Wolves play back-to-back nights to stay in the hunt

New England hosts Buffalo tonight before heading for Georgia

Two teams in the National Lacrosse League's Western Division, Saskatchewan (11-2) and Colorado (9-3), have already clinched playoff berths.

The New England Black Wolves, meanwhile, lead the Eastern Division with a record of 6-5 and still face a grueling finish to their 18-game regular-season schedule if they wish to make their third straight playoff appearance.

The other teams in the East, Toronto (6-6), Rochester (6-7), Georgia (6-7) and Buffalo (6-7), each have six wins, as well. And the Black Wolves face off against two of them this weekend in their only back-to-back of the season, meeting Buffalo at home today (7:30 p.m., Mohegan Sun Arena) and Georgia on the road Saturday.

Buffalo, which features former New England star Shawn Evans, a two-time NLL MVP, is on a fourgame losing streak.

“We all are hungry for a win, to be honest,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said in his weekly conference call, asked if Buffalo will be desperate for Friday's game. “Every team in the division has six

wins. I don't think they're any more desperate than we are.

“We know what is at stake and we know how quickly, on a weekend like this, you can end up going from first place to last. We're a desperate team, as well.”

Following Friday's game, the Wolves will head to Georgia, where they will play at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Infinite Energy Arena. Clark said the coaches have planned ahead for both games, but have only fed the information to the players regarding Buffalo.

“We front load our prep,” Clark said. “Everything is about the game on Friday. You don't split your focus. You have to have stuff in your back pocket ready for Saturday.”

New England is led by Kevin Crowley with 30 goals and 14 assists for 44 points — Crowley has seven hat tricks to his credit and has scored in 30 straight games — while Stephan Leblanc also has 44 points, with 17 goals and a teambest 27 assists.

Dhane Smith leads Buffalo in goals (30), assists (47) and points (77). The Bandits beat the Black Wolves 18-13 in the teams' first meeting of the season on Feb. 9. v.fulkerson@theday.com