NLL Week 17: Unified Standings Do Their Job

NLL Week 17: What Did We Learn? Not Much

Week 17 in the NLL left more questions than answers, as according to LCD’s Evan Schemenauer there are still more than 67 million playoff scenarios.

The unified standings are once again working wonders for the playoff chase. While Buffalo and Saskatchewan have clinched and Vegas is out of contention, every other team is still alive. The stakes for every remaining game are incredibly high.

Many fans are likely already aware of this but Graeme Perrow’s nllstats.com has a great feature which gives fans the opportunity to toggle game results and to see the implications. Check that out here and make sure to let us know in the comments what you think the results will be.

Let’s get right into the games from this past weekend.

Buffalo Bandits 13 – Vegas Desert Dogs 10

The Bandits used an 8-0 first quarter run and 11-2 halftime lead to cruise to victory in the first half of a back-to-back against the Desert Dogs.

Josh Byrne had 2 goals and 6 assists, followed closely by Dhane Smith who had 2 goals and 5 helpers to lead the Bandits. Lukas Nielsen played in his first NLL game and scored his first career goal for the Bandits as well.

Jon Donville had 3 goals and 3 assists while Casey Jackson added 2 goals and 4 assists to lead the Desert Dogs.

Stat of the Game: The victory clinched the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup for the Bandits.

Attendance: 18,474

Halifax Thunderbirds 17 – Ottawa Black Bears 16

In one of the craziest games of the season, Graeme Hossack’s late goal proved to be the game winner as the Thunderbirds escaped with the victory.

Hossack had one of the best games you will ever see, with 3 goals, 2 assists, 13 loose balls and a caused turnover. He was joined by Clarke Petterson and Randy Staats who had 5 points each. Defender Ryan Terefenko had another 4-point game.

Jeff Teat led all scorers in the game with 6 goals and 4 assists in what was his best statistical game of the season.

Stat of the Game: Halifax alone took 75 shots in the game, one of the highest marks of the season.

Attendance: 9,547

Vancouver Warriors 15 – Georgia Swarm 13

The Warriors improved to 2-0 in the Del Bianco era, and the goaltender even added an assist in this one.

But the story was Keegan Bal, who finished with 3 goals and 9 assists in a mammoth performance in from of almost 10,000 Warriors fans. Kevin Crowley had 6 points of his own while Ryan Martel had 4 goals to lead Vancouver. DPOY candidate Owen Grant added 2 more goals.

Lyle Thompson had 4 goals and 2 assists for the Swarm, while Bryan Cole had the inverse stat line.

Stat of the Game: Del Bianco’s assist brought him to 94 career points, passing Steve Dietrich for fourth on the all-time list. He is amazingly still 72 points behind the all-time leader, Pat O’Toole. O’Toole finished his career with 2 goals and 164 assists.

Attendance: 9,435

San Diego Seals 16 – Calgary Roughnecks 12

Ben McIntosh had his first 10-point game since January 13, 2018 and led the Seals to victory in the Saddledome. McIntosh finished with 3 goals and 7 assists, and it was just the second time he has finished in double digits.

Wes Berg and Rob Hellyer had 8 points each for the Seals, while Trevor Baptise returned to the lineup and won 60% of his faceoffs on the night.

Tanner Cook, Dane Dobbie, and Jesse King led a balanced attack for the Roughnecks, who still have a lot of work to do to make the playoffs.

Stat of the Game: Hellyer’s 8 assists in the game were a new season high.

Attendance: 11,459

Albany Firewolves 11 – Buffalo Bandits 10

The Firewolves continued their improbable late playoff push with a huge victory over the Bandits at MVP arena.

Rookie sensation Dyson Williams had another hat-trick and scored the game winning goal in overtime on a slick behind the back shot. Keep track of Williams and the other rookie in LCD’s Rookie Report series.

Byrne and Smith had a combined 3 goals and 10 assists to lead the way for Buffalo.

Stat of the Game: The game winner was the first OT tally in Williams NLL career.

Attendance: 6,724

Toronto Rock 15 – Philadelphia Wings 8

The Rock dealt a major blow to Philadelphia’s playoff hopes handing them their 7th straight loss.

Josh Dawick had 2 goals and 6 assists whole Chris Boushy and Dan Craig both had hat-tricks for the Rock. The Rock played without Tom Schreiber.

Joe Resetarits led the scoring for the Wings with a goal and 3 assists.

Stat of the Game: It was the second career victory for Troy Holowchuk.

Attendance: 5,232

Ottawa Black Bears 14 – Colorado Mammoth

Jeff Teat had 9 points to lead the Black Bears to a much-needed victory over the Mammoth.

Ryan Lee had 3 goals and 5 assists to lead the Mammoth, who had to start rookie Nathan Whittom in his first career start as Dillon Ward was at home with his wife expecting the birth of their second child.

It was a crucial victory to keep the Bears in the playoff race.

Stat of the Game: Whittom made 39 saves and performed admirably in his first career start. A 2005 birth year, he still has Jr. A eligibility remaining.

Attendance: 4,745