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Breaking: League Adopts Unified Standings Format & Updated Playoff Structure for 2023-24 Season

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WK
1
Fri, Dec 1
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Halifax
Fri, Dec 1
22:00:00
Albany
Las Vegas
Fri, Dec 1
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
Sat, Dec 2
19:00:00
Calgary
Rochester
Sat, Dec 2
19:30:00
Philadelphia
New York
WK
2
Sat, Dec 9
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Dec 9
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Dec 9
19:30:00
Colorado
Georgia
Sat, Dec 9
20:00:00
Rochester
Saskatchewan
Sat, Dec 9
22:00:00
Calgary
San Diego
Sun, Dec 10
16:00:00
Las Vegas
Panther City
WK
3
Fri, Dec 15
22:00:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
Sat, Dec 16
13:00:00
Albany
Philadelphia
Sat, Dec 16
19:30:00
Halifax
New York
Sat, Dec 16
19:30:00
San Diego
Buffalo
Sat, Dec 16
22:00:00
Georgia
Vancouver
WK
4
Fri, Dec 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Panther City
Fri, Dec 22
21:00:00
Georgia
Colorado
Sat, Dec 23
19:00:00
Vancouver
Rochester
WK
5
Fri, Dec 29
18:30:00
Philadelphia
Halifax
Fri, Dec 29
19:30:00
Georgia
Buffalo
Fri, Dec 29
22:00:00
Rochester
San Diego
Sat, Dec 30
16:00:00
New York
Toronto
Sat, Dec 30
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Sat, Dec 30
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sun, Dec 31
20:00:00
Albany
Saskatchewan
WK
6
Sat, Jan 6
19:00:00
Halifax
Albany
Sat, Jan 6
19:30:00
Panther City
Georgia
Sat, Jan 6
19:30:00
Colorado
Buffalo
Sun, Jan 7
15:00:00
New York
Philadelphia
WK
7
Fri, Jan 12
18:30:00
Toronto
Halifax
Fri, Jan 12
22:00:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
Sat, Jan 13
19:00:00
Buffalo
Rochester
Sat, Jan 13
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Philadelphia
Sat, Jan 13
19:30:00
Panther City
New York
Sat, Jan 13
19:30:00
Albany
Georgia
Sat, Jan 13
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Jan 13
22:00:00
Calgary
Vancouver
WK
8
Fri, Jan 19
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Jan 20
19:00:00
Georgia
Toronto
Sat, Jan 20
19:00:00
San Diego
Albany
Sat, Jan 20
20:00:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sat, Jan 20
21:00:00
Calgary
Colorado
WK
9
Fri, Jan 26
22:00:00
Colorado
Vancouver
Sat, Jan 27
18:00:00
Rochester
Halifax
Sat, Jan 27
19:00:00
Buffalo
Toronto
Sat, Jan 27
19:30:00
Georgia
New York
Sat, Jan 27
19:30:00
San Diego
Philadelphia
Sat, Jan 27
22:00:00
Panther City
Las Vegas
WK
10
Fri, Feb 2
19:00:00
Halifax
Philadelphia
Fri, Feb 2
19:30:00
Vancouver
Georgia
Fri, Feb 2
21:00:00
New York
Calgary
Sat, Feb 3
19:00:00
Las Vegas
Albany
Sat, Feb 3
19:30:00
Rochester
Buffalo
Sat, Feb 3
20:00:00
Panther City
Saskatchewan
Sat, Feb 3
21:00:00
Toronto
Calgary
Sun, Feb 4
18:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
WK
11
Fri, Feb 9
18:30:00
Las Vegas
Halifax
Fri, Feb 9
20:00:00
Colorado
Panther City
Sat, Feb 10
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Feb 10
19:00:00
Calgary
Toronto
Sat, Feb 10
19:30:00
San Diego
New York
Sat, Feb 10
22:00:00
Saskatchewan
Vancouver
WK
12
Fri, Feb 16
18:30:00
Buffalo
Halifax
Fri, Feb 16
22:00:00
Philadelphia
Las Vegas
Sat, Feb 17
19:00:00
Colorado
Albany
Sun, Feb 18
19:00:00
Halifax
Calgary
WK
13
Fri, Feb 23
21:00:00
New York
Colorado
Fri, Feb 23
22:00:00
Georgia
San Diego
Sat, Feb 24
19:00:00
Las Vegas
Rochester
Sat, Feb 24
19:00:00
Vancouver
Toronto
Sat, Feb 24
19:30:00
Albany
Buffalo
Sat, Feb 24
20:00:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Feb 24
21:00:00
Philadelphia
Calgary
Sun, Feb 25
16:00:00
Georgia
Panther City
WK
14
Fri, Mar 1
19:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Fri, Mar 1
20:00:00
San Diego
Panther City
Fri, Mar 1
22:00:00
Toronto
Las Vegas
Fri, Mar 1
22:00:00
Buffalo
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 2
13:00:00
Calgary
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 2
19:00:00
New York
Albany
Sat, Mar 2
21:00:00
Saskatchewan
Colorado
Sat, Mar 2
22:00:00
Toronto
San Diego
Sun, Mar 3
16:00:00
Rochester
Panther City
WK
15
Fri, Mar 8
19:00:00
Vancouver
Albany
Fri, Mar 8
19:30:00
Calgary
Georgia
Fri, Mar 8
19:30:00
Saskatchewan
Buffalo
Sat, Mar 9
17:00:00
Colorado
Toronto
Sat, Mar 9
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Mar 9
19:30:00
Las Vegas
New York
Sat, Mar 9
22:00:00
Halifax
San Diego
Sun, Mar 10
15:00:00
Panther City
Philadelphia
WK
16
Fri, Mar 15
18:30:00
Panther City
Halifax
Fri, Mar 15
21:00:00
San Diego
Calgary
Fri, Mar 15
22:00:00
Las Vegas
Vancouver
Sat, Mar 16
19:00:00
Rochester
Albany
Sat, Mar 16
19:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Mar 16
19:30:00
Philadelphia
Georgia
Sat, Mar 16
20:30:00
New York
Saskatchewan
WK
17
Fri, Mar 22
20:00:00
Buffalo
Panther City
Fri, Mar 22
21:00:00
Albany
Calgary
Sat, Mar 23
19:00:00
Halifax
Toronto
Sat, Mar 23
19:00:00
Vancouver
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 23
19:30:00
Saskatchewan
New York
Sat, Mar 23
21:00:00
Rochester
Colorado
Sat, Mar 23
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Mar 24
17:30:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
WK
18
Sat, Mar 30
13:00:00
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Sat, Mar 30
19:00:00
Halifax
Rochester
Sat, Mar 30
19:30:00
Toronto
New York
Sat, Mar 30
22:00:00
Vancouver
Las Vegas
WK
19
Fri, Apr 5
21:00:00
Saskatchewan
Calgary
Fri, Apr 5
21:00:00
Buffalo
Colorado
Fri, Apr 5
22:00:00
Panther City
San Diego
Fri, Apr 5
22:00:00
Halifax
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 6
19:00:00
New York
Rochester
Sat, Apr 6
19:00:00
Toronto
Albany
Sat, Apr 6
19:30:00
Las Vegas
Georgia
Sat, Apr 6
20:00:00
Calgary
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 7
16:00:00
Philadelphia
Panther City
WK
20
Fri, Apr 12
21:00:00
Philadelphia
Colorado
Sat, Apr 13
19:00:00
Rochester
Toronto
Sat, Apr 13
19:30:00
Calgary
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 13
20:00:00
San Diego
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 13
22:00:00
Colorado
Las Vegas
Sat, Apr 13
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sun, Apr 14
16:00:00
Albany
Panther City
WK
21
Fri, Apr 19
19:30:00
Rochester
Georgia
Fri, Apr 19
22:00:00
Vancouver
San Diego
Sat, Apr 20
18:00:00
Colorado
Halifax
Sat, Apr 20
19:30:00
Albany
New York
Sat, Apr 20
20:00:00
Toronto
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 20
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 20
22:00:00
Buffalo
Las Vegas
Sun, Apr 21
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
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Battle Tested Mammoth Face Fresh Bandits Squad

Through Week 8 both teams have had varying schedules to work with

Heading into Week 9, the Colorado Mammoth (4-3) will host the Buffalo Bandits (3-1) on Saturday, January 25. Through the NLL seasons first eight weeks, Colorado has played the most games in the league at seven whereas Buffalo is tied for the least amount of games played at four. As it stands, Colorado is tied with Saskatchewan for first in the West whereas Buffalo is Halifax in the North but remain only 1.5 games behind leading the division with a game in hand.

There will be an argument to be made on Saturday about how schedule could play into an early season matchup like this against unfamiliar foes. Colorado has had the opportunity to get more game experience and to mesh stronger as a unit, which is crucial with as many rookies and new players joining the team this season. For Buffalo, their legs will be rested and with having as much time as they have had off, they will want to start fast.

Colorado comes into the game over what some would consider a successful weekend in Week 8, having a doubleheader in Vancouver and in Saskatchewan where the Mammoth lost a low scoring affair to Vancouver on Friday but came back Saturday night to win in convincing fashion against the Rush. The quick turnaround was good for the Mammoth to get the sour taste out of their mouths immediately from Friday’s loss to Vancouver and head into this weekend’s game with some momentum on their side.

In Friday’s game versus Vancouver, the Mammoth got the early lead at 1-0 but once the Warriors tied and eventually took the lead Colorado was unable to regain momentum. Looking at all stats outside the score, it would have looked like the Mammoth would have had the advantage. Colorado outshot Vancouver, recovered more loose balls, committed less penalties, and having won versus Vancouver at the beginning of January the tides would have felt to be in the Mammoth’s favor. Credit goes to Vancouver for making the Mammoth take difficult shots and almost using Colorado’s own game plan against them with stingy defense, great goaltending and taking opportunities on good looks on the offensive end. The Mammoth would eventually lose 5-7 in the lowest scoring game of the NLL season so far.

As mentioned, the Mammoth got their chance to rebound by playing in Saskatchewan on Saturday night. For Mammoth fans, the game started off in the worst way possible with Ryan Keenan burying a goal 0:35 into the first quarter to start a 3-0 run for the Rush in the first five minutes of the game. After the Rush got to 3-0, two of which came on the powerplay from illegal substitution calls on the Mammoth, it was Colorado’s game. Chris Wardle got the Mammoth on the board for their first goal of the game and was a frequent name on the box score scoring five goals on the night, tying his career high which was also at Saskatchewan in 2017. By halftime the Mammoth took a commanding 7-4 lead, including outscoring the Rush 5-0 in the second quarter. The momentum would stick with the Mammoth in the second half as first round pick in the 2019 NLL Entry Draft Warren Jeffrey netted the first goal of his career. Colorado outscored Saskatchewan 5-2 in the second half, which included a late goal by Saskatchewan’s Jeff Shattler with three and a half minutes left when the game seemed all but over. Multiple Mammoth players had big bounce back games. Dillon Ward made 53 saves on 59 shots, including 19 in the fourth quarter. Ryan Lee finished with seven points (1g, 6a), Eli McLaughlin looked like his old self again with seven points as well (3g, 4a) as well as aforementioned Chris Wardle. The Mammoth knew they had a big weekend with the possibility of taking two crucial division matchups but was able to salvage the weekend by going 1-1.

For Buffalo, the season has started slow mainly to the off and on schedule although they have maintained a 3-1 record, second in the North Division. They had four byes in eight weeks, so they are wanting to maintain some consistency in their preparations. Buffalo has a win across all three division, having beaten San Diego from the West, Georgia from the East and Toronto in the North. Their lone loss came to the undefeated Halifax Thunderbirds. Last week Buffalo got their win against Toronto in a North Division matchup at home in Banditland. A close affair throughout saw the Bandits winning eventually 10-8 including an empty netter with less than a minute remaining to seal the game. Lacrosse is a game of runs and Buffalo had the best of the night in the second quarter, scoring five in a span of 10 minutes to take the lead from Toronto. Matt Vinc looked like a goalie who has won the NLL Goaltender of the Year award seven times, having saved 54 shots out of 62. Rob Hellyer from the Rock was the only one who could consistently put the ball past Vinc, having scored five on the night. For the Buffalo offense, Josh Byrne and Chase Fraser led the charge with three goals each. Dhane Smith had a quite night by his standards only recording three assists on the night. Newly signed Garrett Billings made his Bandit debut and recorded one assist.

Having only played four games on the year, Buffalo doesn’t have many leaders in statistical categories by totals although they are third in the NLL in total penalty minutes at 76 minutes. To compare Colorado has committed 72 minutes of penalties in three extra games played. The Bandits have scored 49 goals which ranks 5th in the NLL in goals per game at 12.25 whereas the Mammoth are at 9.7 goals per game. Buffalo is last in the NLL at faceoffs at 35.2%, the Mammoth have faired a bit better at 45.6%. Both teams have played Halifax which lowered their percentage severely as the Thunderbirds rank first in the league at over 75%.

The key battle will be in net as Dillon Ward who is making a strong case for NLL Goalie of the Year is playing seven-time award winner Matt Vinc. Ward is leading the league in minutes and has missed only nine seconds of action this season. His 8.5 goals against average and 83.7 save percentage is second among goalies who have played at least 200 minutes, trailing only Warren Hill from the undefeated Thunderbirds. He has 308 saves which leads the league by 70 over Zach Higgins from Philadelphia. In the other net, Matt Vinc is having a year par for the course for his stellar career. He is allowing 11.36 goals per 60 minutes, recording 42 saves per game with an 80.8 save percentage.

Trying to score on these keepers are the rising stars of the NLL. For Colorado, Chris Wardle and Jacob Ruest are tied for the Mammoth team lead in goals at 12. Ryan Lee is leading the team in points at 31 (second in the NLL) including 21 assists (tied for third in the NLL). Eli McLaughlin is also getting his footing under him after missing a couple of games and has 23 points.  Jeff Wittig, Kyle Killen and Will Malcom have been good supplement pieces to the keys for the offense from a forward point of view. The transition has also been good to Colorado with Jordan Gilles and Joey Cupido scoring four and five goals respectively. From the entire defense and transition, the Mammoth have gotten 14 goals. For Buffalo Josh Byrne and Chris Cloutier have found the back of the net the most with 10 goals and 9 goals respectively. Chase Fraser has only been active for two games this season but has netted six goals, good for third on the team. The big names in Dhane Smith and Corey Small have been great support pieces while netting their own goals. Smith leads the team in assists and points. Outside of Small all the before mentioned forwards from both teams are 27 or younger.

Expect this game to go back and forth but with lots of energy. Buffalo made it to the NLL Cup Finals a year ago and looked dominant at 14-4 with the core of their team still intact. Colorado has played mostly good lacrosse this season minus the loss last week at Vancouver, having a solid game plan for each game and making the necessary adjustments in game. Both teams have a balanced offensive approach where on any given night, a player could get hot. They each have tough defenses who will look to push the ball in transition and make it difficult for forwards to get good looks and both teams have league leading goalies to bring it all together on the back end. For two teams that will only see each other once this regular season, expect a good show.

Catch this game as well as every game through the 2019-20 NLL Season on Bleacher Report Live.

 

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