Minnesota Swarm (5-7 H 1-4 A 4-3)

at
San Jose Stealth (5-8 H 4-3 A 1-5)

Friday, April 3, 2009 - 9:30 pm CST
HP Pavilion
San Jose, California

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Regular Season History

This is the second game of the season series between these two teams. In the first game, the Swarm won 10-7 at the X on January 10. Nick Patterson (3-4 12.54 GAA .735 Save %) made 36 saves on 47 shots. Ryan Ward (18g 25a) scored all three of his goals in a 6-0 run to start the game for the Swarm. The Stealth have never beaten the Swarm in four games but have only lost by a combined seven goals in those four games including two one goal losses.

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Regular Season Statistics:

2009 NLL Standings

Former Stealth With The Swarm:

• Kevin Fines (6g 4a)
• Darren Halls (0g 4a)

Former Swarm With The Stealth:

• Andrew Biers (0g 0a)

The Swarm enter this game on a two game losing streak after losing 13-10 to the Calgary Roughnecks last Saturday night at the X. Aaron Wilson (26g 23a) led the Swarm with three goals and four assists. The Swarm were up 8-7 going into the fourth quarter but the Roughnecks rallied with five straight goals to start the last quarter to clinch the victory. The win by the Roughnecks clinched a playoff spot for them and prevents the Swarm from being able to win the West Divsion regular season title.

The Stealth had a home and home matinee series last weekend the Portland LumberJax. On Saturday, the Stealth had a 11-8 lead at home but the LumberJax came back to beat them 14-12. On Sunday, the two teams went to Portland where the Stealth got revenge with a 13-8 victory behind a solid outing relief outing in goal by Tyler Richards (1-1 9.84 GAA .806 Save %) who made 43 saves on 49 shots.

The Stealth are led by the NLL's leading scorer Colin Doyle (29g 57a), who many believe to be the most clutch player in the league. The lefthander can put a shot on net from any position and is even a better passer than shooter, which makes him deadly. He has been in the league since 1999 and has never missed the playoffs and won five NLL Champions Cup, so don't bet against him. Rhys Duch (24g 46a) is the leading candidate for NLL Rookie of the Year on the right side of the Stealth offense and fifth in the NLL in points. Jeff Zywicki (26g 37a) is still quite deadly on the crease. All three have had quite a bit of success against the Swarm in their careers, so if the Swarm can limit those three somewhat and make the Stealth depend on their secondary scorers, the Swarm should do fine.

With this the only game for the Stealth this weekend, expect Matt Roik (4-6 11.34 GAA .765 Save %) to start in net for them. For opposing goaltenders, Roik has faced the Swarm the most with 11 appearances with four different teams (Anaheim, Philadelphia, Chicago & San Jose) and saving 76.5% of Swarm shots on him. Eric Martin (6g 10a) is consdireed one of the best defenders in the league and his 79 penalty minutes is top five in the NLL. The Stealth brought back defensemen Shaydon Santos (0g 0a) and Steve Holmes (0g 0a) from retirement and the PUP list respectively at the trade deadline to give the back end a boost.

Nick Patterson (3-4 12.54 GAA .735 Save %) has done well in his Swarm career against the Stealth with a 3-0 record in three complete game, an 81.6 Save % and 8.92 GAA. The Swarm had a season high of two shorthanded goals in January's game against the Stealth with Kevin Ross (15g 18a) getting the first and Andrew Watt (5g 11a) shorty being the game winner for the Swarm. Also, look for a milestone tonight as Wardis three points short of 300 for his Swarm career, Dan Marohl is five points short of 400 for his NLL career and Sean Pollock is five goals short of 100 for his NLL career.

This is a crucial battle for fourth place which the Swarm hold over the Stealth by an half game. If the Swarm win, they will win the head-to-head tie breaker between the two teams. Doyle, Zywicki and probably Duch will get theirs, just don't let the others like Cam Sedgwick (20g 30a) go off. Patterson will have to move quickly to counter these offensive threats. If he does so and the Swarm has the full complement of offensive players, they should win a fifth straight over the Stealth.

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 13 San Jose Stealth 11

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota (5-7) vs. Edmonton (4-8) - Saturday, April 4 7:00 pm CST
• San Jose (5-8) at Colorado (6-6) - Saturday, April 11 8:00 pm CST