IL Indoor

Rookie goalkeeper Tyler Carlson was a problem for the Bandits in Saturday night's game. (Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn)

So the Colorado Mammoth, ranked No. 8 by our staff here at ILIndoor before the season started, are off to a 4-0 start. The Washington Stealth, ranked No. 1 in that same poll, are 0-3. Welcome to the world of guessing who’s gonna do what in the National Lacrosse League this season, which is turning out to be the very definition of parity. How else to explain that Minnesota victory over Buffalo? Or the Edmonton win over Washington? It’s a crapshoot every single weekend and that’s why there’s a growing sense of urgency with each new weekend. Knowing that any team can beat any team, getting the win becomes paramount because if that tiebreaker card’s gotta be pulled at the season’s end to determine a playoff spot or berth, you wanna be holding that winning hand.

Check out each team, heading into Week 4:

Buffalo Bandits (2-2)

Last week: lost to Philadelphia Friday 13-10; lost to Minnesota Saturday, 19-11.
This week: vs. Washington on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: WWKB (1520-AM); NLL.com

What’s up: Minnesota’s 19 goals are the most scored against a Bandits team since Rochester scored a 22-11 win over the Bandits in 2001. “I think it’s a clear example of the parity in this league and how hard it is to win every single night,” assistant coach Derek Graham said. “We thought we were doing pretty good up until that point (vs. Philadelphia) and that fourth quarter kinda snowballed into Saturday night and Saturday was an absolute debacle for us.” … T Mark Steenhuis was 2-3 in the loss to Philadelphia but was scoreless against Minnesota when the game misconduct at halftime ended his night early. D Jon Harasym, Billy Dee Smith, Steve Priolo and Brandon Francis all joined him in the locker room for the second half with game misconducts … F John Tavares was 2-2 against Philadelphia and 2-2 again against Minnesota and has a team-leading 23 points (10-13). He’s on pace for a 92-point season … F Chad Culp was 2-2 vs. Philly and 3-3 against Minnesota. He’s had at least 2 points in all 4 games for Buffalo this season … F Kevin Buchanan is scoreless on 7 shots in 2 games since scoring 2 goals in the season-opener. He didn’t play against Minnesota … F Tracey Kelusky was 2-4 against the Swarm, snapping a 2-game scoreless funk … The penalty killers gave up 9 power play goals on 13 chances against the Swarm … If you’re looking for any sort of upside to the loss against Minnesota, just 6 of the Swarm’s goals were scored 5-on-5. Minnesota had 9 power-play goals, 3 short-handed goals and 1 empty-netter. Still … “What went wrong for us is what went right for Minnesota,” Graham said. “I don’t think they could do anything wrong. Carlson, in his first start, was on the money. As much as they were on, we were off.”

Calgary Roughnecks (2-2)

Last week: lost to Toronto, 14-13 (OT).
This week: off.
TV/radio: NLL.com.

What’s up: Minor, of course, but how strange was it to see every quarter of Calgary’s game against Toronto end with a tie score? It was 3-3, 6-6, 11-11 then 13-13 before Toronto won in OT … F Daryl Veltman seems to have found a fire. After scoring just 1 goal in his first 2 games, he’s got 5 in the last 2 including a 3-3 game vs. Toronto … F Dane Dobbie had 1 goal on 2 shots and has just 1 goal in his last 2 games. He took just 2 shots against Toronto after taking at least 12 in each of the first 3 games … No sophomore slump for F Curtis Dickson, last year’s NLL Rookie of the Year. He was 3-3 against Toronto and has scored at least 1 goal in each game this season for 17 points (7-10) through 4 games. Dickson also leads the Riggers with 5 forced turnovers … The 2-game skid started with the OT loss to Colorado, which made the Riggers 11-14 all-time against the Mammoth. It’s the only West Division team the Roughnecks have a losing record against … D Geoff Snider leads the NLL with 59 loose balls, putting him on a pace for 236 this season … The Roughnecks lead the league with 125 forced turnovers.

Colorado Mammoth (4-0)

Last week: defeated Rochester, 14-11.
This week: vs. Edmonton on Saturday, 9 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: NLL.com, ALT2.

What’s up: The Mammoth are off to their best start since 2008, when they started 5-0. “We got out to a good start against Rochester and to Rochester’s credit, they never gave up,” coach Bob Hamley said. “They had a tough travel week, but we feel fortunate to be 4-0 and know we have a lot of work ahead of us.” … F John Grant Jr. was 3-4 to add to his league-leading scoring total of 37 points … Grant was 1 of 3 players to score 3 goals, the others being F Sean Pollock and rookie F Jamie Lincoln … Lincoln has 7 goals this season, 6 of them being scored at home … Rookie F Adam Jones had an “off” game with just 1 goal after scoring 3, 5 and 3 in the previous 3 games … The power play was 2-for-3 and is 14-for-22 this season. The penalty killers were clicking too, killing 3 of 4 opportunities against Rochester, and the overall defense is making Hamley glow. “We’re very happy,” he said. “We felt we had a great first half against Rochester and I think they’re coming together, guys like Rory Smith, Jon Sullivan and Dan Coates, who has been outstanding.” … Think F Gavin Prout is more comfortable in Colorado? In his first 10 games with Edmonton last season, he had 37 points to average 3.7 points per outing. In 4 games with Colorado this year, he’s got 22 points for a 5.5 average per game.

Edmonton Rush (1-1)

Last week: defeated Washington, 16-5.
This week: at Colorado on Saturday, 9 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: NLL.com.

What’s up: Great things were expected of the Rush defense and the special teams are a big part of it so far. In allowing just 5 goals in the win over Washington, the penalty killers stopped the Stealth on 3 of 4 chances and the downers are 3-for-6 in the 2 games combined … Plenty of balance up top for the Rush, who got goals from 6 different forwards, led by veteran F Shawn Williams who had 3 and F Zack Greer, who also had 3. With hat tricks in each of his first 2 games, Greer has 6 goals in 2 games and is well on his way of surpassing his career-best 14 goals, which he posted last season in splitting time between Minnesota and Edmonton. “It certainly wasn’t what we expected,” GM and coach Derek Keenan said of the win over Washington. “We played pretty well and caught them on an off night. Our focus was to play 60 minutes and the big thing was to play better in our end. We hope to carry that over to this weekend and get a little more confidence in each other and our system.” … The Rush defense held the Stealth to 48 shots, including a combined 21 shots between Rhys Duch (11) and Lewis Ratcliff (10), who each had just 1 goal on Saturday … D Kyle Rubisch scooped a team-high 13 loose balls and leads the team with 21.

Minnesota Swarm (1-1)

Last week: defeated Buffalo 19-11.
This week: at Rochester on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: NLL.com.

What’s up: Rookie goalie Tyler Carlson made quite an impression with 39 saves on 50 shots in the home win over Buffalo. He also had 5 assists, with ties him with F Jamie Shewchuk as the team’s sixth-leading scorer this season. “I thought he was great,” coach Mike Lines said. “He made all the stops he needed to make and moved the ball very well. For his first game, he got his first couple of shots out of the way and then he was fantastic.” Still, Lines said he’s not sure who will start in goal on Saturday in Rochester … A few more games like that will lessen any urgency the Swarm may have been feeling to sign holdout G Anthony Cosmo … The Swarm was an incredible 9-for-13 on the power play, including 5-for-7 in the first half. Even better was that 4 different players scored those man-up goals. The Swarm’s power play is best in the NLL at 65% … The 19 goals ties a franchise record for most goals in a game, the last time being a 2007 win over the Chicago Shamrox … Saturday’s win was the first for Minnesota at home against Buffalo, snapping an 0-for-6 skid. “We played a good, full 60 minutes,” Lines said. “And that’s what we have to do (against Rochester). Their record doesn’t indicate how good this team is, they’ve had a couple of close losses.” … In addition to the 9 power-play goals, the Swarm added 1 empty-netter and 3 short-handed goals … 4 different players scored 3 goals against Buffalo, led by Ryan Benesch’s 3-5 game. Andrew Suitor, Kevin Ross and rookie Corbyn Tao also carded hat tricks and Suitor had his before a game misconduct at halftime ended his night early … F Callum Crawford led the team with 9 points on 2 goals and 7 assists … The all-around game of rookie Jordan MacIntosh continues to impress. He won 17 faceoffs, scooped a game-high 19 loose balls and had 1 goal and 3 assists.

Philadelphia Wings (2-1)

Last week: defeated Buffalo, 13-10.
This week: vs. Toronto on Saturday, 7 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: WBZC (88.9-FM); ESPN3.

What’s up: The 2-1 start is the team’s best since a 3-0 start in 2008, the last year the Wings made the playoffs. “We’re playing at a level where we’re dangerous as long as we stick to our principles and gameplan,” coach and GM Johnny Mouradian said. … The power play was 5-for-7 following an 0-for-3 game in the win over Washington … F Dan Dawson has scored just 2 goals in 3 games, but he’s still the team leader in scoring because of his 17 assists. He had 7 in the win over Buffalo … F Brendan Mundorf has been solid with a 3-4 game vs. Buffalo after last week’s 2-3 game. He’s on pace for a 74-point season, which would be a career best by 15 points … D Brodie Merrill scooped a game-high 8 loose balls and ranks third in the NLL with 29 behind 2 former Wings, Geoff Snider (59) and Bob Snider (36) … With 35 goals-for and 41 goals-against, it’s weird to see the Wings sit in first place but they’re not alone. Three of the 4 teams in the East Division have scored less than they’ve allowed … G Brandon Miller has given up just 19 goals in his last 123 minutes after giving up 13 goals in 36 minutes in the Game 1 loss to Rochester. “A big part of it is getting everybody to understand everybody else and what they bring,” Mouradian said of his defense. “We came out of the gate with a weak understanding collectively, our collective intelligence, it wasn’t where it needed to be.” … Does this mean we should expect to see a new defense in Philly? “After 3 games, we have a good idea of what our cohesiveness on the floor is looking like,” Mouradian said. “We know that we can play against a strong offensive team, we did it the last couple of games and that’s the challenge, to keep their goal production down.”

Rochester Knighthawks (1-3)

Last week: lost to Toronto Friday, 13-10; lost to Colorado Saturday, 14-11.
This week: vs. Minnesota on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: NLL.com; SportsRadio 950 ESPN

What’s up: After a 2-for-9 weekend combined on the power play, the Knighthawks may have a special teams issue. After a 7-for-11 performance man-up in the Game 1 win over Philadelphia, the Knighthawks are a combined 3-for-12 with just 1 power play goal in each of the last 3 games … The Knighthawks have been outscored 15-9 in the fourth quarter this season. “We felt we were doing what we needed to get the job done but we had a really bad 6-minute spell in the fourth quarter and they caught us,” coach Mike Hasen said of Friday’s game in Toronto. “And on Saturday, we started really bad and were atrocious for a half. We battled back but they got some late goals against us. We played well in spots, but a lot of spots we didn’t.” … D Brad Self had a big game against Toronto with a game-high 11 loose balls and finished with 14 LBs and 3 forced turnovers in the weekend losses … F Cody Jamieson was 4-4 in the Friday loss and 2-3 in Saturday’s loss, giving him 27 points (13-14) this season. After scoring 56 points last season, he’s on pace to clear 100 points this season … D Joel White made his debut, scooping 3 loose balls in the loss to Colorado … F Joe Walters played his first game of 2012, assisting on 2 goals and scooping a pair of LB … Since scoring 8 points in Game 1, F Jordan Hall has scored 8 points in his last 3 games … The Knighthawks are second-best in the NLL with 53 goals scored, but 22 of those goals came in the Game 1 win over Philadelphia, meaning the Knighthawks have averaged just 10 goals in the 3 games since then, all losses. “We’re not where we mapped ourselves to be but there are no easy games,” Hasen said. “The mental lapses we’re having are simple things we’ve talked about and the guys are following through on that right now. It’s a lot of the little things that guys take for granted and when we do stuff like that, it comes back to bite us.”

Toronto Rock (2-2)

Last week: defeated Rochester Friday, 13-11; defeated Calgary Saturday, 14-13 (OT).
This week: at Philadelphia on Saturday, 7 p.m. (EST).
TV/radio: TSN2 in Canada; ESPN3 in U.S.

What’s up: The Toronto Rock went 2-0 on the weekend to even the record after an 0-2 start. “People made a big deal out of us being 0-2, the media more than we did,” GM Terry Sanderson said. “But we have a good group, a good team and actually thought we played well enough in Buffalo to win but that’s the way our league is. It’s never been tighter.” … How long will veteran F Colin Doyle be out? He left at halftime of Friday’s win over Rochester and didn’t return. He didn’t play Saturday in Calgary and Sanderson says he won’t play in Philadelphia on Saturday. … Missing Saturday’s game snapped Doyle’s consecutive games streak at 188 and leaving him tied with Steve Toll for most consecutive games played in the NLL … Props to D Rob Marshall, who scooped his 500th career loose ball in the win over Rochester … F Stephan Leblanc ended his 2-game slide with 1 goal and 4 assists in the Friday win over Rochester. He added 1-1 in Saturday’s win over Calgary … The Rock power play was 7-for-11 combined in the weekend wins … After scoring 5 combined points in his first 2 games, F Josh Sanderson put up games of 3-2 and 3-6 for a 14-point weekend. He scored 3 goals in each of the Toronto wins … F Garrett Billings was 3-4 on Friday and 3-4 again on Saturday but GM Sanderson says his value goes way beyond the points. “He’s one of our team leaders,” he said. “He’s put this club on his shoulders, so to speak, and he has such a tremendous game-sense and is starting to do some of the gritty things that you need to do to be successful. We’d be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t have Garrett Billings.”

Washington Stealth (0-3)

Last week: lost to Edmonton, 16-5.
This week: at Buffalo on Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (EST)
TV/radio: NLL.com.

What’s up: The 5 goals scored is the lowest for the Stealth in a game since the 2009 West Division final, a 17-5 loss to Calgary. “We just didn’t show up to play,” coach Art Webster said. “We can’t go down that road, and we’re working on things to get out of it. We’re all sticking together, it’s a tight locker room.” … The offense clearly is struggling, shooting 10% (5-for-48) in the loss to Edmonton. For the season, Washington is shooting 14.5% (24-for-165) … Fs Lewis Ratcliff (1 goal on 10 shots) and Rhys Duch (1-for-11) combined to shoot 9%. For the season, Duch is at 15% (5-for-33) and Ratcliff is at 7% (3-for-38). “We’re not going to pull the drain plug and wash everything out,” Webster said of potential lineup changes. “We’ll take it as 1 loss and move on. You can’t dwell on the moment. From goaltending, to defense to offense, nobody came to play and that’s not acceptable.” … Bob Snider led the team with 17 loose balls and has a team-high 36 for the season … G Tyler Richards struggled mightily, giving up 9 goals on 18 shots in just more than 20 minutes. Backup Chris Seidel fared a bit better, giving up 7 goals on 29 shots in almost 40 minutes of play … The debut of F Brett Bucktooth didn’t bring the boost the Stealth had hoped for; he was scoreless on 3 shots and had 1 assist … The Stealth power play had its best game of the season against Edmonton, going 2-for-4, but for the season it’s at just 3-for-10 … Slow starts are putting the Stealth in holes that are tough to recover from: they’ve been outscored 12-5 in the first quarter combined this season. Webster is hoping that changes Saturday in Buffalo. “It’s very important,” he said of quick starts. “The way we played the last game, it would send out a positive attitude so a good start is very important.”

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