The 2013 NLL playoffs are up and running….Some exciting games this past weekend, and the home floor was an advantage in all but one game. Calgary defeats Colorado 15-10, Washington rallies to defeat Edmonton 12-11, Rochester defeats Philadelphia 10-8 all win at home, while the Rock crumble 20-11 at home. Next week: Minnesota travels to Rochester and Washington travels to Calgary. The winner of the west will host the title game. Below are my 3 stars for the weekend with some honorable mentions.
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“DANGEROUS” DAN DAWSON—Rochester Knighthawks. Registered 4 goals and 2 assists in his teams 10-8 victory over the Philadelphia Wings in round one for the second year in a row. Dawson registered a hat trick 5:37 into the second quarter. With the status of COdey Jamieson unknown as of now, Dawson may be looked upon to pick up a little more should Jamieson be out. Dawson who is in his 12th season is only 2 victories away from hoisting his first Champions Cup.
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JORDAN MACINTOSH—Minnesota Swarm Registered 4 goals and 2 assists, picked up 9 loose balls and dominated the face-off dot going 23-33 in his teams destruction of the Toronto Rock 20-11. MacIntosh has carried over what he has done in the regular season (27G/28A, 197 loose balls) into the playoffs and has taken the Swarm to the Conference Finals for a second year in a row, and has his team one win from the title game.
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TYLER RICHARDS—Washington Stealth. T-Rich even though pulled early on to re-group came on strong in his teams 12-11 win over Edmonton in round one. After being down 7-1 he helped his team to outscore Edmonton 11-4 in the final 32 minutes. T-Rich stopped 41/52 shots 78.80%, and also registered 3 assists in the victory. Richards must now face a Calgary team that has been on fire as of late. Richards has the Stealth one win away from being in the title game for the third time in four years.
HONORABLE MENTIONS(in no particular order)
Washington Stealth: Rhys Duch 4 goals/2 assists, Brett Bucktooth 1 goal 4 assist
Minnesota Swarm: Ryan Benesch 3 goals/2 assists, Shayne Jackson 4 goals/3 assists, Tyler Carlson 54/65 83% save
Rochester Knighthawks: Matt Vinc stopped 29/37 shots 78.40% 8.00GAA
Calgary Roughnecks: Shawn Evans 3 goals/2 assists, Jeff Shattler 3 goals/4 assists
Round 1—East Round 1—West
(3) Philadelphia Wings 8 (3) Edmonton Rush 11
(2) Rochester Knighthawks 10 (2) Washington Stealth 12
(4) Minnesota Swarm 20 (4) Colorado Mammoth 10
(1) Toronto Rock 11 (1) Calgary Roughnecks 15
Round 2—EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS Round 2—WEATERN CONFERENE FINALS
(4) Minnesota Swarm (2) Washington Stealth
(2) Rochester Knighthawks (1) Calgary Roughnecks
4pm Eastern CBS SportsNetwork 6:30pm Eastern CBS SportsNetwork
Winner of Calgary/Washington game will host final as they both had a better regular season record then Minnesota or Rochester
