ESPN Lacrosse

Ty Pilson has been writing weekly NLL notebooks this spring for Insidelacrosse.com. This week he breaks down the playoff action.

WEST DIVISION
(1) Colorado Mammoth vs. (4) San Jose Stealth Saturday, 7 p.m., Pepsi Center

HEAD-TO-HEAD: These teams met twice to close out the regular season, with the Mammoth winning 13-12 at the Pepsi Center and losing the following night 11-10 at the HP Pavilion. The Mammoth are 4-0 lifetime against the Stealth at the Pop Can.
OFFENSE: Colorado scored 209 goals this season while San Jose managed only 181. That said, the emergence of Luke Wiles has added an extra dimension to the Stealth attack. San Jose and Rochester were the only teams to have four players score more than 70 points.
DEFENSE/TRANSITION: With Jay Jalbert sitting out the season, the Mammoth were expected to suffer. But the emergence of John Gallant and the acquisition of Jim Moss have given the Mammoth a solid back end. Of course, the longer you keep the ball in the offensive zone and the more you score also helps keep your defenders well rested and limit the oppositions touches in your end. Colorado allowed only 179 goals this season which was second best in the league. Guess who was tops? That's right, San Jose. The Stealth were expected to suffer when they lost veterans Cam Woods (expansion draft) and Moss but instead allowed an NLL low 170 goals.
GOALTENDING: The biggest reason for the Stealth's 170 goals against was Anthony Cosmo. After a so-so start to the season, the Mississauga, Ont., native found his groove and finished the season with the top GAA (10.22) and the best save percentage (.792). At the other end of the floor, Gee Nash started the season on fire but cooled toward the end, finishing with the fifth-best GAA (11.27) and the third-best save percentage (.779).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Power play -- Colorado, 46.40 pct. (5th in the NLL); San Jose, 44.44 pct. (8th). Penalty kill -- Colorado, 48.28 (12th); San Jose, 64.29 (1st).
EDGE: Colorado

(2) Calgary Roughnecks vs. (3) Arizona Sting
Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Pengrowth Saddledome

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Calgary won two of three, beating Arizona 14-12 at the 'Dome March 24 and 12-11 at the Jobing.com Arena April 13. The Sting beat the Riggers 14-10 at home March 16. The last time these two clubs met in the playoffs, the Sting beat Calgary 19-15 at the 'Dome in 2005 thanks to a huge fourth-quarter run.
OFFENSE: Dan Dawson, Craig Conn, Lindsay Plunkett, Derek and Curtis Malawsky against Lewis Ratcliff, Kaleb Toth, Tracey Kelusky, Scott Ranger and Kyle Goundrey. Pretty hard to pick a favorite here. Dawson (107 points) and Ratcliff (104 points) are the big guns and finished second and third, respectively, in points in the NLL. Ratcliff was second overall with 50 goals while Dawson was third with 47.
DEFENSE/TRANSITION: Both team defenses have played well down the stretch but the big difference is goal scoring, in which Calgary has the edge. When it comes to secondary scoring, the Riggers get more goals from their transition players than Arizona. The biggest matchup of the game will be Calgary defender Taylor Wray on Dawson. Wray did a good job of limiting Dawson's damage in the April 13 victory and will get the same assignment in this one.
GOALTENDING: Veteran Rob Blasdell should be considered a massive edge for the Sting when stacked up against rookie Ryan Avery. However, Avery -- who should get the start in Calgary after two straight wins -- is living up to his billing after Calgary traded a first-round pick to Buffalo last year to get him. As for Blasdell, he looked shakey down the stretch. Avery played 231 minutes for Calgary and was 4-0 with a 10.64 GAA and .768 save percentage. Blasdell played 844 minutes and was 9-5 with a 10.94 GAA and .761 save percentage. This is a classic battle of old (and experienced) vs. young (and inexperienced).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Power play -- Calgary, 47.93 pct. (4th); Arizona, 46.09 pct. (6th). Penalty kill -- Calgary, 57.48 pct. (5th); Arizona, 54.64 pct. (8th).
EDGE: Calgary

EAST DIVISION
(1) Rochester Knighthawks vs. (4) Toronto Rock
Friday, 8:05, Blue Cross Arena

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Rochester swept the season series, winning 10-6 Jan. 13 at Blue Cross and 19-15 Jan. 20 at the ACC. The K-Hawks are 13-1 at home vs. the Rock all time, the only loss coming in the playoffs.
OFFENSE: Rochester scored a league-high 249 goals. Toronto scored 187. Rochester has the best power play in the NLL. Toronto was mid-pack. The Rock lost Colin Doyle and got so-so seasons, by their standards, from Josh Sanderson and Blaine Manning. The K-Hawks scored at will, with John Grant Jr., Shawn Williams, Scott Evans, Shawn Evans and Mike Accursi putting forth one of the best seasons in NLL history by an offense. No matter how you try and shake this one out, it's bad news for Toronto.
DEFENSE/TRANSITION: Rochester's defense got little credit this season when it did play well with the spotlight focused on its potent attack. While the team did give up 194 goals (third most in the East and three more than expansion Chicago), it can be tough to play hard and tight late in games when you have a monster lead. Still, with all the scoring they have Rochester only needs an average showing by its defenders to win games. Toronto struggled on defense, especially in the second half of many games when they needed big stops to get a win but instead became Swiss cheese. GOALTENDING: Two cagey veterans in Pat O'Toole and Bob Watson. If the Rock have ANY hope of beating Rochester, they will need Watson to put forth one of his legendary playoff performances. Anything less, this one is a runaway for the K-Hawks.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Power play -- Rochester, 58.77 pct. (1st); Toronto, 45.08 pct. (7th). Penalty kill -- Rochester, 62.50 pct. (2nd); Toronto, 51.02 pct. (11th)
EDGE: Rochester

(2) Buffalo Bandits vs. (3) Minnesota Swarm
Sunday, 2 p.m., HSBC Arena

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Buffalo won both matchups this season, coming out on top 22-13 at HSBC Jan . 20 and 16-15 at the Xcel Energy Center March 4. Buffalo is now 7-1 all-time against the Swarm.
OFFENSE: John Tavares leads a balanced Buffalo attack that has benifited greatly from the off-season acqusition of fellow lefty Kevin Dostie, who finished second in scoring with 29 goals and 62 points. Mark Steenhuis (50), Dan Teat (49) and Cory Bomberry (49) all had less points than expected while youngsters Delby Powless (43) and rookie Brett Bucktooth (26) had disappointing years. As for Minny, they too have offense by committee led by Ryan Ward, who topped the team with 75 points. Only one Swarm player -- surprise producer Dean Hill -- topped 30 goals.
DEFENSE/TRANSITION: Again, both teams play defense by committee with Steenhuis being the big difference in transition. Buffalo's biggest concern on its back end is penalties -- as in, not taking too many of them. Penalties have been the team's Achilles heel all season.
GOALTENDING: Both teams used two goalies to split the load this season. Steve Dietrich (11.54 GAA, 5-2 record) and Mike Thompson (12.08 GAA, 5-4) got the job done for Buffalo while Nick Patterson (11.53 GAA, 7-5) and Matt Disher (16.15 GAA and 2-2) struggled at times for Minny. Patterson shoul get the start in this one against Dietrich in what will be a great battle between the pipes.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Power play -- Buffalo, 52pct. (2nd); Minnesota, 48.15 pct. (3rd). Penalty kill -- Buffalo, 57.85 pct. (4th); Minnesota, 51.49 pct. (10th).
EDGE: Buffalo