It is still early in the National Lacrosse League season, but contenders are already beginning to emerge.

The Halifax Thunderbirds are certainly in that conversation after a second straight victory against a fellow championship hopeful. A week after downing Saskatchewan, the T-Birds were propelled by six goals and an assist from Clarke Petterson in an 11-7 win against Toronto Saturday. Halifax was seemingly scary on paper, and it is scary in real life, too.

“Sometimes the shots fall, right?” Petterson told Tyson Geick postgame. “For me, I felt like the lefties were generating a lot of our offense by driving hard to the net, drawing a lot of attention, taking it back up and then swinging it over to us righties. It was our job tonight to finish.”

Matching Halifax’s 2-0 mark to start the year are the Bandits, Wings and Warriors.

On the other side of the fence stands Saskatchewan, a surprising 0-2 team after falling 11-10 to Calgary. The Roughnecks got the go-ahead goal from Zach Herreweyers inside the final two minutes to show they can still hang in there after the departure of key members of their championship unit.

Kinger goes behind-the-back to Herreweyers and the Roughnecks take the lead late in the 4th! pic.twitter.com/w3PAwX2nkK

— NLL (@NLL) December 12, 2021

Time will tell who truly deserves to be considered among the league’s elite. But we’re starting to get a pretty decent idea.

BANDITS ON THE RUN

Through their first two games, the Bandits have shown that you don’t want to let them get hot. A week after pulling away from Calgary with a seven-goal run, Buffalo notched six straight in the fourth quarter to best the Rochester Knighthawks 12-8.

That burst helped the Bandits escape a one-goal deficit and overcome a five-goal run from the Knighthawks earlier in the evening.

“A couple good shots, a couple second-guessing on the back end of things,” Rochester coach Mike Hasen said of the Bandits’ fourth quarter. “We just kind of got too spread.”

Connor Fields continued his hot start, leading Buffalo with six points on four goals and two assists. Dhane Smith, Chase Fraser and Kyle Buchanan each added four points in the first of three meetings between these teams this season.

SEALS FLEX ON TV

The absence of Austin Staats led to some questions about San Diego’s offensive firepower heading into the season, even after the Seals added former league MVP Dane Dobbie. An 8-7 season-opening loss to Vancouver didn’t quell those doubts.

But Friday, San Diego showed it is still dangerous even without one of the league’s bright young stars. The Seals dominated Colorado from start to finish in the first game of the season aired on national TV in the United States, securing a 13-4 advantage.

Wes Berg and rookie Tre Leclaire each had five points, while Dobbie had a pair of eye-popping behind-the-back goals in a four-point showing.

With goals like these, the NLL on @ESPN is gonna be a ton of fun. @DaneDobbie44 | @SealsLax pic.twitter.com/VSfQ6mDXJc

— NLL (@NLL) December 12, 2021

Postgame, Dobbie was quick to credit the defense for the victory. The four goals allowed is a league best so far this year.

“Our defense stood on their head from the first quarter all the way through the game,” Dobbie said. “This time, the offense didn’t let them down.”

San Diego is now 5-1 all-time against the Mammoth.

MAJOR MISSING PIECE

The first player to be placed on the NLL’s COVID-19 protocol this season happened to be one of the league’s biggest names. Jeff Teat, last year’s first overall pick, had to sit out both the Riptide’s games this weekend due to the designation. Based on the squad’s results, they could have used him.

The Riptide hung around with Philadelphia on Friday, entering the fourth quarter tied at 11 thanks largely to the efforts of Callum Crawford, but they lost steam late. The Wings ended on a 3-1 run featuring a pair of goals by Corey Small in a 14-12 victory. Kevin Crowley had eight points on four goals and four assists for Philadelphia.

Two days later, New York attempted to mount a comeback against Georgia, which led 10-4 in the early stages of the third quarter after back-to-back Jordan Hall tallies. The Riptide got within two goals twice at 11-9 and 12-10, but Georgia secured the final two goals of the contest in a 14-10 win.

Lyle Thompson had 10 points in Georgia’s first win, setting a new single-game best for any player this season. That helped the team gain some steam heading into a long hiatus, with Georgia’s next outing scheduled for Jan. 8.

Lyle Thompson had himself a 10-point game today (5 goals, 5 assists)!

(: @NLL) pic.twitter.com/2F107q7rap

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 12, 2021

“It’s huge for us, obviously,” Thompson said. “Going into this three-week break, we didn’t want that upset stomach for that long. So, it’s huge to come into New York. They’re a team that plays us well, the three times we’ve faced them, so it’s a huge game for us.”

Meanwhile, New York is quickly falling back in the standings at 0-3.

WARRIORS FIND WINNING WAYS

The Vancouver Warriors find themselves in unfamiliar territory. And they certainly aren’t complaining.

The Warriors are 2-0 for the first time since 2017 thanks to their 14-8 win against Panther City Friday night. If they beat Saskatchewan next week, it will mark the franchise’s first 3-0 start since 2010, back in the days of the Washington Stealth.

Logan Schuss led Vancouver with seven points, while Mitch Jones and Keegan Ball each had six.

NOTEWORTHY

Halifax head coach Mike Accursi said forward Rhys Duch is likely done for the season after tearing his patellar tendon against Toronto. … Jeff Teat wasn’t the only player to go on the COVID-19 protocol list this week. Joining him was Rochester’s Cory Highfield. … After learning his nephew was diagnosed with autism, Saskatchewan’s Jeff Shattler dyed his stick and is set to auction it off for a good cause (https://twitter.com/NLL/status/1469870026815684616). … Toronto placed TD Ierlan onto the active roster, but he did not suit up this weekend. … Halifax’s Austin Shanks, Buffalo’s Justin Martin and Rochester’s John Wagner were all placed on injured reserve.

UP NEXT
ALL TIMES EASTERN

Friday

• Colorado at Panther City, 8:30 p.m.

• San Diego at Calgary, 9 p.m.

• Saskatchewan at Vancouver, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday

• Philadelphia at Toronto, 7 p.m.

• Rochester at Albany, 7 p.m.