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BUF at TOR - Sat. 7pm ET Schedule

×
WK
1
Fri, Dec 2
FINAL
Philadelphia
8
Halifax
18
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Vancouver
8
Toronto
19
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
San Diego
15
New York
14
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Albany
11
Buffalo
10
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Rochester
16
Georgia
11
Sat, Dec 3
FINAL
Colorado
6
Saskatchewan
18
WK
2
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL
Las Vegas
11
Panther City
13
Fri, Dec 9
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
12
San Diego
13
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Toronto
7
Rochester
11
Sat, Dec 10
FINAL
Vancouver
9
Calgary
11
WK
3
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
5
Fri, Dec 16
FINAL
Panther City
9
Las Vegas
3
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Buffalo
11
Toronto
8
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Rochester
14
Albany
13
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Philadelphia
13
Georgia
12
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Halifax
20
New York
11
Sat, Dec 17
FINAL
Colorado
12
Panther City
9
WK
5
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
Halifax
13
Buffalo
18
Fri, Dec 30
FINAL
San Diego
17
Calgary
14
Sat, Dec 31
FINAL
Panther City
9
Saskatchewan
11
WK
6
Fri, Jan 6
FINAL
Philadelphia
14
Las Vegas
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Panther City
9
Rochester
17
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Halifax
14
Albany
11
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Buffalo
18
Georgia
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Toronto
15
New York
7
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Calgary
8
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 7
FINAL
Vancouver
11
San Diego
16
WK
7
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Albany
11
Halifax
10
Fri, Jan 13
FINAL/OT
Saskatchewan
10
Colorado
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Halifax
8
Toronto
17
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Panther City
12
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Georgia
9
Buffalo
11
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
San Diego
10
Calgary
14
Sat, Jan 14
FINAL
Las Vegas
16
Vancouver
19
Sun, Jan 15
FINAL
Rochester
11
New York
8
WK
8
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Buffalo
12
Rochester
15
Fri, Jan 20
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
15
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
Toronto
14
Philadelphia
5
Sat, Jan 21
FINAL
New York
16
Albany
10
WK
9
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Rochester
7
Halifax
17
Fri, Jan 27
FINAL
Buffalo
13
Philadelphia
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Buffalo
16
New York
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Las Vegas
10
Saskatchewan
15
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL/OT
Toronto
11
Calgary
10
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
San Diego
13
Colorado
9
Sat, Jan 28
FINAL
Panther City
20
Vancouver
7
WK
10
Fri, Feb 3
FINAL
Georgia
10
Colorado
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL/OT
Calgary
12
Halifax
11
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
New York
14
Toronto
22
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Albany
5
Philadelphia
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Rochester
10
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Panther City
10
San Diego
12
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
14
Vancouver
8
Sat, Feb 4
FINAL
Colorado
8
Las Vegas
13
WK
11
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Toronto
11
Georgia
10
Fri, Feb 10
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
13
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Halifax
14
Rochester
16
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Albany
12
New York
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Vancouver
13
Panther City
14
Sat, Feb 11
FINAL
Colorado
9
Calgary
13
WK
12
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Calgary
14
Vancouver
9
Fri, Feb 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
16
San Diego
11
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Georgia
7
Toronto
16
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
Albany
10
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
12
Buffalo
13
Sat, Feb 18
FINAL
Colorado
7
Panther City
13
Sun, Feb 19
FINAL
New York
12
Halifax
13
WK
13
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Panther City
12
Colorado
14
Fri, Feb 24
FINAL
Calgary
9
Las Vegas
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL/OT
New York
10
Rochester
11
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Albany
4
Georgia
20
Sat, Feb 25
FINAL
Vancouver
16
Saskatchewan
12
WK
14
Fri, Mar 3
FINAL
Buffalo
10
Halifax
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
New York
12
Philadelphia
19
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Las Vegas
12
San Diego
15
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Rochester
8
Toronto
9
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL/OT
Georgia
9
Albany
8
Sat, Mar 4
FINAL
Saskatchewan
10
Panther City
16
Mon, Mar 6
FINAL
Toronto
10
Philadelphia
11
WK
15
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL/OT
Halifax
9
Buffalo
10
Fri, Mar 10
FINAL
Calgary
16
Colorado
10
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Albany
6
Toronto
12
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Philadelphia
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
San Diego
12
Saskatchewan
11
Sat, Mar 11
FINAL
Vancouver
14
Las Vegas
5
Sun, Mar 12
FINAL
Rochester
19
Georgia
18
WK
16
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
Saskatchewan
6
Calgary
11
Fri, Mar 17
FINAL
San Diego
16
Vancouver
9
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Georgia
13
Philadelphia
12
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Toronto
12
Halifax
14
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Albany
10
New York
13
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Colorado
13
Buffalo
8
Sat, Mar 18
FINAL
Las Vegas
8
Panther City
11
Sun, Mar 19
FINAL/OT
Philadelphia
9
Rochester
8
WK
17
Fri, Mar 24
FINAL
San Diego
17
Panther City
9
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Toronto
11
Albany
9
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Halifax
14
Philadelphia
10
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Georgia
13
New York
8
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Calgary
14
Saskatchewan
6
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL/OT
Buffalo
7
San Diego
6
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Colorado
12
Vancouver
14
Sat, Mar 25
FINAL
Rochester
7
Las Vegas
12
WK
18
Fri, Mar 31
19:00:00
New York
Georgia
Fri, Mar 31
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Colorado
Fri, Mar 31
22:00:00
Calgary
San Diego
Sat, Apr 1
19:00:00
Buffalo
Toronto
Sat, Apr 1
20:00:00
Albany
Panther City
Sat, Apr 1
21:30:00
Vancouver
Saskatchewan
Sun, Apr 2
13:00:00
Georgia
Halifax
Sun, Apr 2
18:00:00
Rochester
Philadelphia
WK
19
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Albany
Rochester
Sat, Apr 8
19:00:00
Saskatchewan
Georgia
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Panther City
Calgary
Sat, Apr 8
21:00:00
Vancouver
Colorado
Sat, Apr 8
22:30:00
San Diego
Las Vegas
WK
20
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
Las Vegas
Calgary
Fri, Apr 14
21:00:00
San Diego
Colorado
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Toronto
Sat, Apr 15
19:00:00
Georgia
Albany
Sat, Apr 15
19:30:00
New York
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 15
21:30:00
Halifax
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 15
22:00:00
Panther City
Vancouver
WK
21
Fri, Apr 21
20:30:00
Calgary
Panther City
Sat, Apr 22
18:00:00
New York
Halifax
Sat, Apr 22
19:00:00
Georgia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 22
20:00:00
Toronto
Buffalo
Sat, Apr 22
21:30:00
Colorado
Saskatchewan
Sat, Apr 22
22:00:00
Las Vegas
San Diego
Sun, Apr 23
15:00:00
Philadelphia
Albany
WK
22
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Philadelphia
Rochester
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Buffalo
Albany
Sat, Apr 29
19:00:00
Halifax
Georgia
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
Colorado
San Diego
Sat, Apr 29
22:00:00
New York
Vancouver
Sat, Apr 29
22:30:00
Saskatchewan
Las Vegas
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Il Indoor: Three Stars Of Nll Week 16

Week 16 of the 2016 National Lacrosse League regular season saw some dominant goaltending performances now highlighted by Stephen Stamp in his Three Stars of the Week on Inside Lacrosse via IL Indoor. Preview the rundown of the weekend’s top performers below and click the link for the full story.

“The most important statistic for assessing how well a goalie is performing is save percentage,” Stamp writes. “While it is influenced by the play of the defenders in front of him, save percentage is much more closely correlated to his own play than the other major stat we have available, goals against average.”

Here’s an example. No one, especially before this past weekend, would argue that Aaron Bold is the best goalie in the NLL this year (he isone of the best in the world, but not based on his play in 2016). Yet when you go to the league leaders page of the NLL web site and select goalie leaders, Bold appears at the top of the list. That’s because the default page ordering is based on GAA and Bold leads the league in that category at 10.15. Match that with his 11-4 record and you might guess that Bold is a shoe-in to be a finalist for goalie of the year again.

Guess again, though. Bold’s GAA and won-loss are largely the result of the defence in front of him that has helped ensure the Rush have outshot their opponents in every one of their 16 games this season. Saskatchewan even lost a game 9-7 to Colorado when they outshot the Mammoth 54-34. Saskatchewan has allowed just 42.9 shots on goal per game, which means that Bold’s season save percentage of .760 has enabled them to keep opponents to about 10 goals a game.

The reality is that the Rush have clinched first place in the West Division largely in spite of Bold’s play rather than because of it. Nobody in Saskatchewan is going to care about that, though, if Bold keeps playing the way he did this weekend. Bold looked like his old self, stopping 78 of the 91 shots he faced in a key home and home sweep of the Mammoth. That kind of goaltending would make Saskatchewan awfully tough to beat in the playoffs.

None of this is meant to be a knock on Bold, who has gone through slumps before as any goalie is bound to and has bounced back to elite status, just as he appears to be doing now. The larger point I’m leading to is that 2016 hasn’t been the year of the goalie in the NLL. Whether it’s because the shooters are having a better season or the goalies just aren’t performing as well, save percentages are down in 2016. To whit: in each of the past three years, three goalies have finished the season with a better save percentage than this year’s league leaders to this point (Evan Kirk and Nick Rose, at .790).

Week 16, though, turned all that on its head. Goalies stood out around the league in a busy weekend and none more so than the aforementioned Bold. Granted, Colorado had no Adam Jones Friday night then no John Grant Jr and a noticeably limping Jones Saturday. The Mammoth are still a dangerous team, though, and Jeremy Noble took up the slack Saturday with his best shooting performance of the season en route to a hat trick.

It wasn’t all about Bold, though. Scroll down to see the goalies that dominate IL Indoor’s 3 Stars for Week 16.

First Star
Aaron Bold, Saskatchewan Rush
2 wins, 78 saves on 91 shots, .857 save percentage

Bold had a busy 2015 and excelled as he helped the Rush win the Champions Cup, the Victoria Shamrocks win the Mann Cup and Canada win the gold medal at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. Did that workload take a toll that has led to his decreased performance this year? Teddy Jenner hypothesized on Boxla Beat last week that it was a factor in the play this season of both Bold and Matt Vinc (who went to the NLL semifinals, the Mann Cup final and started for Canada in the gold medal game), who also hasn’t been his usual dominating self.

It’s a sound theory. Whether it’s accurate is hard to gauge, but whatever the reasoning, Bold seems to be coming out of his funk at the perfect time for the Rush. When he’s on his game, like so many goalies, he makes difficult saves look easy. That’s the kind of zone he was in on the weekend. He appeared to be seeing the ball well, which helps him to catch many low shots rather than just having to smother them, which in turn helps boost the already dangerous Rush transition game because Bold has more opportunities to use his excellent down-floor passing to spring breaking defenders. 

Second Star
Nick Rose, Toronto Rock
1 win, 69 saves on 84 shots, .821 save percentage

It was a bit of a surprise that coach John Lovell chose to go with Brandon Miller in Toronto’s game in Buffalo after Rose was the best player on the floor as the Rock downed the Bandits in Toronto Friday night. Miller, the third finalist along with Vinc and Bold for goalie of the year last season, has had his own struggles in 2016 and they continued Saturday. Rose stepped in and substantially limited the Bandits the rest of the way—a couple of their late goals came while Rose was hustling back to the net after the extra attacker had been on the floor.

While Rose was very good in a losing effort Saturday, it was standing on his head Friday that landed him here as the Second Star. He made a handful of sensational saves and boatloads of solid ones to lead Toronto to a win it had to have to keep its playoff hopes alive. Brodie Merrill was named the game’s first star, and he had an excellent game, but Rose was the key difference-maker and enjoyed plenty of congratulations in the post-game locker rooom.

Honorable Mentions

Randy Staats (Georgia): 4g, 11a, 15LB. Staats had an incredibly productive weekend. He led the Swarm to two critical wins in their pursuit of the playoffs. He pushed himself into a 15-point lead in the rookie scoring race. And he put himself on pace to break the records for points and assists by a rookie. Staats has now scored 30 points in his last four games. That’s Dhane Smith/Shawn Evans territory, should make him a pretty easy pick for rookie of the month in April and the leading contender for Rookie of the Year. That’s quite a stretch he’s having…Johnny Powless (Georgia): 5g, 6a. After the weekend the Swarm had, this section could be pretty much filled with Georgia players. Powless has shattered his career highs for goals and points and looks as comfortable as he’s ever looked in the pro game. He leads the Swarm with 34 goals, one ahead of Shayne Jackson and two ahead of Staats…Ben McIntosh (Saskatchewan): 7g, 3a. McIntosh’s numbers are actually down substantially from his rookie season a year ago, but his goal-scoring is right on pace as he is set to match 2015’s 37 goals. Whatever the reason behind the dearth of assists, McIntosh is still a constant threat either with the ball in his stick or working off ball and he led the Rush’s sweep of Colorado on the weekend…Graeme Hossack (Rochester): 7LB, 3CTO. Hossack came into the league as a near-elite defender and has gotten better as the season has progressed. He may not be the rookie of the year, but if ever there was a case for a defender to win the award, Hossack this year is making it…Brodie Merrill (Toronto): 24LB, 3CTO. While I disagreed with him being named the first star Friday in light of Rose’s performance, Merrill was outstanding, as he has been throughout the second half of the season. Merrill lost his cool and got taken out of his game late in Saturday’s contest, but that was largely because he knew the Rock’s season was over and his competitiveness and frustration just boiled over. Not the worst trait in a lacrosse player…Lyle Thompson (Georgia): 7g, 4a. I said last week was the best I’ve seen of Thompson; well, he was even better this week…Logan Schuss, Rhys Duch & Jordan Durston (Vancouver): 3g, 4a; 2g, 6a; 3g, 1a respectively. I just couldn’t decide in which order I wanted to include these three, so I figured I’d put them all together. Schuss was his usual mix of sniper and setup man, Duch as always was the lynchpin of the Stealth offence and Durston is the burst of energy and talent that helps spark Vancouver’s O when things get a little stale…Dhane Smith & Ryan Benesch (Buffalo): 6g, 1a; 5g, 5a respectively. It’s pretty amazing that the weekend represented a bona fide slump for the Great Dhane. Benesch stepped up Saturday when the Bandits needed to get back on track and just produced…Ryan Dilks (Saskatchewan): 1g, 1a, 7LB, 7CTO. Dilks probably won’t break Kyle Rubisch’s CTO record but he may well break Rubisch’s monopoly of the defender of the year award…Jeff Shattler (Calgary): 4g, 4a. There was some hand-wringing last year when Shattler’s production dropped off from what had been a career high in 2013, the first season of the expanded schedule. Well, he’s quietly smack dab on pace to match that total (actually, his current pace equates to 84.7 points pending Calgary’s final game in two weeks, so with his average game he would break that mark by 1 when you round it off)… Shayne Jackson & Jesse King (Georgia): 4g, 7a, 13LB, 2CTO; 3g, 9a, 7LB, 2CTO respectively. Who had the better weekend between the Swarm’s veteran leader and rookie star? Trick question. The answer is it doesn’t matter because Georgia won two huge divisional games thanks to their overall team effort…Callum Crawford (Colorado): 3g, 5a. Crawford was supposed to be a nice addition to the Mammoth offence. Instead, with Adam Jones hobbling and John Grant Jr nursing what is believed to be an upper extremity injury, he was once again the main man in Colorado. Crawford broke the 100-point plateau on the weekend, the first time he’s done so…Rob Hellyer (Toronto): 2g, 8a. Hellyer is two points away from reaching the century mark himself, which will also be his first time…Curtis Dickson (Calgary): 2g, 4a. Join the club, Superman. 101 points through 17 games for Dickson and he’s just three away from hitting the elusive 60-goal mark…Mark Matthews (Saskatchewan): 2g, 6a. Matthews has been there before, with 115 points last year. He’s five away from a repeat appearance…Joel White (Georgia): 2g, 21LB, 5CTO. Time for a defender, although White did score perhaps the goal of the year when he slalomed (Alberto Tomba-style, given how many players—from both teams—he bashed through like Tomba pounding his way through the slalom gates) en route to the net for a shorthanded marker. It was a signature weekend for a player who’s stealthily evolved into one of the best transition players in the league…Dan Dawson & Cody Jamieson (Rochester): 2g, 4a; 4g, 1a respectively. They were the leaders of the Knighthawks offence, as usual…Tyler Digby (Calgary): 4g. Pretty much the definition of a power forward…Dan Taylor (Saskatchewan): 9a. Almost doubled his season points total (now at 19) in one weekend. Taylor probably cemented his spot in the lineup with his solid performance. Saskatchewan has an awfully tough roster to crack but Taylor has made his case with steady depth play… Shawn Evans (New England): 2g, 3a, 7LB. It was a forgettable game for the Black Wolves—their first clunker of the season—so Evans is the only…

Click here for the Third Star and full list of Honorable Mentions on Stephen Stamp’s Three Stars of Week 16 on IL Indoor.

NLL