The Buffalo Bandits will face the Colorado Mammoth in the NLL Finals. The Best-of-3 series will begin June 4 at 7:30 at KeyBank Center, followed by a 9:00 start for Game 2 on June 11 at Ball Arena in Denver. If the series goes to a third game, it will take place back in Buffalo on June 18, again at 7:30. All of the games will be streamed on ESPN+ in America and air on TSN in Canada.

Colorado finished third in the Western Division, but that was part of a three-way tie atop the division at 10-8 with the two teams they ended up defeating on their way to a finals berth, in part to 1-2 records against both San Diego (the 1 seed) and Calgary (the 2 seed). Calgary defeated Colorado in the final game of the regular season 14-11 to earn that second seed and a home playoff game.

After a 5-1 start to the season, the Mammoth dropped to 7-6 after losing 5 of their next 7 games over February and March. Their win against the Bandits on April 2 was the beginning of a 3-game win streak that improved them to 10-6 before losing the final two games. They had pretty substantial home/road splits, going 7-2 at Ball Arena and 3-6 on the road after winning their first three home games. This wasn’t the result of too substantial of a difference in goals for and against as part of the road split, however, as they had higher scoring home games than road games both for (11.78 home, 10 road) and against (11.56 home, 10.44 road). When all was said and done, their regular-season home goal differential was +2, while their road goal differential was -4.

Regular Season Stat Comps	Buffalo Bandits	Colorado Mammoth
Goals For (Per Game – Rank)	247 (13.72 – 1st)	196 (10.89 – T8th)
Goals Against (Per Game – Rank)	185 (10.28 – 3rd)	198 (11.00 – 7th)
Goal Differential (Rank)	+62 (1st)	-2 (6th)
Goals For Percentage (Rank)	57.18% (1st)	49.75% (6th)
Shots On Goal For (Per Game – Rank)	946 (52.56 – 4th)	834 (46.33 – 13th)
Shots On Goal Against (Per Game – Rank)	942 (52.33 – 11th)	952 (52.89 – T12th)
Shots On Goal Differential (Rank)	+4 (6th)	-118 (14th)
Shots On Goal For Percentage (Rank)	50.11 (6th)	46.70% (14th)
Shot Attempts For (Per Game – Rank)	1326 (73.67 – 4th)	1170 (65.00 – 14th)
Shot Attempts Against (Per Game – Rank)	1382 (76.78 – 14th)	1355 (75.28 – 13th)
Shot Attempts Differential (Rank)	-56 (10th)	-185 (14th)
Shot Attempts For Percentage (Rank)	48.97% (10th)	46.34% (14th)

Special Teams and Other Stat Comps	Buffalo Bandits	Colorado Mammoth
Power Play: PPGF/ADV	38/72 (52.8% – 2nd)	21/61 (34.4% – 12th)
Penalty Kill: PPGA | Times Shorthanded (TSH) | (PCT-Rank)	33 | 96 (65.6% – 1st)	32 | 75 (57.3 – 5th)
Shorthanded Goals For	9 (T2nd)	9 (T2nd)
Shorthanded Goals Against	6 (T6th)	7 (T8th)

Now, let’s not beat around the bush here. The top offense in the NLL facing the defense that gives up more shots than any other team in the league is a really good environment for the Bandits, especially because the Mammoth offense also produces the least amount of shots per game. So how, then, did the Mammoth make it to the finals? Well for starters…

For his success in both box and field lacrosse, as he is also the starting goalie for the Waterdogs of the PLL and Team Canada’s field team, Dillon Ward has the honor of being regarded as the best lacrosse goalie in the world (Matt Vinc was a long pole in the field game if you’re keeping track at home). His NLL stats in each of his 8 career seasons have been above league average, and he annually finds himself in the running for goaltender of the year. Ward finished 6th in goals-against average and 2nd in save percentage among qualifying goalies in 2022, lining up right alongside Matt Vinc and Nick Rose in what will likely be the league’s finalists for goaltender of the year this upcoming season. Through what was an up and down season for the Mammoth offense, Ward provided a very steady anchor that kept the team in many close games on their way to the playoffs and helped the team have a chance to advance through the playoffs.

On offense, the Mammoth has had a consistent presence of Ryan Lee, Eli McLaughlin, and Chris Wardle going back for a handful of years, with Lee the youngest of those making his NLL debut in the 2017-18 season after being a standout at RIT. Going back to the 2020 season, they combined to be the Mammoth’s top 3 in scoring before the COVID shutdown, with Lee and McLaughlin leading the way. They each saw major spikes in production, starting with Lee who went from a 60 point season in 13 games in 2020 (An 83 point pace) to a 119 point breakout with 34 goals and 85 assists that was only topped by Dhane Smith’s 41 goals and 94 assists on the way to 135 points. McLaughlin also had an 83-point pace in 2020 with 15 goals and 36 assists in 51 games, and that was the number he reached with 38 goals and 45 assists in his full 18-game 2022 campaign. While Wardle saw production drop off in 2022 with 17 goals and 29 assists in 18 games in 2022 after 18 goals and 33 assists in 13 games in 2020, the Mammoth offense saw a couple of upgrades this season that helped the Mammoth improve in the goal-scoring department after scoring less than 10 goals per game in 2020.

After being selected 5th overall in the 2018 draft, Connor Robinson only played in 11 total games in his first two NLL seasons, as he struggled to crack the stacked Rush lineup. With the logjam not opening up, the Rush traded Robinson to the Mammoth 5 days before the 2020 draft in exchange for a 2020 second and 2021 first. Early returns are not looking great for the Rush, however, as Robinson exploded for a 42-goal campaign, including 6 games with 3 or more goals. Earlier that summer, the Mammoth made a second move to bolster their offense, this time on the right side, sending their captain, Dan Coates, and the 6th overall pick in 2020 to Georgia in exchange for Zed Williams and two 2020 second-rounders. Williams had his lacrosse breakout over the pandemic in an MVP-winning performance in the PLL Bubble. His return to the box game in 2022 saw him register his second 20-goal season in the NLL on his way to a 45-point season in 16 games. These 5, along with the late-season acquisition of Tyson Gibson, round out a Mammoth core that will likely be together for the foreseeable future.

Playoff Run

Round 1: Mammoth 16, Roughnecks 12: This is a pretty good game to encompass what the idea game script looks like for the Colorado Mammoth. Ryan Lee led the way with 2 goals and 8 assists for his third double-digit point game of the year. Connor Robinson had 5 goals and an assist, with Lee assisting on each of the goals and serving as the secondary assist on Robinson’s primary on a Chris Wardle goal. Eli McLaughlin registered a hat trick. Jordan Gilles (2G 2A) and Joey Cupido each found the scoresheet in transition. Dillon Ward’s 35 saves on 47 shots faced kept the Roughnecks from even leading by more than 1, and the Mammoth used two 4-goal runs in the final 20:20 to put the game away in a road win.

Round 1	Colorado Mammoth	Calgary Roughnecks
Goals	16 – 57.14%	12 – 42.86%
Shots On Goal	53 – 53.00%	47 – 47.00%
Shot Attempts	68 – 50.37%	67 – 49.63%
Faceoffs	21/32 – 65.63%	11/32 – 34.38%
Power Play	1/2 – 50.00%	2/3 – 66.67%

West Finals Game 1: Mammoth 14, Seals 12: In their inaugural season in 2018-19, the San Diego Seals swept the Mammoth, and none of the three games were relatively close (wins of 17-12, 13-10, and 12-7). The following season, the teams split their season series, as the Seals won 17-10 in Las Vegas before the Mammoth got their first head-to-head win two weeks later by a score of 10-7. The Seals spoiled the Mammoth’s home opener this season with a 13-4 drubbing. The two teams split their final two matchups of the season, with the Seals winning at home 9-7 on March 19th and then the Mammoth getting a home win on April 9th by a score of 11-10. I set this up this way because it’s become a bit of a league-wide declaration that the Seals own the Mammoth, and Ryan Lee was placed on injured reserve hours before faceoff of Game 1, so needless to say, the Seals were favorites in this one. Zed Williams scored twice in the first 5:30 to establish his place in this game in a role stepping up for Lee. The problem, though, was that the Seals had scored three times during that stretch. Connor Robinson scored 26 seconds later only to be countered by Tre Leclaire and Casey Jackson to lead to a Seals 5-3 lead after the first quarter. Robinson scored the first two goals of the second quarter 23 seconds apart to tie the game before the Seals scored 4 of the next 5 to go into the half up 9-6. Colorado scored 5 straight in the third to take control back before San Diego scored 3 of the next 4 to tie the game at 12 headed into the final 5 minutes. Zed Williams gave the Mammoth the lead on a shot from the restraining line for his fourth goal of the game with 4:39 left and then Eli McLaughlin added insurance with 3:45 to go. The Seals had their chances to get back in it, but Dillon Ward shut the door the rest of the way, including this unreal save below, to help conserve the 14-12 win.

We'll be replaying this save for the foreseeable future… pic.twitter.com/7MgkTphyZQ

— NLL (@NLL) May 14, 2022

Credit to Adam Levi for pointing this out. The Mammoth established themselves as a comeback team this season, and Game 1 was another example of this line of play.

The @MammothLax were down 9-6 at halftime and came back to win Friday night's game in the @NLL Playoffs and WON 14-12. It was the 6th time this season that the Mammoth were down by at least 3 goals at any point in a game and STILL WON

— Adam Levi (@AdamLeviNLL) May 14, 2022

West Final Game 1	Colorado Mammoth	San Diego Seals
Goals	14 – 53.85%	12 – 46.15%
Shots On Goal	44 – 47.83%	48 – 52.17%
Shot Attempts	58 – 45.67%	69 – 54.33%
Faceoffs	18/30 – 60.00%	12/30 – 40.00%
Power Play	2/4 – 50.00%	2/2 – 100.00%

West Finals Game 2: Seals 11, Mammoth 10: Moments after the Bandits finished off the Rock in their Game 2, Colorado and San Diego faced off in Denver, with the Seals having the advantage of play to start this one out. Through 25 minutes, the Seals led 5-2, as once again the Mammoth found themselves down 3. Eli McLaughlin scored to make the score 5-3 headed into the half, but then for the second game in a row, the Mammoth stormed out in the third quarter with a run to take back control of the game, and 4 straight goals put them up 7-5. The end of the game once again went back and forth, with two goals from the Seals to end the third being countered by 2 from Eli McLaughlin, but the Seals were able to score the next 3 to take a 10-9 lead with 3:06 remaining. With a minute to go, McLaughlin finished off the sock trick with the game-tying goal to force overtime tied at 10. Unfortunately for him and the Mammoth, they were unable to use that performance to accel them to the Finals, as Dane Dobbie added to his prolific playoff stat line against the Mammoth in his career to cap off a 4 goal 2 assist night and send the series to a third game. And he did it with style

DANE DOBBIE CALLED GAMEpic.twitter.com/Nb01CHLYmT

— Pro Lacrosse Talk (@ProLacrosseTalk) May 22, 2022

West Final Game 2	Colorado Mammoth	San Diego Seals
Goals	10 – 47.62%	11 – 52.38%
Shots On Goal	52 – 50.00%	52 – 50.00%
Shot Attempts	71 – 50.71%	69 – 49.29%
Faceoffs	16/25 – 64.00%	9/25 – 36.00%
Power Play	1/1 – 100.00%	1/1 – 100.00%

West Finals Game 3: Mammoth 15, Seals 13: The series headed back to Pechanga Arena in San Diego, and the game script was once again along the same lines. The two teams exchanged 2 goals each in the first quarter before the Seals once again made their run. The difference this time was the Seals had not one but two three-goal runs, including 6 of 7 over 6 minutes, to go up 8-4 and then 9-5 at the half.

Stop if you’ve heard this one already, Colorado took a third-quarter run. This time, they shut out the Seals and added three goals to cut the deficit to 9-8. Connor Robinson tied the game 2:46 into the fourth quarter, and then Joey Cupido went coast-to-coast and dropped every single jaw.

JOEY. You’re kidding!?#TuskUp pic.twitter.com/gtuUksNwo0

— Colorado Mammoth (@MammothLax) May 29, 2022

After some more back and forth play where the Seals attempted to make their push back, but the Mammoth had answers each time, finished off by Eli McLaughlin scoring goals with 3 minutes and 1 minute left to push the lead to 15-12. Wes Berg pushed it back to 2, but they were out of time and the Mammoth were off to the finals. Eli McLaughlin took over the role of Ryan Lee and 5 goals and 7 assists later in this third game led the way.

West Final Game 3	Colorado Mammoth	San Diego Seals
Goals	15 – 53.57%	13 – 46.43%
Shots On Goal	49 – 47.12%	55 – 52.88%
Shot Attempts	63 – 45.99%	74 – 54.01%
Faceoffs	19/33 – 57.58%	14/33 – 42.42%
Power Play	2/2 – 100.00%	1/2 – 50.00%

Bandits Keys to the NLL Finals

• Finish The Job: The Mammoth only scored 38 goals in the first quarter during the regular season, while the Bandits scored a league-high 59 first-quarter goals. If they can get fast first quarter starts in the series, that will allow them to control the play and, especially in Game 1, get the crowd to keep the energy up. But as we’ve seen in the playoffs, the Mammoth has been a second-half team and will more times than not be able to cut early deficits. If the Bandits get leads, they need to make sure to keep up defensively and not take the foot off the pedal on offense.
• In Case Of Goalie-d: In 2019, they were goalied by Christian Del Bianco in Game 1 of the NLL Finals and put themselves in a hole they couldn’t get out of after losing Game 2 in overtime. If Dillon Ward comes out and plays a peak first game, they can’t get discouraged and need to keep going, whether that is continuing to push offensively or countering the Mammoth defense with a strong defensive effort of their own. The opposite happened in the regular-season matchup between the Bandits and Mammoth, so the Mammoth showed they could win an offensive shootout as well, but in a three-game series, it’s the defenses that will be the focus the same way it was in the Buffalo-Toronto series.

The Bandits got past the Rock, who is the second-best team in the league in my opinion behind Buffalo, so this would hypothetically be an easier series, but we’ve learned that lesson time after time from both the Bandits and the Mammoth that there’s plenty of ways that a three-game series can play out.

Photo Credit: Isaiah J. Downing – Colorado Mammoth