Week 13 Review

Vancouver Warriors 11 – Buffalo Bandits 9

After Ryan Benesch scored off a behind the back pass from Josh Bryne to open the scoring, the Warriors got it right back courtesy of Jesse King. Soon after the halfway point, Owen Grant added a transition goal for the go-ahead goal and then Curtis Dickson scored from outside right after to make it 3-1. King closed out the first quarter with a second goal open in front of the net. On the other side of the quarter break, Adam Charalambides extended the lead to 5-1.

After Christian Del Bianco made 12 saves in the first quarter, Vancouver’s netminder carried his strong start into the second quarter, but sometimes it just takes one to sneak through to start a run, and it was a swim to the net in transition from Nick Weiss stopping Vancouver’s run. After a stop off the ensuing faceoff, Josh Byrne got on the board with a putback, and then on their next touch, he scored in transition to cut the deficit to one. Next touch? Byrne set up Dhane Smith cutting to the net, and while that shot was stopped, Kyle Buchanan was there for the rebound, tying the game. Buffalo won the ensuing faceoff, and after a reset, Tehoka Nanticoke took Steph Charbonneau to the net, and while the defender was draped all over him, TN1 held his man off and fired a one handed shot into the net to give the Bandits the 6-5 lead with 5:51 left in the first half.

The Warriors finally got a stop with Connor O’Toole taking over in net to get the team to the under 5 timeout. A Buffalo-forced shot clock violation brought the game there, and as the Bandits got the ball back with Del Bianco back into the net, Dhane Smith rebounded his own miss, with Nanticoke preventing Jeff Cornwall from picking up the rebound, and Buffalo took a 7-5 lead. Six straight goals, passing the 5 they scored last week for their longest run of the season.

While the game flow calmed back down afterwards, the Warriors were able to get one back before the end of the half off a breakaway tally from Curtis Dickson with 19.5 seconds left in the half. In the third quarter, Dickson and Keegan Bal erased Buffalo’s lead and gave them a two goal game before Jesse King make it 10-7 to close out the third.

Buffalo’s defense locked it down in the fourth quarter, and Kyle Buchanan picked up two more goals to cut the deficit back to one, but they were unable to get any closer. A late penalty to Tehoka Nanticoke but the Bandits a man down until there were 20 seconds left in the game, and Curtis Dickson was able to add insurance as the shot clock ran down with 12 seconds left in the game.

Dickson finished with 4 goals and 2 assists, while Keegan Bal had 2 goals and 4 assists. Jesse King added 3 goals and 2 assists, while Christian Del Bianco got the win with 39 saves. The win propelled Vancouver to 7-3.

On the Buffalo side, as they fell to 4-6, Josh Byrne had 2 goals and 3 assists, while Dhane Smith had a goal and 4 assists. While Kyle Buchanan had 3 goals and Ian MacKay had 4 assists, the rest of the Bandits offense was held to one point or less.

San Diego Seals 9 – Halifax Thunderbirds 8

Dylan Watson’s goal 6:23 into the fourth quarter proved to be the game winner as the Seals used a 5-1 third quarter for the bulk of the scoring on the way to protecting their home floor and dropping the Thunderbirds to 3-7. Watson finished with 2 goals and 3 assists. The Seals were led by 3 goals and 3 assists from Tre Leclaire. Wes Berg also had 3 goals and added an assist. Warren Hill made 43 saves for the Thunderbirds despite the loss, as the Halifax offense was held under 10 goals for the 7th time this season. Randy Staats and Cody Jamieson each had 2 goals.

Toronto Rock 13 – Colorado Mammoth 9

After being blown out in Denver, the Rock evened home-and-home in the Hamilton leg, erasing a 9-8 deficit with the final 5 goals of the game. Mark Matthews was the top point-getter for the Rock with 2 goals and 4 assists. Challen Rogers and Owen Hiltz combined for 5 goals and 5 assists, while CJ Kirst had 3 goals and an assist. Troy Holowchuk got the win with 42 saves. Jack Hannah had 6 assists for the Mammoth despite being held without a goal for the first time since his arrival in Colorado this season. Andrew Kew had 2 goals and 3 assists.

Saskatchewan Rush 14 – Philadelphia Wings 6

While the Wings led 3-0 after the first, the Rush caught up and zoomed ahead with a 14-6 win to increase the win streak to 9. Ryan Keenan had 4 goals and 4 assists, Austin Shanks had 3 goals and 2 assists, and Robert Church added a goal and 5 assists. Frank Scigliano made 24 of his 42 saves in the second half. Sam LeClair and Brennan O’Neill each had 2 goals for Philadelphia.

March To May

We’ll March in order of the standings. Italicized games are part of two-game weekend.

Saskatchewan Rush – 10-1 – 137 GF, 100 GA (12.45-9.09 Per Game, 57.8 GF%)

Remaining Games: @BUF, @ROC, bye, vSD, @TOR, vBUF, bye, vCOL, vTOR

Colorado Mammoth – 8-3 – 129 GF, 104 GA (11.72-9.45 Per Game, 55.4 GF%)

Remaining Games: vSD, vOTT, @BUF, vCGY, vLV, @SAS, @CGY

Vancouver Warriors – 7-3 – 113 GF – 93 GA (11.3-9.3 Per Game, 54.9 GF%)

Remaining Games: @LV, @SD, vTOR, @GA, vOTT, @BUF, vHFX, vPHI

Georgia Swarm – 7-3 – 104 GF – 77 GA (10.4-7.7 Per Game, 57.5 GF%)

Remaining Games: @PHI, vPHI, bye, vVAN, vHFX, @OTT, vSD, vROC, @ROC

Toronto Rock – 6-4 – 111 GF – 107 GA (11.1-10.7 Per Game, 50.9 GF%)

Remaining Games: vBUF, @VAN, @HFX, vSAS, @PHI, vSD, @OTT, @SAS

The Rock do expect Nick Rose (240:43, 9.97 GAA, .806 SV%) from injury before season’s end.

San Diego Seals – 6-4 – 105 GF – 105 GA (10.5-10.5 Per Game, 50 GF%)

Remaining Games: @COL, vVAN, bye, @SAS, vBUF, @TOR, @GA, vLV, @LV

Ottawa Black Bears – 6-5 – 125 GF – 128 GA (11.36-11.63 Per Game, 49.4 GF%)

Remaining Games: vOSH, @COL, @CGY, @VAN, vGA, bye, vTOR, @HFX

Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 4-5 – 111 GF – 116 GA (12.33-12.89 Per Game, 48.9 GF%)

Remaining Games: vVAN, @HFX, vROC, @ROC, vCGY, @COL, @PHI, @SD, vSD

Rochester Knighthawks – 4-5 – 110 GF – 111 GA (12.22-12.33 Per Game, 49.7 GF%)

Remaining Games: vSAS, vCGY, @LV, vLV, @OSH, @HFX, @BUF, @GA, vGA

Buffalo Bandits – 4-6 – 109 GF – 116 GA (10.9-11.6 Per Game, 48.4 GF%)

Remaining Games: vSAS, @TOR, bye, vCOL, @SD, @SAS, vVAN, vROC, @OSH

Halifax Thunderbirds – 3-7 – 89 GF – 100 GA (8.9-10.0 Per Game, 47.1 GF%)

Remaining Games: @CGY, vLV, vTOR, @GA, @PHI, vROC, @VAN, vOTT

Calgary Roughnecks – 2-8 – 97 GF – 126 GA (9.7-12.6 Per Game, 43.5 GF%)

Remaining Games: vHFX, @ROC, vOTT, @COL, @LV, vOSH, @OSH, vCOL

Philadelphia Wings – 2-8 – 93 GF – 121 GA (9.3-12.1 Per Game, 43.5 GF%)

Remaining Games: vGA, @GA, vOSH, @OSH, bye, vHFX, vTOR, bye, vLV, @VAN

Oshawa FireWolves – 2-9 – 102 GF – 131 GA (9.27-11.91 Per Game, 43.8 GF%)

Remaining Games: @OTT, @PHI, vPHI, bye, vROC, @CGY, vCGY, vBUF

Week 14 Preview

There are 10 games this weekend in the NLL. Ten. Seems we shouldn’t waste much more time.

Rushing to Western New York

• Saskatchewan Rush (10-1) @ Buffalo Bandits (4-6) – Friday February 27, 7:30 pm
• Saskatchewan Rush (10-1) @ Rochester Knighthawks (4-5) – Saturday February 28, 7:00 pm

The two home teams know that the calendar flip to March is going to ramp up the pressure to get back in the win column after February slumps. The problem is who they’re playing. While the Bandits have won 4 of the 5 matchups with the Rush out of COVID, the Rush are playing at a new gear even coming off of their finals appearance last May. The Rush won both games against the Knighthawks last season.

Buffalo Bandits (4-6) @ Toronto Rock (6-4) – Saturday February 28, 7:00 pm

For first time since 2001 and the second time ever, the Bandits and Rock have only one regular season matchup this year. As documented on this very site, the Bandits have won 13 of the last 14 matchups with the Rock dating back to the 2022 Eastern Finals.

Birds and Bees Home-and-Home

• Georgia Swarm (7-3) @ Philadelphia Wings (2-8) – Friday February 27, 7:00 pm
• Philadelphia Wings (2-8) @ Georgia Swarm (7-3) – Saturday February 28, 7:30 pm

Despite their disappointing season last year, the Wings still swept the Swarm in last year’s April home-and-home. They have also won 7 of the 8 meetings post-covid.

Philadelphia made a pair of trades this week, sending Nick Rowlett to the Toronto Rock for a 2026 4th and then receiving Dylan Hutchison from the Las Vegas Desert Dogs for a 2028 3rd. The Rowlett trade signals their trust in rookie Bo Columbus at the dot going forward despite his four game career beginning with a gauntlet of Baptiste, Farrell, Inacio, and Naso.

Road Warriors (Bet nobody else has ever made that pun)

• Vancouver Warriors (7-3) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-5) – Friday February 27, 10:30 pm
• Vancouver Warriors (7-3) @ San Diego Seals (6-4) – Sunday March 1, 6:00 pm

The Warriors are aiming for a season sweep of the Desert Dogs after a 15-9 win on December 13. They have won 6 of 7 all time meetings with Las Vegas. On the other side of the coin, in that same stretch since the start of 2022-23, the Seals have defeated the Warriors 5 times in their 6 meetings, including an 11-9 San Diego win on January 16.

In addition to the Hutchison trade, the Desert Dogs also announced changes to the right side of their offense through the activation of Tyson Gibson from injured reserve and the signing of Kevin Crowley. Gibson was released from the Mammoth in the offseason after only mustering 5 goals and 13 assists in 10 games. The 2019 first overall pick started his career with the New York Riptide before being traded to the Mammoth during the 2022 season. His career highs came in 2024, 21 goals and 34 assists in 18 games. In the 2022 finals run, he had 6 goals and 14 assists in 7 games. Also a former number 1 overall pick (2011), when Kevin Crowley makes his Desert Dogs debut, it will mark his 14th season in the league. The 37 year old had two 50+ point seasons for the Vancouver Warriors the last two years, including 4 goals and 4 assists in 3 playoff games last season. To make room, Ben McDonald was released.

The Other 2 Games

(It’s hard to maintain the creativity this far)

Oshawa FireWolves (2-9) @ Ottawa Black Bears (6-5) – Saturday February 28, 7:00 pm

A Black Bears win would not only complete the season sweep after a 16-14 win on January 3rd, but it would also help keep the FireWolves at the bottom of the NLL standings. The reason that’s relevant for this primer? Ottawa has Oshawa’s first round pick this year as part of the 4-team-adjacent trade that sent Johnathan Peshko to the FireWolves.

Halifax Thunderbirds (3-7) @ Calgary Roughnecks (2-8) – Saturday February 28, 9:00 pm

Since moving to Halifax, the Thunderbirds have never lost more than 8 games in a season. At some point, they will have to run the table to avoid that after their next loss, and ensuring that doesn’t happen this week could also keep them in the mix for another week. While the Roughnecks won 4 straight meetings between 2022 and the 2025 regular season, the Thunderbirds snapped that losing streak in the first round of last year’s playoffs.