NLL Week 20: Wait… What Happened?
In one of the most unusual weekends of the 2025 NLL season, Albany and Philadelphia pulled off upset victories in their respective matchups, and made a complicated playoff situation even crazier heading into the final weekend of the NLL season.
If you haven’t read the playoff clinching scenarios from last week, check those out here. And stay tuned this week for the rest of the scenarios which will be released Wednesday.
For game-by-game recaps, keep reading below!
Vancouver Warriors 12 – Toronto Rock 10
Vancouver remained undefeated since the trade deadline and defeated the Rock in a game that was not as close as the score suggested. Toronto scored the last 4 goals to close the final score margin.
Adam Charalambides led all scorers in the game with 4 goals and 4 assists, while Keegan Bal had 2 goals and 5 assists.
Chris Boushy had 4 goals and 3 assists to lead the Rock while Josh Dawick had 2 goals and 2 helpers.
Stat of the Game: Brett Mydske had a season-high 3 blocked shots to help the already-stout Warriors defence.
Attendance: 5,014
Buffalo Bandits 15 – Halifax Thunderbirds 12
Dhane Smith had 10 assists and 11 points to put himself well within reach to break his own single-season assist record for the fourth straight season. At 99 assists, he needs just two to tie his record of 101 set last season.
Josh Byrne and Kyle Buchanan had 4 goals each to lead the Bandits.
Randy Staats had 4 goals and 5 assists for the Thunderbirds while Clarke Petterson had 3 goals and 4 assists in the loss.
Stat of the Game: Drew Hutchison made his second start of the season for Halifax, making 33 saves in the losing effort.
Attendance: 19,070
Philadelphia Wings 16 – Georgia Swarm 13
The Wings kept their slim playoff hopes alive by beating the Swarm in back-to-back games. Georgia scored 9 times in the fourth quarter to even make it a game, as the Wings led 14-4 after three quarters.
Deacon Knott started for Philadelphia and made 40 stops in his first full win for Philadelphia (he came on in relief last week).
Joe Resetarits had 9 points to lead all scorers, while Jordan MacIntosh tied a career high with 5 goals for the Swarm.
Stat of the Game: The Swarm are 4-9 in their last 13 games since they began the season 4-0.
Attendance: 8,520
Albany Firewolves 12 – San Diego Seals 10
At 10 wins and seemingly out of the playoff race, the Firewolves pulled off a massive home victory and are now facing some realistic playoff scenarios. They play San Diego again next weekend.
Tye Kurtz had a sock-trick to lead all scorers in the game, in addition to 3 assists. Dyson Williams had 6 points of his own.
Ben McIntosh had 2 goals and 2 assists and Rob Hellyer added 4 assists, while Pat Kavanagh saw his first game action and scored his first NLL goal!
Stat of the Game: The 6 goals from Kurtz was actually not his career high… he had 7 in a game on January 11th vs Colorado.
Attendance: 5,399
Ottawa Black Bears 13 – Vegas Desert Dogs 10
Jeff Teat had a career high 8 goals for the Black Bears, and almost single-handedly beat the Desert Dogs at the Canadian Tire Center.
Jack Hannah had 2 goals and 3 assists to lead Vegas and now needs just 4 goals to reach the 40-goal plateau for the first time.
Stat of the Game: Teat needs 5 goals against Saskatchewan to break his own single-season record of 58.
Attendance: 5,515
Saskatchewan Rush 11 – Colorado Mammoth 6
The Rush dealt another major blow to the Mammoth’s playoff hopes, beating them 11-6 at the Loud House.
Austin Shanks had 4 goals and 3 assists to lead the Rush, while Will Malcom had 3 goals and 2 assists to pace the Mammoth.
Stat of the Game: With the 4 goals, Shanks hit a new career high with 33 goals on the season, surpassing his previous high of 33.
Attendance: 9,834
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