Both the Bandits and Knighthawks lost this week. They already had their seedings set. Want to just keep it short this week?

Halifax Thunderbirds 16 – Toronto Rock 9

The Thunderbirds scored 7 goals in the fourth quarter to solidify their first home playoff game in Halifax. Dawson Theede had 4 goals and 6 assists to set a new career high in points in a game with 10 and his fourth 4 goal game of the season. Clarke Petterson had 7 assists, matched in points by Randy Staats with 2 goals and 5 assists, and each of Mike Robinson, Cody Jamieson, and Thomas Hoggarth had 3 goals. Drew Hutchison got the win with 31 saves in his second straight start, signaling he may be getting the start next weekend as well. For Toronto, Chris Boushy led with 5 goals and an assist. With the Thunderbirds peppering the Rock for 70 shots on goal and 103 total (as well as 100 assists compared to Toronto’s 52), Troy Holowchuk made 54 saves.

Calgary Roughnecks 12 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 9

While the Desert Dogs hung in after going down 8-2, the Roughnecks took care of business in the first leg of their back-to-back to continue their push to the playoffs with a 12-9 win, led by a 10 point outing from Jesse King and 3 goals and 3 assists from Tanner Cook. Nick Rose made 43 saves for the win with 16 coming in the fourth quarter. The Desert Dogs season ended with 2 goals and 2 assists from Adam Poitras and a goal and 3 assists from both Holden Cattoni and Jonathan Donville.

San Diego Seals 11 – Albany FireWolves 10

For a good portion of the first half, there were some eerie feelings for the 8,697 at Pechanga Arena. Doug Jamieson had made 17 first quarter saves and another 11 in the second while the FireWolves had a 7-4 lead at the half. But with their playoff hopes in the balance, Wes Berg gave a captain’s speech in the locker room and led the way for the Seals to score 5 of the next 6 goals and then finish it off. Berg’s goal with 3:42 left served as the game winner, his fourth of the game along with 2 assists, and the defense finished the job from there, giving the Seals their spot in the postseason. Ryan Benesch had 3 goals as well. After a shaky first quarter, Chris Origlieri settled in and finished with 37 saves in the win. For Albany, whose run from 2-8 to being still alive in the final weekend came up just short, Jamieson finished with an even 50 saves. Ethan Walker had 3 goals and 3 assists while Tye Kurtz had a goal and 5 assists and Alex Simmons had 3 goals and 2 assists.

Toronto Rock 11 – Rochester Knighthawks 10

With San Diego avoiding being goalied, Rochester found themselves less fortunate the night after. Chris Boushy (3G 4A[) and Challen Rogers (4G) got the Rock out to a strong start and while Rochester was slowly able to get themselves back in the game, with a transition goal from Matt Gilray tying it at 8, two more goals from Rogers proved to be the difference on the way to an 11-10 win for the Rock. The Knighthawks outshot the Rock 65-52, but Holowchuk finished with 55 saves, as no Knighthawk was able to register more than 2 goals (Fields, Smith, McConvey). Ryan Lanchbury had a goal and 5 assists to lead the Knighthawks, finishing an assist short of 90 on the season. Rylan Hartley made 41 saves despite the loss.

While the 6 game win streak came to an end, and the franchise-best 11 win mark fell short, the 10-8 season for the Knighthawks was still good enough to get them to the 5-seed, which is their highest ever. Along with Buffalo, San Diego, and Halifax, they are in elite company as the only teams to make each of the last 3 playoffs.

Vancouver Warriors 11 – Philadelphia Wings 5

Even with a win on Saturday night, the Knighthawks would not have moved up to the 4-seed, as the Warriors only gave up 2 goals in the final 3 quarters to beat the Wings. Christian Del Bianco made 35 saves to finish off an undefeated stretch after being traded to the Warriors at the deadline. Marcus Klarich, Riley Loewen, and Adam Charalambides each had 2 goals and 3 assists. Mitch Jones was the lone Wing to get to 3 points.

Georgia Swarm 14 – Buffalo Bandits 11

For the full game recap, read Ty Merrow’s and then stay on his website for awhile please thanks.

Buffalo tried their best to pull away on two separate occasions, but the Swarm climbed back to tie the game at 6 and then later erased a 10-6 deficit on their way to 8 of the final 9 goals, shutting the Bandits out in the fourth quarter and punching their ticket to the playoffs in an underdog win. Andrew Kew’s 4 goals and 4 assists led the way, while Brendan Bomberry had 2 goals and 3 assists. Brett Dobson made 11 saves in his fourth quarter shutout. A goal and 7 assists for Josh Byrne led the way for the Bandits, making his final stat line on the year 44 goals and 90 assists. Dhane Smith’s 2 goals and 4 assists gave him another consecutive season of breaking his own assist record — 103 to go with 32 goals for 135 total points to lead the league.

Saskatchewan Rush 16 – Ottawa Black Bears 7

The Rush slammed the door shut in the second half with a 12-2 advantage to finish out their regular season with another win for the home fans in Saskatoon. Robert Church led with 6 goals and 3 assists as the offense (and the defense) had a 63-37 advantage in shots on goal. Ryan Keenan had a goal and 5 assists as well. Jeff Teat’s 3 goals and an assist finished his season with 56 goals to lead the league, but the Black Bears came up short of a playoff spot.

Calgary Roughnecks 11 – Colorado Mammoth 5

As the final games of the night began, the scenarios led to the winner of this game being the ones to clinch the final spot in the playoffs. While the Mammoth got out to a 3-1 lead, the Roughnecks would score 7 of the next 8 goals across the second quarter and cruised to an 11-5 win, led by 48 saves for Nick Rose with 28 in the second half. Curtis Dickson led with 4 goals and 3 assists, while Haiden Dickson and Tanner Cook each had 2 goals and an assist and Dane Dobbie had 3 assists. Ryan Lee had 3 goals, while Thomas Vela had the other 2. Calgary’s 10-8 record puts them in the 6-seed.

And with that, the bracket:

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Full preview later in the week.