The Washington Stealth will look to stay in first place on Saturday night as they take on the Minnesota Swarm. Last week the fell in Calgary 19-15 while Washington picked up a 16-10 win in Philadelphia.
The Stealth will be without some players due to suspensions; Justin Pychal, Mitch McMichael and Jeff Moleski. Tim Henderson was also placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list this past week.
If the season ended today, Minnesota would be the one team out of the playoffs as they sit at 3-7. Meanwhile in Washington, the Stealth are 7-4 and one game ahead of the Calgary Roughnecks for first place in the Western Conference.
Mitch Jones, a defender, was activated for the Stealth this week probably to take the place of Moleski. The only transactions the Swarm made were placing Joel Henry and Mike O’Brien on the practice roster. Josh Gillam was activated early in the week along with third string goalie Zach Higgins.
So far in the season series the Swarm and Stealth have split and this is their final meeting on the year. Ryan Benesch is three goals away from breaking Sean Pollock’s team record of 131 career goals in a Minnesota uniform.
Tyler Richards, the Stealth starting goaltender, is coming off of a defensive player of the week performance. Washington has an advantage in this game if they shoot a lot, which they do. Minnesota is without their captain and best defender in Andrew Suitor, and the Swarm are desperate. The Stealth should make it their goal to rattle Minnesota. Game time is at 7pm.
