Recap of Week 14 Matchup here

Initial Playoff Preview here

Rush Dynasty retrospective here

Saskatchewan Rush (2) vs Buffalo Bandits (1)

All Games will be on WNLO locally, as well as TSN and ESPN+. If the series goes to a third game, it will be on ESPN2

Game 1 – Friday May 16, 7:30 pm, Buffalo

Game 2 – Sunday May 18, 8:00 pm, Saskatchewan

Game 3 – Saturday May 24, 4:30 pm, Buffalo

Playoff Return in the Prairies

For a recap of Game 2’s madness in Saskatoon, read Anna Taylor’s recap here.

The 2020 Saskatchewan Rush were once again pacing their way atop the West and towards a top record in the league when things came to a halt after their 7-3 start to the season. The core was still the core and playing at the level that’s had gotten them to 4 finals from 2015-2018 and then the one seed in 2019 before being eliminated in the first round. But the team that took the floor in December 2021 would not be the same that left the floor in March 2020.

The first to go was Ben McIntosh, the first overall pick in the 2014 draft who was a 30 goal scorer in each of his finished seasons with the team. A familial move to Philadelphia had him being moved to the Wings for the 7th overall pick in the 2020 draft (Marshall Powless, who would be traded to Albany at the 2023 trade deadline for a 2025 second) and a 2021 first round pick (Ryan Barnable 8th overall). Five days before the 2020 draft, their 5th overall pick in 2018, Connor Robinson, was traded to the Colorado Mammoth for a 2020 second round pick (Bobby Kidd III) and a 2021 first (Jake Boudreau). The Rush dynasty was one that preferred to go right-heavy in the forward ranks, while the left side had Mark Matthews, Ryan Keenan, and Jeff Shattler holding the fort, so Robinson only cracked the lineup for 11 total games in his first two NLL seasons, registering 5 goals and 6 assists. The move allowed Robinson to blossom into the goal scorer he has since become with the Mammoth, while Powless played the rotational piece on the left side in 2022.

But all of that to say: those two trades by themselves provided the Rush with their transition core, and this season, 12 points, 92 loose balls, 10 caused turnovers, and 12 blocked shots from Barnable, and 10 goals 19 assists, 159 loose balls, 26 caused turnovers, and 12 blocked shots in a transition player of the year nominee season from Boudreau played a critical role in the jump the Rush took from 8 wins last season to 13 this season.

After the 2022 season came to a stunning 8-10 halt, they mostly ran it back in 2023, although Jeff Shattler had retired, but the results were the same. At this time, they had accepted that the dynasty was over. Matt Beers and Ryan Dilks moved on to Vancouver, while Kyle Rubisch moved on to San Diego, and up front, Mark Matthews, the first overall pick in 2012 of the Rush and the quarterback of the dynasty, was moved to Toronto (who also signed Chris Corbeil in free agency) in exchange for Zach Manns, Adam Jay, and the 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft, who would become Levi Anderson, who cracked the lineup for 6 games in his rookie season, putting up 13 points. Manns is now very comfortable in the role that Matthews had played during his time with the Rush, while Jay is a key piece of their young but experienced defense. The other major trade they made that summer, adding Patrick Dodds from Panther City, is a move for the future, as after 10 goals and 31 assists in 2024, he sat this season out for firefighter school.

But Panther City is of course part of this story. The first of their defenders to be selected in the Dispersal Draft was Matt Hossack at #5 overall. The 30 year old was a second round pick in the 2016 draft of the Rush and played with them for the 4 seasons before COVID before being picked up be PCLC in their expansion draft. He broke out in Fort Worth, causing over 20 turnovers and scooping up over 100 loose balls in each of his three seasons there, including becoming the captain in the final season. Back with the Rush this season, the now 30 year old defender is simply one of the best defenders in the NLL and was rewarded with such honor as the defender of the year this season, with 129 loose balls, 32 caused turnovers, and 26 blocked shots, complimented with 4 goals and 17 assists. Through 3 playoff games, Hossack has 2 goals, 6 assists, 22 loose balls, and 5 caused turnovers and blocks.

All of this internal development culminating this year aligned with increased comfort and, in turn, another step in improved play, from Frank Scigliano in his second season with the Rush after being traded from San Diego in the 2023 offseason. While the Rush scored at the same rate they did last year, their goals allowed dropped from 210 in 2024 to 179 in 2025. The .940 GAA and .795 save percentage he registered in 16 games this year, missing two games for paternity leave, were the best of his 13 year career, mirroring those he had back in 2022 for a Seals team that won the West. The playoff broadcasts have re-hashed past concerns that Scigliano wears down as the season goes on, citing 3 poor playoff seasons with the Seals compared to the statistics from those regular seasons, but this year, he finds himself with only 25 goals allowed through the first two rounds of the playoffs for an 8.33 GAA and .833 save percentage. He was awarded with his first Goaltender of the Year award.

Up front, Jimmy Quinlan’s offense was very balanced, with each of their top 4 scorers ranging from 72 to 74 points. Four missed games from Robert Church prevented him from another 40 goal and 100 point season, but he still managed 33 goals and 40 assists in the 14 games he played. The right side of the offense got a career year in finding the back of the net from their biggest free agent splash in Austin Shanks, who finished with 35 goals and 37 assists in 17 games and has 10 goals through 3 playoff games, including torturing his former team with a sock trick in Game 1 and the series-clinching OT winner in Game 2.

While there are only 4 other members in addition to Matt Hossack that were on the team in 2020, they are the leaders that bring this roster together. On offense, in order of joining the team, they are 2013 5th overall pick Robert Church, who re-signed with the team at least year’s trade deadline to further commit to the team for what turned into this run to the finals, and captain Ryan Keenan, the first overall pick in 2016 who had his fourth season of over 70 points and tied his 2018 season for his second most goals in a season with 26 while also adding a career high 85 loose balls this season. Two picks after Keenan was Mike Messenger, who is no longer the young breakout stud he was when the defense still included the likes of Dilks, Corbeil, Rubisch, and Beers to name a few. He had a more stay at home season this year but it coincided with a career-high 22 blocked shots. It’s certainly a plus when your grizzled vet is only 31 years old. With the addition of Jake Naso this summer, it dropped the number of faceoffs he needed to take from over 300 to only 89 this year, extending the amount of energy he could budget on his primary role on defense. The last of the holdovers from the previous decade is Holden Garlent, the Canisius College product who was the 4th overall pick in 2019 and put up career highs in caused turnovers with 22 and blocked shots with 12. While he’s the only previous era holdover to not be on the Finals teams, he’s become a leader with the new core as well.

All of this combined, with additional support from guys like Mike Triolo, Clark Walter, and rookie Brock Haley up from Connor McClelland and Jarrett Smith out the back, put together (culmination continues to be the theme) GM of the Year honors for Derek Keenan and Coach of the Year honors for Jimmy Quinlan. And now, a berth in the NLL Finals.

The Matchup

With how both teams have played defensively in the first two rounds of the playoffs, it’s setting up for there to be repeats of the 9-7 final scored regular season matchup. A low scoring game script would likely benefit the Rush because it would imply that the Bandits weren’t able to pull away, but from Buffalo’s perspective, their Game 2 semifinals win showed that one of their kill-shot runs can still happen in a lower scoring script.

The Rush have two other advantages in their favor, with the first of those being at the dot. Jake Naso, the Rush’s third round pick in the 2024 draft, won 61.3% of his faceoffs in his rookie season. He edged Connor Farrell in draws 11-9 in the first matchup, although for the Bandits, that’s one of the better jobs in neutralizing Naso’s impacts. Naso remains at 61.1% through the playoffs, which of course includes two games against Jake Withers.

The other advantage widely favors the Rush, and that comes in the place that keeps Banditland awake at night. The Rush DO NOT take penalties. Through the entire regular season, they were only shorthanded for 59 total penalties for the whole regular season, while Buffalo of course was near the top with 86 (tied for 5th most). The Rush also drew the most powerplay opportunities with 99, while Buffalo had the least with 70. However, for Buffalo, there is one key way that could neutralize this threat. The Rush gave up the most short handed goals against with 12, while the Bandits had 7 shorthanded goals for. The Rush have been shorthanded 11 times through 3 playoff games, so that is right around their regular season pace, but they’ve drawn almost 20 penalties in those three games, and that doesn’t include the three penalty shots in the final two minutes of Game 1 of the semifinals (even with the Bandits having a more aggressive defense, that penalty amount isn’t likely to carry into the finals given Halifax’s downfall in the series of shooting themselves in the foot).

While the Rush obviously don’t have as much experience both in the playoffs and obviously the finals, their lesser experienced players have played at the same level as they did in the regular season, so if the lights become too bright, this would be the first round that would be the case. But no matter how much they tell themselves that they aren’t intimidated by the concept of needing to win at least one game in Buffalo to get a championship, that feeling simply doesn’t matter once the games start, and the Bandits are playing defensive lacrosse in the playoffs at the same productivity levels that the Rush have this season with the advantage on offense. In comparison to last year’s FireWolves, they are more experienced for this stage, but there’s an uphill climb in their way to the bigger goal.

The Bandits are atop the hill for a reason and are the favorites to stay there. Now all that there is to do is play the games.

(Photo Credit: National Lacrosse League)