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Fri. Feb. 3.

Swarm (0-4) at Mammoth (3-2) – 9pm ET

A busy weekend in the NLL begins with a single matchup on Friday night as the Mammoth host the winless Georgia Swarm.

It has been a tough go for the Swarm this season as the only remaining winless team in the NLL heading into Week 10. While two of their losses were blowouts, their last game out against the Bandits was one of their stronger outings, losing 11-9. Rookie Brett Dobson got the start in net and saved 46 of 57 shots on the night and the team was 5-7 on the powerplay. A tough early season schedule in terms of playing consistently should clear up the rest of the way.

The Mammoth are looking for quick redemption after their loss to San Diego in Week 8. While the final was just a four-goal game, the Seals led the game from start to finish. A 7-2 halftime lead would expand to 12-5 after three quarters. The Seals would take some off the throttle in the fourth to win 13-9. The big surprise was Dillon Ward being moved to the injured reserve list just prior to the start of the game. Backup Tyler Carlson played well in his absence but the offense was unable to muster much when the game was still in contention.

Last season the Mammoth were 3-0 against the East, including a win over the Swarm in Week 1 of the 2021-22 season. Eli McLaughlin and Connor Robinson combined for 11 points on five goals and Ward was stellar, saving 48 of 59 shots. Shayne Jackson saw the most success for the Swarm with three goals and an assist on the night.

Sat. Feb. 4

Roughnecks (3-3) at Thunderbirds (4-3) – 6pm ET

Saturday begins with an interconference matchup between the Roughnecks and Thunderbirds at the Nest where Halifax defended home turf last weekend and are 2-1 on the season.

Calgary comes in off a loss against another East Conference opponent last week in the Toronto Rock. The Rock were able to string together their offense early, scoring seven of the first eight goals of the game. Calgary as we have seen before, clawed back and scored the final two goals of regulation with under 90 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, Stephen Keogh scored the winner for Toronto just 24 seconds into the extra frame. Zach Currier had two points on the night, two blocked shots, a caused turnover and 14 loose balls.

The Thunderbirds brought the thunder and took down the Knighthawks last week, leaving no undefeated teams left in the league. A seven-goal run from the first and second quarters propelled Halifax into the lead and a five-goal run in the second half sealed the game. Wake:Riat Bowhunter had the best game of his young career, scoring a hattrick and fellow rookie, Max Wilson, scored his first career goal.

These interconference teams played in the 2021-22 season, with Calgary taking the 13-8 win after using a huge second half to propel them to victory. Jesse King had a game high eight points, Dan Taylor scored four goal and Zach Currier had a goal, an assist, 14 loose ball recoveries, and four caused turnovers.

Riptide (1-4) at Rock (5-2) – 7pm ET – Game of the Week on TSN

A doubleheader feature as the Game of the Week on TSN takes us first to Hamilton with the Rock hosting the Riptide for their second meeting of the season.

New York comes in off a game where they ran out of steam in the second half against the Bandits. After being tied through the half, New York only scored three goals in the third quarter before being shut out in the fourth. Jeff Teat had seven points on the night, followed by Reilly O’Connor and Connor Kearnan with five each but it was not enough on either end as they fell 16-10.

Toronto comes into this game after an overtime win in enemy territory last week against Calgary. Using a six-goal run from the first to second quarter helped propel this team to the OT win. Only five players would score on the night, but Corey Small and Stephen Keogh combined for seven of those goals. Mitch de Snoo continued his stellar play with two assists, 11 loose ball recoveries, and two blocked shots.

These two played each other earlier in the season on January 7 with the Rock taking the 15-7 win. Despite allowing the first three goals of the game, the Rock would handily win this game, using a 7-0 third quarter to their advantage. Dangerous Dan Dawson and Tom Schreiber each had five assists. For the Riptide, defenseman Scott Dominey had two goals and two blocked shots.

FireWolves (2-3) at Wings (2-4) – 7pm ET

Two teams that were fringe playoff teams last year compete to try to keep up with the pack in the East.

Albany is still a team fans are trying to figure out. They defeated the Thunderbirds and Bandits and have been neck and neck with the Knighthawks, but lost to the then winless Riptide last game out 16-10. There were no answers for Jeff Teat as he put up 12 points against Albany. On the other end, the offense struggled for opportunities, only getting 38 shots on goal the entire game. The FireWolves sit last in the NLL with just 60.6 shots attempted per game.

The Wings are a team that is also confusing for fans to understand. The talent on the board is there, but similar to last season, they beat the teams they are supposed to but struggle against the upper half of the league. Last weekend against Buffalo, Philadelphia took a 6-3 lead at the half, and lost 13-9 at the final buzzer. Only five Wings players found the back of the net and the team struggled on the powerplay, only scoring two goals on seven opportunities. They hope to bolster their offense by acquiring Mitch Jones from Vancouver midway through this week. The longtime Vancouver player was leading the team with 35 points on the season (11g, 24a).

Albany took both matchups last season with the last being on April 16 in an 11-5 finish. The FireWolves led 5-4 entering the fourth and used a six-goal quarter to secure the win. Doug Jamieson saved 39 of 44 shots. Matt Rambo was the only multi-goal scorer for the Wings while Zach Higgins had a solid night saving 47 of 57 shots.

Knighthawks (6-1) at Bandits (6-2) – 7:30pm ET

A highly anticipated rematch from Week 8 sees the top two teams in the East competing once again for first place.

The Knighthawks were the last undefeated team in the league but took their first loss last week at the hands of the Halifax Thunderbirds. A four-goal run in the second and third quarters saw them get as close as 8-6, but Halifax ran away with the game, 17-7. Only four Knighthawks were able to beat Warren Hill and the frustration from Rochester could be felt when young goaltender Rylan Hartley had a scuffle with the Thunderbirds bench. A team that has proven everyone wrong so far this season will want to redeem themselves against their I-90 rival.

Buffalo may have had their best weekend to date this season, winning both of their games against the Wings and Riptide. Load management has been a discussion this season across the league, but the ageless goaltender Matt Vinc played all 120 minutes over the weekend, saving 87 of 106 shots (.821 save percentage). The reigning MVP Dhane Smith added 20 points to his season total in the two wins.

The Week 8 matchup saw the Knighthawks win 15-12, outscoring the Bandits by four in the last frame to secure the win. Sophomore Ryan Smith had the best game of his season with five goals and added four assists for Rochester while Josh Byrne had eight points for the Bandits. Hartley outdueled Vinc in net, saving 44 of 56 shots. This is the final matchup for these two in the regular season and at this point could decide their seeds heading into the playoffs.

Panther City (4-3) at Seals (5-1) – 10pm ET

Don’t look now, but if the season ended today, this would be the first-round matchup in the West with the Seals in first place and Panther City in fourth.

Last weekend, Panther City brought their best game on the season, scoring a high of 20 goals and holding Vancouver to just seven. Despite allowing the first three goals early in the game, Panther City answered back with nine straight. Youngsters Will Malcom and Jonathan Donville combined for 25 points, with 13 and 12 respectively. Last year’s leading scorer for PCLC in Patrick Dodds contributed eight and newly acquired Callum Crawford had seven points in his team debut.

San Diego retained the top spot in the West defeating the second place Colorado Mammoth at the Loud House. From the first faceoff, the momentum swung in favor of the Seals. At the half, the Seals would lead 7-2 and take a 12-5 lead into the fourth. One of the criticisms of this Seals teams has been their inability to play a full 60 minutes but with that large of a lead, they didn’t need to in the fourth quarter. Chris Origlieri has retained his starting position and the bulk of the minutes in net for the past three games with Frank Scigliano on the bench. Will Origlieri be the guy moving forward and if so, does that put Scigliano on the trading block?

This is the first matchup between these two West Conference opponents this season. Last season, the Seals took two of three from the expansion franchise. In their last game, Panther City took the 11-10 victory, scoring the game winner with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Seals outshot Panther City 55-38 but Nick Damude was able to shut down his former team.

Rush (3-2) at Warriors (1-6) – 10pm ET – Game of the Week on TSN

The second half of the Game of the Week on TSN doubleheader takes us to a West Conference matchup between two Canadian franchises.

The Rush took care of business at home last weekend and are 3-0 at home this season, but are 0-2 on the road. In what was a close game in the box score, the Rush used a strong second quarter where they scored eight straight, to claim the lead over the Desert Dogs. Mark Matthews and Robert Church looked like their prime selves, combining for 20 points. Rookie Austin Madronic had a hattrick and now sits in fifth place among rookies.

As mentioned, the Warriors suffered another tough defeat, now with a league worse -38 goal differential and only taking more damage. They would get off to a quick 3-0 lead, but the defense and goaltending would fall apart. The score was 15-6 at the half and Vancouver would only muster one goal in the second half. The leading scorers for the Warriors had just three points each (Shawn Evans, Logan Schuss and Riley Loewen). Youngster Aden Walsh had a tough outing in net, allowing 10 goals on 16 shots. Ethan Woods stopped the bleeding but still allowed 10 goals on 40 shots seen. They traded away leading scorer, Mitch Jones, to Philadelphia for Steph Charbonneau and future draft picks. To make matters worse, Logan Schuss was added to the season ending injured reserve list during the week. They did add a familiar face in Aaron Bold to help bring some veteran presence in net.

Last season the Rush took two of three from the Warriors. On March 19, the Rush took the 15-13 victory. Keegan Bal had 10 points (5g, 5a) and Kyle Killen scored seven goals. Mike Messenger had an outstanding performance for the Rush, with four points (2g, 2a), seven loose balls, a caused turnover and going 14/25 at the faceoff.

Mammoth (TBD) at Desert Dogs (1-5) – 10:30pm ET

The final game of Week 10 takes us to Michelob ULTRA Arena for the fans in Las Vegas to see the defending champions in person for the first time. The Mammoth play the night before in what could be a long weekend depending on the status of Dillon Ward and the result of their game Friday night.

The Desert Dogs have shown improvements through the season despite what their record shows. In their game against the Rush last weekend, outside of a 10-minute period, the Desert Dogs competed in one of the hardest places to play across the NLL in Saskatchewan. Seven different players scored a goal for the offense and the defense played cleaner, only taking nine minutes of penalties. Jack Hannah is second in rookie scoring with 20 points but leads with 10 goals. Through their six games played, they are one of two teams averaging over 20 penalty minutes per game and sit at a league worst 41% penalty kill. On the other end, they are second in powerplay success at 57% so time in the box could play a major factor against a disciplined Mammoth team that averages just 11 penalty minutes per game.