Playoff Clinching Scenarios – Week 16

March 27, 2019

The National Lacrosse League has released playoff clinching scenarios ahead of Week 16.

The Calgary Roughnecks (7-7), Saskatchewan Rush (6-6), Toronto Rock (8-5), and New England Black Wolves (7-6) can each clinch playoff berths this weekend.

The Calgary Roughnecks can clinch their berth by defeating the San Diego Seals or with a Vancouver loss to Saskatchewan. The New England Black Wolves will move into the postseason with a win over the Rochester Knighthawks and a Philadelphia loss to the Toronto Rock. The Saskatchewan Rush can claim their postseason spot with a win over the Vancouver Warriors. The Toronto Rock will clinch with either a win versus Philadelphia on Saturday, March 30, or if New England defeats Rochester the following day.

In addition, the Philadelphia Wings (3-10) and Rochester Knighthawks (2-11) face the prospect of being eliminated from playoff consideration.

The Buffalo Bandits (12-3), Georgia Swarm (11-4), and San Diego Seals (8-4) have all clinched postseason berths.

Calgary can clinch a playoff berth with a Win vs. San Diego OR a Vancouver Loss vs. Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan can clinch a playoff berth with a Win vs. Vancouver.
Toronto can clinch a playoff berth with a Win vs. Philadelphia OR a New England win vs. Rochester.
New England can clinch a playoff berth with a Win vs. Rochester AND a Philadelphia Loss vs. Toronto.
Philadelphia will be eliminated from playoff consideration with a Loss vs. Toronto AND a New England win vs. Rochester.
Rochester will be eliminated from playoff consideration with a Loss vs. New England.

The 2018-2019 NLL regular season concludes in Week 20 before the NLL Playoffs start the weekend of May 3-5.

A total of eight NLL teams, the top four clubs in each division’s standings, will qualify for the playoffs. The East and West Division winners will be seeded #1 within their respective divisions and play the #4 seed, while the #2 and #3 seeds play each other in the first round, with the higher seed hosting Round 1.

The two first round winners from each division will face off in the Division Finals in a one game series, hosted by the highest remaining seed. The East and West Division winners will then play a best two-of-three game series in the NLL Finals. The highest remaining seed will host games one and three, if necessary.