1. Buffalo Bandits (8-1)
Beat San Diego 13-12 – Last Week: 1
Their run atop the NLL Power Rankings remains unbroken after a thrilling, neck-and-neck win over San Diego to exact revenge over the Seals at Pechanga Arena. A week after allowing their late lead over the Seals to slip away, the Bandits likely felt a sense of déjà vu carrying a 13-12 lead into the final 12.5 seconds with San Diego owning one last chance to tie the game. Rather than a redux of the week before, the Bandits’ defense was up to the task, preventing San Diego from manufacturing a quality shot. After Wesley Berg scored to give the Seals a 10-8 lead early in the third quarter, the Bandits held the Seals to two goals over the game’s final 28:18. Matt Vinc made 38 saves, many of which came in key spots. The Bandits also illustrated a degree of scoring depth that hasn’t been necessary most of the season, picking up contributions from nine different goal scorers, led by three from Kyle Buchanan. The biggest takeaway from Buffalo’s bounce-back win is twofold. Firstly, this team isn’t going to allow one setback to trigger a spiral. Secondly, even when its superstars—Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne—produce pedestrian numbers, there is a pathway to victory. Up next for the Bandits is a clash that has to be considered the game of the year to this point. They’ll travel to Saskatchewan on Saturday night for a meeting of the league’s top two teams.
2. Saskatchewan Rush (9-2)
Beat Vancouver 10-7 – Last Week: 2
The Rush were absolutely suffocating on defense in their win at Vancouver on Friday night, limiting the Warriors to just 38 shots on goal and controlling the game for most of the final three quarters. Frank Scigliano is settling back in nicely, stopping 31 shots and showing no signs of a second-half slowdown. There aren’t many questions remaining to be answered by the Rush, who are now on a season-best five-game winning streak—their longest since 2017 when they won five straight along the road to an NLL Finals appearance. After the group’s supplemental scoring around Zach Manns was inconsistent early in the season, the Rush flashed their depth against Vancouver. Saskatchewan still managed 10 goals despite a donut from Manns. The Rush are a defense-first group, but with four players boasting 44 points or more, their offensive balance and depth gives them multiple routes to victory every week. Saskatchewan is 5-1 against teams who made the playoffs last year and now receive their biggest test and opportunity in years when they host the Bandits on Saturday, March 1. SaskTel Centre – Bandits and Rush – appointment viewing.
3. Halifax Thunderbirds (6-4)
Beat Ottawa 14-9 – Last Week: 6
Perhaps the only team that could make a case as challenging the Rush for the league’s “hottest team” is Halifax. With four straight wins and five in their last six, the T-Birds are beginning to separate themselves from the pack and establish the franchise as a legitimate title contender. The win over Ottawa did not come easily, as a 7-2 lead in the second quarter flipped to an 8-7 deficit in the third after an extended 6-0 Black Bears run. Immediately after Jacob Dunbar’s go-ahead goal for the Black Bears, the Thunderbirds answered with a 4-0 run and scored six of the game’s final seven goals to pull away. The only blemish defensively in the game’s final 17:06 was a Jeff Teat power play goal, as the Thunderbirds pitched a shutout during five-on-five action. Mike Accursi is pressing all of the correct buttons right now. His defense is eating opponents alive, Randy Staats is having a career year, Warren Hill deserves mention, and the veterans on the roster are asserting themselves at the perfect moments. This team’s ceiling seems to get higher each week. Next on the schedule is a trip to Las Vegas to play the Desert Dogs, who are fresh off a win over the Mammoth.
4. Georgia Swarm (6-4)
Beat Toronto 11-10 – Last Week: 5
After their three-game losing streak, the Swarm looks to be headed in the proper direction once again. The wins haven’t come seamlessly this year—four of Georgia’s victories have come by a single goal, including a pair of overtime wins. While they may be living on a razor’s edge, Georgia is developing a degree of experience and success in tight contests that could make the group a real playoff threat when every goal counts a little extra. Saturday night against Toronto was another battle with neither team leading by more than two goals at any point. For Georgia, the squad’s close-game experience proved particularly valuable in overcoming a 7-5 deficit late in the third quarter and again after Corey Small netted a pair for Toronto in the final 2:33 to force overtime. After an extended period of shaky games, young goaltender Brett Dobson was otherworldly for Georgia, which is as much of a reason as any to push the Swarm up the Power Rankings this week. If Dobson is at his best, the Swarm are a true threat. The former Rookie of the Year finalist made a staggering 55 saves in the win and offered Ed Comeau a lot of reasons to be excited moving forward. Next for the Swarm is a Friday night trip to the Canadian Tire Centre to square up with the Black Bears.
5. San Diego Seals (5-6)
Lost to Buffalo 13-12 – Last Week: 8
It’s not every day that a team loses at home, yet climbs three spots in the Power Rankings, but that’s precisely what has happened for San Diego. After their back-to-back thrilling wins over the Rock and the Bandits on the road, Patrick Merrill’s team fell a goal short in another instant classic game against Buffalo. This team is far better than its record suggests, and Saturday night’s loss illustrates that point clearly. The injury list for their game against the Bandits included four former All-Pro players, two emerging young defensive stars, and one of the premier face-off specialists in the game. Even without the team’s MVP—Zach Currier—they were able to nearly knock off the league’s best team for a second time in eight days. Since Tre Leclaire’s return to the lineup on February 1st, the Seals’ offense has been entirely different. Leclaire himself scored a season-high four goals against the Bandits and nearly willed his team into overtime by himself. Offensively, the Seals ran out of gas down the stretch, scoring just twice in the final 28 minutes of game time, but still, the reasons for optimism are not in short supply. The Seals will hope that their final bye week allows some of those injured or absent pieces an opportunity to return to the lineup. While they may not be active at the trade deadline this year, the Seals may look like an entirely different team in two weeks when they welcome the Vancouver Warriors to San Diego.
6. Calgary Roughnecks (6-5)
Lost to Rochester 15-10 – Last Week: 4
A week after their throttling of the Desert Dogs, the Roughnecks took a step back with a disappointing loss to Rochester, failing to capitalize on an opportunity to climb in the standings. Rochester raced out of the gates offensively, putting up 10 goals in the first half and building a six-goal lead early in the third quarter. Calgary never pulled tighter than a four-goal deficit at any point in the second half and looked to be lost on both ends of the floor at times. Cam MacLeod has offered some solid efforts recently, but ultimately was benched against the Knighthawks. Curtis Dickson’s four-goal, five-assist night was the only bright spot for the Roughnecks, as Thomas McConvey led a potent Rochester attack to a win at the Saddledome. After a 5-3 start, Calgary has slid its way back to the vicinity of .500 and now is thoroughly caught in the mix of six teams separated by one game in the standings. A win over Rochester would have been a big step toward suring up a playoff spot. Calgary is as enigmatic as any team in the league with a 2-4 home record and 4-1 road record. Next on the schedule for the Roughnecks is a trip to Bal Arena on Saturday, which is an historically difficult road environment. But when you consider that the Roughnecks have been better on the road than at home, perhaps visiting the Mammoth is preferable to hosting them.
7. Colorado Mammoth (6-5)
Lost to Las Vegas 14-7 – Last Week: 3
The Mammoth endured the most lopsided loss of the weekend, stumbling at home to the tune of a 14-7 loss to the Desert Dogs. Las Vegas simply beat the wheels off the Mammoth, who had no explosiveness on offense and a porous back end. Like the Roughnecks, the Mammoth had an opportunity to claim a sense of security about their playoff position, but instead slid back into the mix of teams battling to stay above the make-miss line. Pat Coyle’s team will want to simply forget about the loss to Vegas and move forward, hoping to see a little more spark from Ryan Lee, Zed Williams, Connor Kelly and Eli McLaughlin, who combined to score twice on Friday. Up next for the Mammoth is a visit from a Calgary team that enters play off a similarly disappointing loss.
8. Rochester Knighthawks (5-7)
Beat Calgary 15-10 – Last Week: Unranked
Welcome back to the Power Rankings! The Knighthawks have quietly pushed themselves into contention following their win over the Roughnecks. Despite a 3-6 start to the season, the Knighthawks have had a lot of positives to lean on through the season’s first half. They played their best lacrosse late in the season last year and look positioned to do so once again. What was a gauntlet of a schedule during the season’s first half becomes much friendlier this week. Of their remaining six games, none are against teams currently over .500. They play only one team from this week’s Power Rankings—San Diego—and enjoy four home games in their last six contests. It was a mistake to bet against Rochester making the playoffs last year and based on what their next two months look like, it may be a mistake to bet against them again. Next on the docket for the Knighthawks is a visit from the last-place Albany FireWolves on Friday night.
On the Bubble: Ottawa Black Bears (5-5)
Lost to Halifax 14-9 – Last Week: 7
Ottawa is still thoroughly in the thick of the playoff mix and did demonstrate a nice grittiness on Friday, overcoming a five-goal deficit to take a lead. Still, the Black Bears have been uninspiring on offense for long stretches of time and have simply asked too much of Zach Higgins. While Higgins may be running away with the league’s Goaltender of the Year award, the Black Bears will need more consistent offensive production to get over the hump and into the playoffs. At 5-5, they are one of just two teams with eight games remaining, which means there are still a lot of opportunities on the table. Their next chance to turn the corner is on Friday when they host the Swarm.
