As week 5 of the NLL season approaches a key matchup is on the schedule as the East leading Toronto Rock (4-1) take on the (3-1) Buffalo Bandits. These two teams have been fierce rivals and the fact that first place in the East is on the line should ensure fireworks from the two teams.
In the Bandits last game they won a wild game against the Philadelphia Wings 14-13. The Bandits have been solid this year thanks to the play of rookie Dhane Smith and forward Shawn Williams. In net for the Bandits Anthony Cosmo has won when he has had to but has been shaky at times. For the Bandits Williams leads the team with 4 goals and 17 assists and has showed his playmaking skills as he sits fourth in the NLL in assists. Dhane Smith has made a case for himself as rookie of the year as he has notched 8 goals and 6 assists. When talking about the Bandit’s one must always remember veteran John Tavares as he is a game breaker.
In the Toronto Rock’s last game the Rock dispatched of the Rochester Knight Hawks 11-7. For the Rock it is no surprise that Garrett Billings, Colin Doyle and Josh Sanderson are leading the offense. Billings has continued his strong play from last year and is second in the NLL in points with 29. The story though for the Rock has been Nick Rose as he has been phenomenal this season. Rose has been able to stand on his head at times and currently leads the NLL in all goaltender categories.
The Keys to victory for the Bandits are that they need to get their offense going early. Nick Rose has been great for the Rock but has shown at times shakiness after letting in a goal which has allowed opposing teams to capitalize. For the Bandits they will want to score early and force Toronto to work from behind. The Bandits will need to be tight on defense as the Rock’s offense is very good at spreading out the floor and opening up shots on net. The Bandit’s can expect Anthony Cosmo to be under fire all night and will need to help him out in any way they can.
For the Rock the key to victory is to get their offense going early. The Rock have shown in their last few games the ability to score early and take other teams out of the game. If the Rock can break Cosmo early the Bandits will find it hard to crawl back into this game as Nick Rose will not give up easy goals. The Rock though have had one problem this year and that has been fading late in the game as they have allowed teams to fight back into games. The Rock need to play all 60 minutes and help out Nick Rose and not expect him to stand on his head against Buffalo’s dangerous offense.
In the end the Rock are overall the better team as Nick Rose will be able to frustrate Buffalo’s offense while Garret Billings will help the Rock’s offense pick apart the Buffalo defense and take advantage of Buffalo’s weak goal tending. Expect the Rock to make a statement in this game and prove they are the beast in the East.
