Seven of the top eight teams in Cooper Perkins’ latest Power Rankings are in action this week, including Saskatchewan and Georgia in the NLL Saturday Showcase. Find out everything you need to know as the March to May continues.
Winners of five straight, the Thunderbirds remain the hottest team in the League, beating the Desert Dogs 9-5 in the third lowest-scoring game of the season last week. Toronto is trending in the opposite direction, having lost three straight games, though all three defeats came by just one goal.
Rochester’s Connor Fields enters the week with 84 points, the most in the League, and he has plenty of history with the Desert Dogs. Las Vegas selected Fields in the 2022 NLL Expansion Draft before immediately trading him to the Knighthawks in a blockbuster deal that included multiple first-round picks. In three games against Las Vegas, Fields has 21 points (8G, 13A), including 10 points (3G, 7A) in Rochester’s season-opening win against the Desert Dogs on Nov. 30.
An NLL on TSN Saturday Special pits the Roughnecks and their newest addition, Nick Rose, against the Bandits this weekend. Rose, who joined NLL Box Out with Maki and Coop this week, has struggled against Buffalo, going winless with a 13.1 Goals Against Average (GAA) in his last nine games against the Bandits, including playoffs. His last win came nearly two years ago on April 1, 2023, when the Rock won 18-7.
Nick Rose reflects on his time with Toronto and talks about his new journey with the @NLLRoughnecks.
Watch Episode 6 of NLL Box Out with Maki & Coop on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! pic.twitter.com/dJeXCPmCQB
— NLL (@NLL) March 5, 2025
Four teams enter this week tied for the eighth and final playoff spot at 5-6, including the Seals and Warriors, who will clash at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday. These clubs already accounted for one of the best games of the year in their Jan. 10 meeting, when they put up more goals in the fourth quarter (11) than the first three combined (9). Vancouver erupted for eight of those fourth-quarter tallies to turn a 6-3 deficit into a wild 11-9 win.
Saskatchewan boasts one of the best defenses in the League, holding opponents to single-digit scoring seven times this season, two more than any other team. Prior to last week’s loss to the Bandits, the Rush had been 6-0 in those games. Once again, the defense will have its hands full trying to contain Lyle Thompson, who leads the League with seven hat tricks this season, including one in each of his last two games.
Week 14 offered some incredible action. You can check out the top plays here. That said, the best moment of the weekend may have come from a…ref?
The Bandits cemented their status as the top team in Cooper Perkins’ latest Power Rankings with a win over the Rush last weekend. See how far Saskatchewan fell ahead of a tough matchup with the Swarm in Week 15.
