Higher-ranked Rush start NLL playoffs on road
Coach ‘not huge’ on format that sees division’s top seed play in Denver first
The Saskatchewan Rush have a place to go, an opponent to play and numbers to explore.
Derek Keenan’s already working on the latter as his Rush prepare for Saturday’s National Lacrosse League playoff game against the host Colorado Mammoth.
“We’ve played four games. Scored 41 goals each,” Keenan said Monday. “Yeah, we beat them 3-1 in the season series, but three of them were one-goal games and they beat us by three. It’s been a tight, tight series this year.”
The Rush, who are trying for a third straight NLL title, went 12-6 during the regular season. Colorado was 9-9. The Mammoth reached the West Division final against Saskatchewan by beating the Vancouver Stealth 13-12 in a sudden-death playoff game Saturday.
The Rush, meanwhile, enjoyed a first-round bye.
Keenan said he’s not crazy about the playoff format, which has Colorado hosting the first game and Saskatchewan the next. If they’re split at a game apiece after Game 2, the teams will immediately square off in a 10-minute mini contest with the victor advancing to the league final against either Georgia or Toronto.
“I’m not huge on it,” Keenan said of the format. “You work your butt off all year to get first place, then you have to go on the road first. That’s a little bit quirky, but it is what it is. We’ve gone both ways with it over the years. We just try our best to get that first one, because if you don’t, you expend a lot of energy at home to try and get to the 10-minute game. This is an important game.”
Keenan said discipline will be “huge” for the Rush, both in terms of staying out of the penalty box and in playing within the team’s system.
Colorado, he said, can be a difficult team to play.
“(The win over Vancouver) basically came down to Colorado scoring five transition goals and that was the game,” Keenan said. “We’ve done a pretty good job against them this year in that category, but we have to be really conscious of that. They put a real push on that part of the game — their goalie (Dillon Ward) had three assists and you don’t see that every night.”
The second game — and, if needed, third game — of the series is slated for May 20 at SaskTel Centre with a 7:30 p.m. start time.
In the East Division, the 13-5 Georgia Swarm will meet the 9-9 Toronto Rock with those games also slated for the next two Saturdays. The teams split their two regular-season games; Georgia won the first meeting 13-12 and Toronto the next 12-11.