We’re at the halfway point of the season and things are getting serious as teams begin to look ahead to the March to May. Week 12 kicks off on Friday with three games including a TSN doubleheader featuring two fierce rivalry matchups. Saturday continues with four more exciting games beginning with the back half of Philadelphia and Halifax’s home-and-home series. There’s also a rare Sunday evening game featuring the Las Vegas Desert Dogs visiting the Calgary Roughnecks – both teams will be playing their second game of the weekend. In fact, in a scheduling quirk, four teams play twice this weekend. Get ready for some intense action.
There’s no love lost between Buffalo and Toronto, who kick off Valentine’s Day Weekend on TSN with a match that’s sure to be heated. Not only will recent playoff history be a factor, but add in each team’s record, some bad blood from Buffalo’s 15-13 win on January 10, and this one could be explosive.
Both teams are talented, but Buffalo has been much better at harnessing that talent this year. Toronto has battled injuries and late-game collapses and they haven’t had much to celebrate this season. Despite that, the Rock only lost by two goals in their previous tilt against Buffalo. Toronto led at halftime and after the third, but the Bandits pulled away in the fourth outscoring them 6-3.
The Bandits have won the last eight games between these two teams including playoff games dating back to April 22, 2023, and they’ve ended Toronto’s season for the previous four years in the playoffs. To say Toronto wants this one is the understatement of the season.
The second half of TSN’s doubleheader is a Battle of the Canadian Prairies. Though 6.5 hours separate Sasktel Centre from Scotiabank Saddledome, the fans of these two franchises travel well, so expect to see some green mixed in with the Calgary crowd on Lovers and Lax Night.
The Roughnecks have won eight of the last nine games that the perennial rivals have played against each other, although the Rush took their last meeting in April 2024 12-9.
Never a dull moment in the Battle of the Prairies 😤@SaskRushLAX x @NLLRoughnecks pic.twitter.com/OvVuFpxRSi
— NLL (@NLL) October 9, 2024
It was the back half of an exciting home-and-home series that the teams split; it was during the Rush’s late-season resurgence which has continued this season and now sees them sitting in second place, while Calgary is in third. With so few wins separating second to 10th place, I wouldn’t exactly call this a clash of titans but it will be fun to watch two top teams battling it out.
They play again on April 4 at Sasktel Centre.
The Desert Dogs are in for another tough contest on Rock the Box 80s Night, with the Warriors in town. Vancouver is 4-1 all-time against Las Vegas, and though they have slipped to ninth place, they are capable of playing much better than their current standing. The Desert Dogs remain in 13th place.
Las Vegas is coming off a bye week after a heartbreaking 16-14 home loss to Georgia, and should be ready and motivated. Vancouver is on a short two-game skid and needs to get back in the win column to put themselves back in playoff position.
Deadpool and Wolverine – the perfect frenemies. Can’t ask for much more out of a Marvel SuperHero game, unless it’s the back half of a home-and-home series – which this is.
Halifax will once again don their Deadpool-themed jerseys with Philadelphia wearing new Wolverine-themed duds. The Thunderbirds beat Philly 14-10 last week, leading the whole game. Halifax’s season started slowly but they have evened their record and look to jump over .500 with another win.
The Wings, who started the season strong, have lost three of their last four games. They need to find Wolverine’s invincible mindset and find the fight within themselves before they slip any further down the standings.
This will be the first meeting between Ottawa and Albany, although the franchises met seven times when Ottawa was in New York. They love to score against each other, with a combined score of 105-65 in favor of Albany, though Ottawa holds the edge with four wins to three. Their lowest-scoring game still saw a combined 21 goals (March 26, 2022 – Albany lost 15-6).
In those seven games, Jeff Teat racked up 27 goals and 25 assists, Connor Kearnan behind him with 14 goals and 19 assists. Ethan Walker has had the most success for the FireWolves with 15 goals and 12 assists.
Goaltending will be an interesting matchup. Zach Higgins is having a terrific season with the Black Bears, who are sitting in the middle of the standings, while Doug Jamieson isn’t having much success with Albany; after a surprising run to the finals last season, the FireWolves are in last place with only two wins. Albany needs to start taking advantage of middle-of-the-pack teams if they want to start moving up the standings.
The Bandits have faced San Diego four times since 2019 and won all four games – two at home, and two away. Saturday’s contest, also Marvel SuperHero Night, is the front half of a home-and-home that concludes next Saturday at Pechanga Arena.
The defending champs will have played the night before but from a powerhouse team like Buffalo don’t expect any fatigue. And it’s in Banditland – the crowd will carry them even if their legs give out.
Though the Seals beat Toronto last weekend, they were coming off a three-game skid where they didn’t look particularly inspired. After some early-season success, the new forward corps that includes some of the most talented players in the league just hasn’t been clicking like it should. Will the late-game victory last week give them the momentum they need to get back on track?
This will be the second meeting this season between the Knighthawks and Rush. Saskatchewan took the first meeting, on December 21, 14-12. Austin Shanks and Zach Manns were the stars for Saskatchewan that night, with seven and six points respectively.
The Rush led 13-7 in the fourth quarter before giving up five consecutive goals to let Rochester get within a goal. Matt Hossack was able to secure the win with an empty netter insurance marker, but the Rush can’t afford another slip like that, as Rochester has shown in recent wins against Halifax and Philadelphia that they’ll take advantage of any vulnerability.
Rochester will have an edge at faceoff which should give them more possessions – Sask’s Jake Naso out with an injury, so Rochester’s Mike Sisselberger will face the Rush for the first time, likely going up against Mike Messenger. Messenger has taken many faceoffs in his time and will be a tough matchup for the rookie.
Both teams will be playing their second game of the weekend, so a little fatigue – especially from the Desert Dogs, who had to travel instead of resting at a hotel – could be both expected and forgiven. Fittingly, the Roughnecks are hosting a Pajama Party for their fans in the stands.
Calgary and Las Vegas have only faced each other three times; the last time was in December of 2023 with Calgary prevailing 17-11 to move their head-to-head record to 2-1. Interestingly, Curtis Dickson and Dane Dobbie have never faced Las Vegas as members of the Roughnecks, though they have plenty of experience against them from their time in San Diego. Dickson has scored 25 points against them (in four games) and Dobbie 22 (in five games).
