Vegas and Albany ain’t heard no bell
Both the FireWolves and Desert Dogs won this weekend. While that gives them both three wins on the season, and wins over .500 or better teams are something to be proud of, at this point, the playoffs are a longshot. But for those teams at the bottom, it creates a new kind of motivation. You can ruin someone else’s season. Albany beat Philadelphia, and Vegas beat Colorado. For Philly, it drops them to the 8 spot with the same record as Vancouver and San Diego. Colorado now sits at six wins, tied with Halifax, Georgia, and Calgary. If the magic number to make the playoffs is somewhere around nine wins, these two clubs can wreck some season along the way. And maybe one other club…
The Thompsons killed Toronto
The Rock hosted Georgia already needing to seriously get hot to make the playoffs. Their slow start just dug too big a hole. Their battle with Georgia was outstanding, with both teams going on runs and grabbing momentum. Down by a goal late, Dan Craig tied the game with less than 30 seconds to go. Overtime felt like a playoff overtime. It was Miles Thompson, assisted by Lyle Thompson, that notched the game winner for the Swarm. Lyle fed Miles in a spot that was incredibly sharp. Miles might have been standing on the goal line, even behind the goal, and quick sticked a high pass past Nick Rose for the win. Georgia celebrated like a playoff win, Toronto looked dejected. Toronto has seven games left, and likely needs to win six of them, if not all of them. They're off this weekend, then it’s a charge and a mission to get hot in a hurry.Â
Halifax won’t lose in March
The Birds are scorching hot. They’ve won six of their last seven games, and only one of those games was close. This weekend, they went on the road and easily dispatched the Black Bears. Ryan Terefenko has the look of the Transition Player of the Year, filling the stat sheet every week, and scoring on a beautiful hidden ball trick against Ottawa. Randy Staats is up to 63 points, tenth in the league and he has played fewer games than eight of the top ten scorers. Staats, assisted by Clarke Petterson, has hit the game winner each of the last two weeks. This week, the Birds travel to Vegas. Then they have three straight at home against Toronto, Saskatchewan, and Ottawa, before closing out March on the road in Georgia. A hot month could get them to double digit wins and comfortable playoff position.Â
Connor Fields will finish Top 5 in the league in at least 3 categories
There just isn’t a forward in the NLL who is filling up the box score like Fields. Currently, he is 4th in the league in points, 5th in assists, tied for 9th in goals, 1st in shots, and tied for 2nd in loose balls. On the not so bright side he’s also 4th in turnovers but hey, top five. The absurdity that is the Fields loose ball number is well documented. It’s just not a stat that forwards lead the league in, particularly in an era with more faceoff specialists piling up that stat category. Yet he’s at 111 in 12 games, that’s over nine per game, which is better than some of the league’s faceoff specialists. Fields fills the stat book with the power of multiple players, but does it on his own, and he could end up in MVP conversations as a result.Â
The most dangerous team in the league would currently not be in the playoffs
San Diego handed Buffalo their first loss a week ago, and gave them all they could handle again this week. As I watched, it felt like San Diego had control of the game in the first half. Things went back and forth - neither team had more than a two goal run the entire game - but San Diego was getting the bounces and making momentum plays. Dylan Watson set a new career high in points with three goals and three assists. James Reilly, recently signed indicated that Trevor Baptiste may not be back any time soon, went 50/50 with Connor Farrell facing off. Chris Origlieri made 39 saves. All the pieces were in place for a San Diego win, but against the two time defending champ, even a well played game isn’t always enough. San Diego is currently 5-6, a record that has them outside the playoff picture for now. They end the season with a home and home against Albany, and still have a date left with Vegas. They are the scariest team in the league right now.