From my perspective as an NLL fanatic the opening volley of the Division Finals was nothing short of spectacular. Both Game Ones were decided in the final three minutes of play, both featured hard hits, spectacular goals, spectacular saves, everything a sports fan could want.
The Edmonton Rush withstood a big comeback from the Calgary Roughnecks to win 10-8 while Dan Dawson scored the game winner with 30 seconds left to give the Rochester Knighthawks the 10-9 victory over the Toronto Rock.
In the best-of-two series format that the NLL currently has in place for the Division Finals, if the Rush or K’Hawks win their respective games, they move on to the Champion’s Cup. If they lose, the series is decided by a 10-minute mini-game.
The Knighthawks open the weekend visiting Toronto. Rochester is trying to get to the Champion’s Cup for the fourth straight year, but they’ll likely be without their top player, Cody Jamieson. The defending league MVP hobbled off the floor in the first quarter of Game One with an apparent leg injury. If he’s unable to suit up, the K’Hawks will have to once again find enough offense without their best scorer.
That means Dawson will have to step up again, and they’ll likely be looking to Brad Self to have another big game, following up on his six-point night from the first game.
On the Rock side of things, they’ll be playing a desperate game, trying to avoid an early exit after posting the best record in the NLL during the regular season. Toronto was held to just nine goals last weekend; during the regular season they were held under 10 goals just three times, twice by Rochester. To have a shot at winning this game, they will have to solve the Knighthawks defense and goalie Matt Vinc.
The key to boosting the offense will be getting better performances out of Josh Sanderson and Rob Hellyer. Sanderson averaged 5.7 points per game during the regular season and Hellyer averaged 6.4 points per game but the two were held to just five points combined in Game One.
In the West, the Rush will be seeking to finish off their cross-provincial rivals, the Roughnecks. Look for Robert Church to return to the lineup, making Edmonton’s league leading offense (241 goals for) that much more potent. And also look for the Rush defense to continue to give the Riggers no room in which to operate.
Calgary needs one of their lefties to have a big night. Jeff Shattler was shut out in Game One, Daryl Veltman managed a single point, and Dane Dobbie picked up three. They need all three of those guys to step up to create more room for big guns Shawn Evans and Curtis Dickson.
If it once again comes down to Evans and Dickson carrying the team, they’ll be hard pressed to stay in this game.
Calgary also needs to stay out of the penalty box. Their Achilles Heel is taking bad penalties—last week they were shorthanded six times to Edmonton’s three and gave up three powerplay goals to Edmonton’s one.
If Calgary loses focus and winds up logging a lot of time in the sin bin, their season will be over.
The Rock and Knighthawks get underway at 7:00 pm ET in the Air Canada Centre; the Roughnecks and Rush face off at 9:30 pm ET in the Scotiabank Saddledome.
