Minnesota Swarm (5-10 H 2-4 A 3-6)

Calgary Roughnecks (5-11 H 4-5 A 1-6)

Saturday, April 18, 2015 - 7:00 pm CST
Ho-Chunk Nation Field at The Hive
St. Paul, Minnesota

Live Statistics

TV/Internet/Radio Coverage:

• Universal Sports TV on April 23rd at 3:00 pm Central
• Channel 45 on April 25th at 4:00 pm Central

More Coverage of this game at:

Standings (04/17/15)	Overall			Division			V. Swarm
East Division	W	L		W	L		W	L		+/-
y-Toronto Rock	13	4		7	3		2	0		42
x-Rochester Knighthawks	10	5		7	3		1	1		21
Buffalo Bandits	8	7		4	7		3	0		-1
Minnesota Swarm	5	10		4	7					-34
New England Black Wolves	4	10		4	6		1	3		-31
West Division	W	L		W	L		W	L		+/-
y-Edmonton Rush	10	5		7	2		0	1		56
y-Colorado Mammoth	9	7		5	4		2	0		-2
Vancouver Stealth	5	10		3	7		1	0		-41
Calgary Roughnecks	5	11		4	6		0	0		-10

y - Clinched home playoff game
x - Clinched playoff spot

Series History:

Minnesota	Overall	Home	Road	Home (2014)	Road (2014)
vs Roughnecks	5-10	2-4	3-6	0-1	0-1
Total	5-10	2-4	3-6	0-1	0-1

This is the first and only time these two teams meet each other this year. The Roughnecks have won five straight in the series dating back to March 3rd, 2012 when the Swarm beat the Roughnecks in Calgary by a 15-11 margin. The last time the Swarm beat the Roughnecks at The Hive was April 2, 2011 when the Swarm won 13-8. The Swarm have lost three straight at The Hive to the Roughnecks.

Last Weekend:

The Swarm were the first team eliminated from playoff contention this year as the Buffalo Bandits swept the three-game season series last weekend at The Hive by a 12-9 score. Shayne Jackson notched a career high five goals in the game but first-half injuries to Jordan MacIntosh and Callum Crawford that took both out of the game were too much for Jackson and the Swarm to overcome.

The Roughnecks played their Albertan rival, the Edmonton Rush, in a home and home series last weekend. Last Friday, the two teams met in Calgary with Curtis Dickson getting the short-handed game winner with 2:55 left in the game to hold off the Rush, 9-8. The next night, Shawn Evans had a goal and seven assists which were enough to break the single-season NLL record in points in one season with 117 in 16 games passing John Grant's 116 in fourteen games in 2012. However, Evans' historical night was not enough as the Rush got the split in Edmonton with a 11-9 win over the Roughnecks.

Notes:

• Ladies Night at Ho-Chunk Nation Field at The Hive
• The Swarm will be without Callum Crawford, who will miss the rest of season with a hand injury suffered last weekend and Jordan MacIntosh, who sprained an ankle last weekend. MacIntosh may make it back for the home finale but Crawford is definitely out.
• With those two out, it appears that Shayne Jackson would be the captain as he has worn the "A" since the Andrew Suitor trade.
• Joe Haodais Maracle was activated to replace Crawford who was put on the injured reserve. Maracle may see his first action this weekend in lefty rotation which will probably go four deep on Saturday night.
• Corbyn Tao and Ethan O'Connor will split face off duties with MacIntosh out and both will be up against this weekend as they face Geoff Snider, who is the best faceoff man in the NLL for the last decade.
• Sam Bradman and Joel White look to get a bit of time out the front door with MacIntosh and Crawford out.
• The Swarm power play is 2 for 26 in the last six games and is going up against the league's second best penalty kill and second in shorthanded goals scored. The Swarm have to reverse those trends to have a reasonable chance to win.
• The Swarm's defense key number is nine. They are 2-0 at home if they give up nine or less but 0-4 when they give up nine or more. With the Swarm only averaging nine goals per game at home this season, it requires the Swarm defense to be practically perfect.
• The Roughnecks are battling the Vancouver Stealth for the last playoff spot in the West. Both teams finish the season in Vancouver on May 2nd in the game which more than likely will decide that playoff spot.
• Former Swarm Sean Pollock joined the Roughnecks on March 17th after being released by the Colorado Mammoth. In six games with the Roughnecks, Pollock has four goals and four assists as he does the dirty work for Evans and Dickson.
• Dickson leads the NLL with 46 goals and Evans is fifth with 40.
• Evans leads the NLL with 77 assists and 117 points

Prediction: Minnesota Swarm 11 Calgary Roughnecks 9

For the Minnesota Swarm, new opportunities for the youngest of the young on the team as injuries and trades in the last month have created spots for players like Sam Bradman, Joe Haodais Maracle, Shane MacDonald and Patricke Miles to show they deserve to be given a look for 2016. These players minus injured stars Jordan MacIntosh and Callum Crawford will be spotlighted on Saturday night at Ho-Chunk Nation Field at The Hive as they attempt to derail the playoff hopes of the Calgary Roughnecks. The key for the Swarm is to limit the chances of the Roughnecks special teams and tighten up on transitional defense to come away with the home victory. They do that and another solid game in net from Zach Higgins should improve the Swarm's record to 6-10.

Projected Starting Goaltenders vs Opponent:

Faceoffs:

Minnesota Swarm

Runners

Goaltending

Staff

Depth Chart

Calgary Roughnecks

Runners

Goaltending

Staff

Depth Chart

Next Games After This Match Up

• Minnesota vs Edmonton - Saturday, April 25th, 2015 7:00 pm Central
• Calgary at Vancouver - Saturday, May 2nd, 2015 9:00 pm Central