NLL: Ten things to know for Week 14

The National Lacrosse League begins “The March to May,” as teams vie for the eight spots in the NLL Playoffs. The new standings format, in which teams are ranked 1-15 based on record regardless of geography, has helped make the postseason races tighter and more interesting than ever.

Which brings us to Week 14, and an overstuffed slate of nine contests including a Friday NLL Game of the Week on TSN doubleheader beginning with Georgia at Halifax (7 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. AT, TSN4, ESPN+, Peachtree Sports) followed by Buffalo at Vancouver (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, TSN1/4, ESPN+, CW23 Buffalo). NLL on ESPN has the Toronto at Las Vegas (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, ESPNU, TSN+) as well that night, with four total games Friday, four on Saturday and a matinee on Sunday featuring Rochester at Panther City (4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT, ESPN+, TSN+, Bally Sports Southwest).

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL entering Week 14:

• Keeping it Close: While Albany and Toronto are off to commanding 8-2 marks, with San Diego one click behind at 7-3, just two losses separate fourth-place Halifax (7-4) and 14th-place Rochester (3-6), making “The March to May” even more intriguing. All 15 NLL teams are within three games of the eighth and final playoff spot.
• Metric Measurements: In this week’s “LaxMetrics Powered by the NLL,” NLL.com’s Cooper Perkins argues that Friday’s showdown between the Toronto Rock and San Diego Seals at Pechanga Arena (10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT, ESPNU, TSN+) is the best game of the season.
• Groovie Goalie Goals: February 23 is semi-officially “Goalie Goal” day in the NLL. Albany’s Doug Jamieson (Ohsweken, Ont.) put one in net during the FireWolves’ win at Buffalo last week, one year to the date that Panther City’s Nick Damuee (Fonthill, Ont.) tallied a full-field marker at Colorado.
• Teat Treats: New York’s Jeff Teat (Brampton, Ont.) heads up our look at the league’s offensive statistical leaders; with an NLL-best 35 goals through 11 games he’s on a pace to eclipse the 56 he tallied last year. Halifax’s Ryan Benesch (Elmira, Ont.) is next with 32 goals, followed by Georgia’s Lyle Thompson (Onondaga Nation, N.Y.) and San Diego’s Austin Staats (Six Nations, Ont.) with 29 each. Buffalo’s feed machine Dhane Smith (Kitchener, Ont.) is the runaway assist leader with 56, 10 more than second place Jesse King (Victoria, B.C.) of Calgary. Teat’s 73 points are five better than Buffalo’s Josh Byrne (New Westminster, B.C.) and six more than Smith.
• Hang Loose: The scoring races are tight, but the widest disparity between a stats leader and his closest competitor is in the loose ball recoveries category, where Halifax’s Jake Withers (Peterborough, Ont.) has gobbled up 183, an astounding 16.6 per game, with Calgary’s Zach Currier (Peterborough, Ont.) second with 105 and Buffalo’s Ian MacKay (Port Elgin, Ont.) third with 101.
• More than Wings: Mention Buffalo in the context of food and chicken wings are the usual response. Dhane Smith and his friends at Mr. Sizzle are out to change that with the introduction of “The Great Dhane,” a fried hot-honey chicken breast sandwich with pepper jack cheese and other goodies.
• Rankings Stand Pat: NLL.com’s Adam Levi usually has a change or two or five in his Power Rankings, but teams mostly solidified their positions over the weekend. For the second straight week, the Toronto Rock, by virtue of a road win at Vancouver, keep the top spot, San Diego stays at No. 2 following a thrilling OT triumph over Georgia, and Halifax remains in third for the third straight week after rinsing the Rush in Saskatoon. Albany popped up one slot to No. 4, and the big mover was surging Calgary, which lifted three spots to No. 5 and is making noise after a win over Philadelphia for its third straight victory
• Locally Shown: Eight of the nine scheduled games this weekend will have a local broadcast complementing the ESPN and TSN linear and digital options across the continent.
• Community Minded: Some recent NLL team community projects include:
  • The Albany FireWolves have set up a series of clinics in local school districts with players like Justin Geddie (Victoria, B.C.), Tye Kurtz (Puslinch, Ont.), Will Johansen (Victoria, B.C.) and Sam Firth (Ottawa, Ont.) helping introduce the game in a program that includes stick donations and the establishment of local lacrosse clubs.
  • Members of the Buffalo Bandits lacrosse team visited Windermere Boulevard Elementary School in Amherst, where they worked with children in groups and introduced them to the sport of lacrosse
  • The Vancouver Warriors have provided local lacrosse fan Jayden with the opportunity to join the team at a practice session as part of the Variety Show of Hearts program and Global BC.
  • The San Diego Seals have partnered with the T. Claude and Gladys B. Ryan Family YMCA, located in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood, on its new outdoor practice facility and community athletic center. NLL.com’s Jon Rapoport detailed the commitment in this article on Tuesday and local television stations were present at the groundbreaking.
• Promo World: A few of the events going on at NLL games weekend are:
  • Halifax is hosting Country Night on Friday vs. Georgia (8 p.m. AT), filled wth country music, bull riding and more.
  • Panther City will hold College Night in its first of two home game this weekend (Friday, 7 p.m. CT)
  • Marvel Super Hero Days continue their way across the “NLLverse,” with Philadelphia (Saturday, 1 p.m. ET), Albany (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET), Colorado (Saturday, 7 p.m. MT), Panther City (Sunday, 3 p.m. CT).
  • Las Vegas is hosting both its Every Child Matters and “Vegas got Talent” on Friday Night, with a free jersey to the first 1000 fans and a showcase of local talent and excitement for the whole family.
  • The Vancouver Warriors will honor the rich history of the game with their First Nations Celebration Night vs. Buffalo (Friday, 7 p.m. PT).
  • San Diego will also host its Every Child Matters Night (Saturday, 7 p.m. PT)
• NLL Players reaching milestones last week included:
  • Calgary forward Haiden Dickson (Delta, B.C.) now has 102 points after a goal and two assists vs. Philadelphia
  • Colorado forward Eli McLaughlin (Surrey, B.C.) now has 301 assists after dishing out five vs. New York
  • Halifax forward Clarke Petterson (Toronto) now has 100 goals after notching three vs. Saskatchewan
  • Halifax forward Austin Shanks (Courtice, Ont.) now has 301 points after a two-goal, four-assist game vs. Saskatchewan
  • Las Vegas forward Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) now has 104 points after two goals and three assists vs. Rochester
  • Philadelphia forward Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y.) now has 704 points after scoring two goals and adding four assists vs. Calgary
  • San Diego forward Austin Staats (Six Nations, Ont.) now has 301 points after a goal and five assists vs. Georgia
  • Toronto goaltender Nick Rose (Orangeville Ont.) passed Mike Poulin for sixth all-time with 6257 after recording 45 stops vs. Vancouver
  • Toronto forward Tom Schreiber (East Meadow, N.Y.) now has 502 points after a two-goal, four-assist effort vs. Vancouver
• Player achievements within reach this week are:
  • Buffalo forward Chris Cloutier (Kitchener, Ont.) needs two goals to reach 100
  • Colorado defenseman Paul Dawson (Oakville, Ont.) needs five points to reach 100
  • Colorado forward Tyson Gibson (Maple, Ont.) needs five assists to reach 100
  • Colorado forward Connor Robinson (New Westminster, B.C.) needs four goals to reach 100; and one assist to reach 100; and five points to reach 200
  • Georgia goaltender Brett Dobson (Oshawa, Ont.) needs one save to reach 1000
  • Georgia forward Shayne Jackson (Bowmanville, Ont.) needs nine assists to reach 500
  • Georgia forward Lyle Thompson (Onoondaga Nation, N.Y.) needs five points to reach 700
  • Halifax forward Ryan Benesch (Elmira, Ont.) needs one game played to pass Colin Doyle and Mark Steenhuis for eighth on the all-time list with 267; and nine goals to pass Dan Dawson for fourth on the all-time list with 552
  • Las Vegas forward Zack Greer (Whitby, Ont.) needs seven assists to reach 300
  • New York forward Connor Kearnan (Courtice, Ont.) needs four goals to reach 100
  • New York forward Jeff Teat (Brampton, Ont.) needs 11 assists to reach 200
  • Panther City forward Phil Caputo (Brampton, Ont.) needs five goals to reach 100
  • Panther City forward Jonathan Donville (Oakville, Ont.) needs five assists to reach 100
  • Philadelphia forward Ben McIntosh (Port Coquilam, B.C.) needs three goals to reach 300
  • Philadelphia forward Joe Resetarits (Hamburg, N.Y.) needs seven goals to reach 300
  • Rochester forward Curtis Knight (Oshawa, Ont.) needs two assists to reach 300
  • Rochester forward Ryan Smith (Burlington, Ont.) needs four goals to reach 100; and five assists to reach 100; and nine points to reach 200
  • San Diego forward Curtis Dickson (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) needs four goals (depending on teammate Dane Dobbie, see below) to pass Colin Doyle for sixth all-time with 528; and six points to become the 15^th player to reach 1000
  • San Diego forward Dane Dobbie (Elora, Ont.) needs one goal to pass Colin Doyle for sixth place on the all-time goals list with 528 (Ryan Benesch of Halifax now has 543)
  • San Diego defenseman/transition player Jesse Gamble (Rockwood, Ont.) needs five points to reach 100
  • San Diego forward Kyle Jackson (Sarnia, Ont.) needs seven points to reach 300
  • San Diego forward Tre Leclaire (Surrey, B.C.) needs four points to reach 100
  • Toronto forward Chris Boushy (Oakville, Ont.) needs two goals to reach 100
  • Toronto forward Dan Craig (Shelburne, Ont) needs two points to reach 300
  • Toronto forward Dan Lintner (Courtice, Ont.) needs two assists to reach 100
  • Toronto forward Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ont.) needs two points to become the 15th player all-time (depending on Curtis Dickson of San Diego) to reach 1000
  • Toronto goaltender Nick Rose needs 17 minutes played to pass Dallas Eliuk for sixth all-time with 9,716
  • Toronto forward Tom Schreiber (East Meadow, N.Y.) needs three goals to reach 200
  • Vancouver forward Adam Charalambides (Georgetown, Ont.) needs four assists to reach 100
  • Vancouver forward Kyle Killen (Caven, Ont.) needs nine points to reach 200
  • Vancouver forward Ryan Martel (Aldergrove, B.C.) needs two points to reach 100

Schedule – Week 14 (All Times Eastern)

Friday

• Georgia Swarm (6-6) at Halifax Thunderbirds (7-4), 7 p.m., NLL Game of the Week on TSN, TSN4, ESPN+, Peachtree Sports (Abbott, Gregoire, Docking)
• San Diego Seals (7-3) at Panther City Lacrosse Club (5-4), 8 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, Bally Sports Southwest Extra (Thulin, Jernigan, Hale)
• Toronto Rock (8-2) at Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-6), 10 p.m., NLL on ESPN, ESPNU, TSN+ (Kanell, Elliott, Werth)
• Buffalo Bandits (5-5) at Vancouver Warriors (2-8), 10 p.m., NLL Game of the Week on TSN, TSN1/4, ESPN+, My23 (T. Jenner, Challoner, Chand)

Saturday

• Calgary Roughnecks (5-5) at Philadelphia Wings (3-6), 1 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, NBC Sports Philadelphia (Smith, Gabrielsen, McGuinness)
• New York Riptide (5-6) at Albany FireWolves (8-2), 7 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, My4 (Bahl, McDaniels, Onorato)
• Saskatchewan Rush (3-5) at Colorado Mammoth (4-7), 9 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, My4, Altitude Sports (Lindahl, Shewchuk, Gallant)
• Toronto Rock (8-2*) at San Diego Seals (7-3*), 10 p.m., NLL Saturday Showcase, ESPN+, TSN+, Fox5 (Perkins, Ossello, Michaels)

Sunday

• Rochester Knighthawks (3-6) at Panther City Lacrosse Club (5-4*), 4 p.m., ESPN+, TSN+, Bally Sports Southwest (Thulin, Jernigan, Hale)

*pending Friday’s result