not. They get their next chance Saturday night when they head into the loud house of Colorado.
10. Saskatchewan Rush – 1-2 (Last Week: #10)
I want this team to be good. That offense is so fun to watch. Robert Church (9/8/17), Ryan Keenan (3/14/17) and Zach Manns (10/7/17) all add a bit of their own spice to front end and it’s showing to be working with all 3 in the top 6 in scoring. The offense as a unit is tied for 3rd in the league in goals averaging 14.33 a game. The issue is they are tied for 9th in fewest goals allowed with 12.67 a game. It has really come down to which Scigliano the team gets that day. In the losses they have allowed 17 and 16 goals. In the win they allowed 5. Now the 2 offenses they lost to were some of the top in the league in Halifax and Rochester but you have to be able to keep them in check if you want to get back into the playoffs. Get that goals against down to a nice 11.5 a game and the wins will start to stack. They get the red hot Firewolves Sunday night on New Year’s Eve.
11. Calgary Roughnecks – 0-2 (Last Week: #12)
Rough start to the season for the Roughnecks. A couple close battles that saw them fall short in the 4th. Rochester battled back from a bad opening half and scored 9 of the next 12 including an 8-goal run and San Diego blanked them in the 4th. It’s all about the finish for this team under Sanderson. If they are able to fix the mistakes that are hurting them late into the games, with the defending MVP in net this team can bounce right back up the standings quickly.
12. Colorado Mammoth – 0-2 (Last Week: #8)
I’ll just come out and say it. This team has been bad in their first 2 weeks but it’s not all their fault. Week 1 they were down Dillon Ward. In game two they got him back but didn’t have Zed Williams due to his 1 game suspension. I will also say this, I am not overly concerned yet. It has not looked good and it’s almost unrecognizable what this team is at the moment. But I’ve said it for a while now, this team knows how to win in the big moments, and I believe that is coming. But in the meantime, the loss to the Swarm was ugly. They were dominated in every aspect of the game. Ward looked rusty, allowing 15 goals and 35 saves, the offense was missing Williams and Lee but were locked out by Dobson and the defense had no answers to the Swarms lethal offense. Maybe the Mammoth just do not match up well with Georgia. It happens. They get Vancouver coming in so let’s see how the teams plays against a new team for the first time this year.
13. Philadelphia Wings – 1-2 (Last Week: #13)
The Bye week could not have come at a better time for the Wings. For a team that a lot of people around the league had high thoughts on (not me), the losses are stacked now and so are the injuries. 11-7 loss in Toronto and then a 15-10 loss to Albany on top of the losses of Blaze Riorden and Holden Cattoni. Hopefully the team used this well-timed rest week to regroup because they will need it as they have 3 weeks straight of action until their next bye. They travel into the nest on Friday to face the scary offense in Halifax.
14. Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 1-2 (Last Week: #14)
As has been the theme of this week’s rankings, another team coming off the bye week. They get to travel into Calgary to take on the MVP and Goalie of the year Christian Del Bianco. Nothing helps a team that just scored 5 goals vs the Rush like trying to get one by one of the best in the game. What I will be watching for is if they can stay out of the box. In their 2 losses they averaged 24.5 PIMs. In their win they averaged 8. If they can stay on the field, it gives their defense time to rest instead of killing penalties and it gives their offense time to get into a rhythm.
15. New York Riptide – 0-2 (Last Week: #15)
Nothing helps a struggling offense which has 16 goals through 2 games like going against the best defensive team in the league. The Riptide head north to take on the Rock on Saturday afternoon. It’s pretty simple. Get to Rose early or this game could get out of hand. I don’t think this team, after all the moves they made this offseason expected to be where they are through 2, but they are. It’s what they do next that will determine how the rest of their season goes.