What We Learned | Week 8

Buffalo Remains Dominant

The Wings were determined to hold Buffalo back on Saturday, hoping to expand upon the precedent set by Toronto in Week 7. Through physicality in the loose ball battles and smart coverage off the ball, Philadelphia held the Bandits to a two-goal lead heading into the second. Still, their dedication to physical man defense allowed the Bandits’ forwards to easily cut underneath on the back side, allowing feeders like Dhane Smith and Chase Fraser to find quick open shooters. To combat Buffalo’s inside offense, the Wings switched to a soft zone late in the second, sloughing in off-ball and pressing out on adjacents to shut down the next pass and prevent any skip pass assists. The Bandits responded by shooting from the outside or dodging hard to the defender and moving the ball, forcing an already panicked Philly defense to quickly reassess and remark, letting Josh Byrne sneak in and tally a first-half sock trick.

Patient offense through the third and fourth did allow the Wings to chip away at the Bandits’ lead, and a quick loose ball from Brennan O’Neill to Mitch Jones brought the game within three goals (17-14) with 7:26 left in regulation. It was also a surprisingly quiet night for O’Neill, who only picked up two assists against the Bandits, but was unable to find the net himself, unfortunately earning his first D00dle of the season. However, Philadelphia’s two penalties late in the fourth would allow the Bandits to bury their hopes of an upset, with Tehoka Nanticoke and Chris Cloutier putting up two Power Play goals.

Toronto Plays Best With All of Their Pieces

The Toronto Rock found their first win of the season with the return of team captain Tom Schreiber, his first appearance since Week 1’s contest against Ottawa. Toronto has been steadily building a roster on their IR list with some finally making their return: Challen Rogers was the first of their heavy hitters to get cleared, making his return against Buffalo in Week 7, and with the addition of Schreiber and face-off specialist TD Ierlan, Toronto was back fighting at full strength. The offense was running on all cylinders against the Rush, keeping the ball hot and taking more risks in the alley than in previous weeks. Rogers was also able to focus more on his defensive play than in Week 7, quarterbacking the defensive line and maintaining their set throughout the game– a weakness they’ve worked to overcome since Week 2. Ierlan also won 14 of his 23 face-offs taken against Saskatchewan’s Jake Naso, and Schreiber tallied seven points, finding the back of the net three times and assisting four.

May the Fourth (Quarter) Be With You

The 2024-2025 season has been fraught with home-and-home rematches, but none were as satisfying as this. Following a crushing road loss in Colorado in Week 7, the FireWolves found themselves once again teetering on the edge of a win in the fourth quarter. In previous weeks, the fourth has proved to be Albany’s quarter of issue, one that allowed Colorado to put back five unanswered goals against the Wolves in the fourth to win at home the week prior. Instead, Albany flew out in the fourth, staying disciplined and attacking ground balls on defense, resulting in more settled opportunities throughout the game and the fourth quarter.

The Albany forwards looked more selfish in their shot selection as well, putting their shoulders down shooting through coverage in situations where they would have made an extra pass in weeks prior. Albany outscored Colorado 6-2 in fourth, with Alex Simmons and Ethan Walker keeping the fire burning through the end of regulation, tallying a collecting six points between the two of them.

Ottawa Beats Vancouver at Their Own Game

Despite a tie-game at halftime, Vancouver looked to be gripping the reins, with Owen Grant and company controlling the flow of the game on the defensive end. The Warriors had found success throughout the first half by neutralizing the Black Bears’ offense with aggressive on-ball defense while locking off the adjacent passes. By limiting Ottawa’s passing options, the Warriors were able to force balls across the play, right into the defenders’ sticks for quick transition opportunities. Ottawa also struggled early offensively due to a lack of communication and field awareness, with two forwards crashing to the crease on multiple occasions, jamming shot lanes and consequently dragging multiple slides to the dodger.

Ottawa came out hot in the second half, with the defense finally adapting to the Warriors’ flow – empty out the crease, set the seal, attack and feed to the middle – as well as getting physical in the loose ball battles and sending heavy coverage to the first pass, something Vancouver had capitalized on early in the contest. The Ottawa forwards picked apart the Vancouver defense through the third quarter as well, moving the ball around the perimeter quicker to open up dodging space ball-side and emptying the far side for Larson Sundown to receive the ball, draw two defenders, fake out the cameraman and still find the back of the net. Ottawa’s second-half adjustments put them back in the game mentally, shoring up both sides of the ball and flipping the script on Vancouver.

Halifax Blindsided by Rochester’s Pick Game

Halifax set off on a hot start, finding an early lead against the Knighthawks, staying patient on offense, dodging strong to the goal and taking advantage of a lack of contact by the Rochester defense. The Knighthawks fired back in transition, looking to take advantage of Halifax’s comparatively slower substitutions and capitalize on uncontested loose balls. In settled situations, however, the Thunderbirds defense was quick to dominate, pressing out hard on Rochester forward Connor Fields, preventing him from quarterbacking the offense early on, while sealing off the inside cut and pressing out on hands to further limit Rochester’s options. Though tied at four heading into the half, Halifax wasted no time recognizing Rochester’s cautious defensive play, putting two goals up quick with little to no contact to start the third quarter. Fields kept the lead down to two goals with Rochester’s only goal of the third quarter, a quick look-off split dodge that left his defender completely off mark, anticipating a pick from the opposite direction.

This goal would lead the Knighthawks to an offensive epiphany in the fourth quarter, sealing off-ball and dragging their defenders out of the play, emptying the alley to set easy picks and score from distance. Halifax was unable to read Rochester’s picks for the remainder of the game, allowing Fields to put up two more in the fourth and find Ryan Smith late in regulation slipping behind his defender to take the game winning shot.