There were 3 games in the opening weekend for the NLL. The Swarm took on the Knighthawks in Rochester; the Buffalo Bandits faced the Philadelphia Wings in Buffalo; the Edmonton Rush took down the Colorado Mammoth in Colorado. I’m going to look at the standouts from each game.
The Knighthawks took down the Swarm 8-6 on the night they raised their Champions Cup banner. Standing out in this game, first and foremost was Matt Vinc. He stopped 45 out of 51 shots Saturday, giving him a .882 save percentage on the night. Vinc was prepared for just about everything the Swarm threw at him.
Dan Dawson had 6 points on the night. He had 6 of the Knighthawks’s 34 shots on goal, 2 goals and 4 assists, and was continually involved in the play whenever he was on the field.
The Swarm outshot the Knighthawks 51-34, showing that they’re not going to be afraid to pepper the goalie. Of the six goals scored (and the one that was waved off), there were 6 different goal scorers Saturday night.
The Philadelphia Wings defeated the Buffalo Bandits in Buffalo 17-13 in Buffalo. Jordan Hall had an excellent night with 7 points. He had 11 shots on goal, 5 goals, and 2 assists. He’s already about a third of the way to last year’s goal production total.
Tracey Kelusky, who struggled last year in Buffalo, also had a good opening night with the Wings. He had 5 shots on goal, 2 goals and 4 assists for a total of 6 points. His point total last year was 10. So, it’s good to see that, at least for the first game, a change of scenery is working for him.
The combination of Dhane Smith, John Tavares, Shawn Williams, and Ryan Benesch for Buffalo: the foursome combined for 39 of Buffalo’s 52 shots on goal. They were also responsible for 7 goals and 6 assists.
And in the late game, the Edmonton Rush took down the Mammoth in their first win in a season opener since 2007. The final score was 13-10. Adam Jones stood out for the Mammoth with 6 points. He had 4 goals and 2 assists, along with 8 shots on net. He was the points leader for the Mammoth.
Riley Loewen, in his first game in the NLL, had a 2 goal night. He had two back to back goals in the 2nd quarter assisted by John LaFontaine on the first, and Curtis Knight and Mark Matthews on the second.
Finally, we’ll take a look at Dillon Ward, rookie goalie for the Mammoth. He was sent in to relieve a struggling Tye Belanger with 18:48 remaining. Belanger had allowed 11 goals on 26 shots. Ward went in and faced 12 shots. He allowed 2 goals. In his first NLL game experience, he posted a GAA of 6.38 and a save percentage of .833.
