Week 12 is the most consequential week of the 2025 National Lacrosse League Season to date. We are at the midway point of the season, so this week’s slate kicks off the playoff push.
There are eight games in all, with three on Friday, four on Saturday, and one on Sunday. There are four teams that will be playing two games (Buffalo Bandits, Saskatchewan Rush, Calgary Roughnecks, and Las Vegas Desert Dogs).Â
Here are some more nuggets for you to feast on ahead of a busy week of NLL action.
And make sure to check out the previous editions of By the Numbers here!
0 – San Diego Seals Wins Vs. Buffalo Bandits
It’s not easy to beat the Buffalo Bandits. No one has done it so far this season, and it’s been 11 months since this last lost a game. However, for the San Diego Seals, they have yet to find a way to ever beat the Bandits.
Heading into their Week 12 clash against Buffalo, the Seals are 0-4 against the two-time defending NLL champions (0-2 at home and 0-2 on the road). All 4 matchups took place during the regular season.Â
Unsurprisingly, the Bandits’ Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne have shined in these matchups. In the 4 games the Bandits and Seals have played against each other, Buffalo’s superstar duo have combined for 42 points, that’s 10.5 points per game. The Bandits’ Chris Cloutier has also had success against the Seals, posting 7 goals and 7 assists against them in the 4 contests.Â
In fact, Smith, Byrne, and Cloutier have combined to tally 56 of the 127 total points the Bandits have ever tallied against the Seals, good for 44.1% of the team’s total point production from those three games in that handful of games.
Could this weekend’s game be the one where the Seals finally win? They do have the benefit of playing the Bandits on their second night of a back-to-back. This is the 59th time in the Bandits’ history that they’ve played multiple games in one weekend. The Bandits have won both games in the same weekend 18 of the 58 times, which is only 31% of the time.
54 – Goals Curtis Dickson Is On Pace To Score This Season
36-year-old future NLL Hall of Famer Curtis Dickson is having a stellar year with the Calgary Roughnecks.
The 14-season veteran has already scored 24 goals in eight games this season. This would be his third 54+ goal season in his NLL career. Long-time fans of Dickson and NLL might remember that he scored 61 in 2016 and then 56 goals in 2017.Â
Not only would Curtis be tying the NLL record for the most 54+ goal seasons in NLL history (Gary Gait did it three times), but he would also be joining Gait as the only other player to reach 54+ goals at the age of 36 or older.Â
Curtis Dickson was already going to be remembered as a legend of the NLL regardless of what he produced on the floor this season, but this phenomenal year is bolstering his resume and reinforcing the point that he is one of the greatest goal-scorers in NLL history.
The Roughnecks play two home games this weekend (Friday vs. Saskatchewan Rush & Sunday vs. the Las Vegas Desert Dogs). The Roughnecks are already sitting in third place in the standings with a 5-3 record. If they win both games this weekend, they’ll move to 7-3, which will be one of their best 10-game starts to a season in franchise history.
1 – Loose Balls Needed For Mike Messenger To Reach 900 For His Career
Mike Messenger is a beast.
The Saskatchewan Rush transition player can do it all. Since being drafted in 2016, Messenger has shown that he can defend, deliver big hits, take face-offs, and create opportunities for himself and others. He does all the big and little things to help his team have a chance to win.
Grabbing loose balls is one of the hustle metrics that shows us how much of a ball hound a guy is. Messenger needs to collect just 1 more loose ball to reach 900 in his career. When it happens, Messenger will become just the fourth player in Rush history (including the Edmonton Rush days) to collect 900 regular season loose balls.
The Rush also play twice this weekend (Friday vs. Calgary Roughnecks & Saturday vs. Rochester Knighthawks), so we’ll get to see a lot of Messenger doing a little bit of everything this season and almost definitely making Rush history in the process.
685 – Days Since The Toronto Rock Last Beat The Buffalo Bandits (As of Saturday)
I’ve already talked about how the Seals have struggled to beat the Bandits; well, they are not alone.
The Bandits’ fiercest rival, the Toronto Rock, has not beaten the Bandits in almost 2 years. The last time the Rock beat the Bandits (in the regular season or playoffs) was April 1st, 2023. In that game, the Rock’s Corey Small and Tom Schreiber tallied 9 goals, outscoring the entire Bandits roster 9-7.
However, the Bandits have had their way with the Rock since then. They have won the last eight matchups, including the last four playoff games between the clubs. The Bandits have won three of those games by 8 or more goals. However, the games that have been close, including the 15-13 thriller from earlier this season, have been incredible matchups that have been thoroughly captivating.
The Rock are sitting at 3-6 at their halfway mark of the season, so a win would go a long way to keeping their playoff hopes alive. Beating the 6-0 undefeated Bandits on Valentine’s Day would give this team a boost that could put them on course for tremendous success in the second half of their season.
42.6 – Nick Damude’s Saves Per Game This Season
Nick Damude has been asked to do a lot in his first season with the Philadelphia Wings.
In his first nine starts, Damude has faced 497 shots, and that’s only the shots that have gotten to him. In that span, he’s needed to make 42.6 saves per game, which is the highest per game average in the NLL.Â
Damude and the Wings are allowing 13.3 goals per game this season, which is the 2nd-most goals against per game in the league. They are also allowed a league-most 81.7 shots per game – they are the only team allowing 80+ shots per game.
Last weekend against the Halifax Thunderbirds, the Wings allowed their opponents to take a total of 87 shots. The week before that, they allowed the Rochester Knighthawks to take 93 total shots. In Week 12, the Wings are battling the Thunderbirds once again.
If there is one thing we can say for sure, it’s that if the Wings can allow fewer than 80 shots this weekend, they’ll have a better chance of pulling off a victory. This team has lost 2 in a row and 3 of their last 4 games. They need to stop this skid. They need to stop allowing so many shots.
8.8 – Points Per Game For Keegan Bal Vs. Las Vegas Desert Dogs
On Friday night, Keegan Bal and the Vancouver Warriors will walk onto the floor inside Lee’s Family Forum, hoping to grab a much-needed victory.
The Warriors have lost four of their last five games since starting the 2024-25 season 3-1. Three of the four losses in that span have been decided by only 1 goal. Keegan Bal has been one of the Warriors’ leading contributors this season, particularly in that span. He has averaged 5.6 points per game in that stretch, which has included a couple of 8-point games.
This is a great time for Bal to start heating up because he has had great success against the Desert Dogs in his career. Bal has tallied 44 points against the Desert Dogs in only 5 games, good for 8.8 points per game.Â