To the Victor Goes the Spoils

The first game in the 2007 NLL Playoffs went as predicted: Rochester defeated Toronto by a score of 10-6 in front of 7,003 fans at the Blue Cross Arena. Toronto stayed in the game into the fourth quarter thanks mainly to the strong performance of Bob Watson who stopped 50 of 58 shots. On offence, Toronto was lead by rookie sensation Ryan Benesch (my vote for rookie of the year honours) who scored three (3) goals and Aaron Wilson with three (3) assists. On the other side of the floor, Rochester’s offence was lead by Shawn Williams with seven (7) points (2G, 5A), Scott Evans with four (4) assists and Mike Accursi who scored a hat trick. Pat O’Toole was also solid in net stopping 46 of 52 shots. Rochester will continue their run for the Champion’s Cup Friday April 27 against the Buffalo Bandits in the East Division final.

In the first game Saturday night, Colorado came out of the gates firing and had a 7-3 lead after the first quarter. It looked like Colorado might run away with the game but San Jose shook off their first quarter jitters to reduce Colorado’s lead to three by halftime. It took only 1:16 of the third quarter for San Jose to get to within one goal and Jeff Zywicki tied the game late in the quarter. At the end of regulation, this game was tied at 14 and became the first overtime game of these playoffs. In the overtime, San Jose killed off an early penalty before Jeff Zywicki netted the winner over ten minutes in to defeat the defending champions and give San Jose their first ever win at the Pepsi Center. Colin Doyle led the San Jose attack with ten points (1G, 9A) while his team mates Jeff Zywicki scored seven goals for eight points and Gary Rosyski tallied seven points on two goals and five assists. In the loss, Brian Langtry and Jamie Shewchuk led Colorado with five points on three goals and two assists each. San Jose will travel to Arizona Saturday for the West Division final.

In the second game Saturday night, the two teams battled hard and ended the first quarter in a three-three tie. It looked like Arizona was starting to take control early in the second quarter with four goals in the first five minutes but Calgary hung in there and clawed back to even early in the third quarter. Arizona finally did take control of the game early in the last quarter by scoring two quick goals to extend their lead by four. Arizona held Calgary scoreless for the last quarter and coasted to only their second victory ever at the Saddledome. Dan Dawson (5 points) and Curt Malawsky ( 4 points) each scored a hat trick to lead in goals scored for Arizona while Derek Malawsky (2G, 4A) and Craig Conn (1G, 5A) led Arizona in points with six apiece. Scott Self also had a five-point night for Arizona with two goals and three assists. Tracey Kelusky (3G, 1A) and Jeff Shattler (4A) led the attack for Calgary. Arizona will host San Jose Saturday to determine the Champion’s Cup representative from the West Division.

In a repeat of last years first round match up, Minnesota came out strong by scoring the first four goals of the game. Buffalo woke up halfway through the period and got on the board with a goal by Pat McCready. Buffalo was able to lull Minnesota to sleep and they ended the first quarter tied at four. Amidst the sloppy play, Minnesota was able to head into halftime with a disappointing 8-7 lead on an empty net goal late in the half. The sloppy play continued into the second half but Buffalo was able to score three goals to take the lead. Buffalo really came alive in the fourth quarter playing tight defence and solid offence, scoring another four unanswered goals. After some first quarter nerves, Mike Thompson settled down, allowed three more goals in the second quarter then shut the door in the second half of the game. John Tavares came alive in the second half of the game to lead the Bandits in scoring along with Kevin Dostie with three goals and two assists each. Clay Hill and Delby Powless also had solid offensive games for Buffalo with 4 points each, one goal and 2 assists for both players. Minnesota’s offence was well spread out, maybe too well, as the leader, Ryan Sharp, only had three points (1G, 2A). Four other players for Minnesota had two points, including the goaltender, Nick Patterson. The Bandits will need another solid outing by Mike Thompson in the East Divisional final Friday in Rochester if they are to make it to the Champion’s Cup Final on May 12.

The NLL playoffs now come down to four teams, Rochester and Buffalo in the East and Arizona and San Jose in the West. Due to the better records in the regular season, the winner of the East Division final will also host the Champion’s Cup final. Rochester is still the favourite but San Jose has proven that any team can win on any given night so the Champion’s Cup is still for the taking.