Philadelphia Wings (7-9/3-5 road) vs Rochester Knighthawks (8-8/3-5 home)
Saturday night5pm CBS SportsNetwork Rochester won season series 2-1
A rematch of last season’s first round playoff game with Rochester winning 14-13.
What team will show up for the Wings? Will it be the team that defeated Rochester in week 8? Or, Will it be the team that was blown out in week six against the Knighthawks? Rookie jitters should be gone, but this is the playoffs. How will the young defense react? For the Knighthawks, they needed to win on the last game of the season, and barely did. They haven’t done well at home this season, and last weeks low offensive output raises a question. Are the Hawks ripe for the picking? Can the skilled offense of Powless, Dawson, Jamieson, Keogh and company take advantage of a young defense?
I see a goalie battle here….Wings come out on top 12-10
Edmonton Rush (9-7/7-1 road) vs Washington Stealth (9-7/5-3 home)
Saturday night 7:30pm CBS SportsNetwork Edmonton won season series 2-1
Rush make their return to the playoffs after falling a half short last season. Rookie of the Year (unofficial) Mark Matthews showed no first game jitters at the start of the season, so I don’t expect any Saturday night. Team does very well on the road and in the three games this season Rush outscored the Stealth by a 14-10 average, but they lost two of last three. Is the tank running dry? Or will the balanced scoring of the Rush come out on top? How will the defense of the Rush handle league goal scoring winner Rhys Duch? Athan Iannucci, a bit of a slump can he break out of it? In the face-offs, Bobby Snider vs Jeremy Thompson, and the goalies Aaron Bold vs Tyler Richards. That’s enough to fill the plate right there. This will be a great game as they will all be.
I’ll stay with the hot team on the road Edmonton wins 15-10
Colorado Mammoth (7-9/4-4 road) vs Calgary Roughnecks (9-7/3-5 home)
Saturday night 9pm TLN Calgary won season series 2-1
For the Mammoth the BIG question is…. Can they get out of the first round? Since winning the title in 2006, the Mammoth made the playoffs each year (except 2010) and where eliminated in round 1 all 5 years, three times by Calgary. Since Tye Belanger has gone in net the Mammoth are 5-2 (3-1 road) and the Roughnecks have gone 4-3 (1-3 at home)
Just which team will show up for Colorado, and Calgary? Colorado? Goaltending is strong for Colorado, and Calgary’s has gotten a little vulnerable. Both teams have a lot of fire power on offense.Prout, Grant Jr, Jones, Pollock, etc.. for Colorado. Evans, Dobbie, Shattler, Ranger,Dickson for the Roughnecks. Whose inferno will stay ablaze? Which extinguisher will put them out? Tough choice hereBut the first round woes continue for the Mammoth. Calgary advances 16-11.
Minnesota Swarm (7-9/2-6 road) vs Toronto Rock.(10-6/5-3 home) Sunday 3pm TLN
In their only meeting the Swarm came out on top 13-12 at the Hive. The Swarms loss last week to Colorado made them the crossover team to the East. Big question is, The team made it through the regular season after Andrew Suitor went down. Now how will this young offense handle the NLL playoffs? Can they pull the upset? While the other eight were playing, the Rock were relaxing on a bye week. The march for title #7 starts, Can the Rock start winning at home again as they did in the past? Or Will it be a struggle against a quick Swarm team? If the offense starts firing, just how many will the Rock score? Will Garrett Billings also try and go for playoff MVP?
This will be the upset special Swarm win 13-11
