The Buffalo Bandits are first and the Georgia Swarm are fourth in the NLL East.

Surprise, surprise.

At the season’s midpoint, let’s take a look at each team in order of the divisional standings.

EAST

1. BUFFALO (6-3)

With so many roster changes, it wasn’t surprising that the Bandits were slow out of the gate. They won only one of their first three games. Now, with four consecutive wins, they have seized control of the division.

Dhane Smith has a league-best 56 points, Callum Crawford is back to his high-scoring self with his new team, rookie forward Josh Byrne has been dazzling, and the arrival of goaltender Zach Higgins from free agent limbo was a wonderful Christmas present.

On top of all of that, a big part of Buffalo’s resurgence has been the play of unheralded role players such as Justin Martin, who was presented with the team’s game MVP award, a championship belt, after an 18-9 demolition of the Swarm on Saturday. A two-win weekend began with a 17-13 victory at New England on Friday.

Buffalo is the only team with a win over Saskatchewan this season. That 16-15 triumph Jan. 19 in Saskatoon is what began the four-game winning streak.

2. TORONTO (5-3)

The acquisition of Adam Jones, the return of Rob Hellyer after a season lost to knee surgery rehab and the impact play of 2017 rookie of the year Tom Schreiber has turned the Rock offense into one of the league’s best. Toronto has been scoring an average of 15 goals a game. Only Saskatchewan is better.

The defense isn’t doing badly either and Nick Rose, who turned 30 on Sunday, proved again in a 12-9 win at Rochester on Saturday that he is one of the league’s consistently good goaltenders. Toronto is No. 2 in goals allowed with 11.63 per game, again trailing only Saskatchewan.

3. NEW ENGLAND (4-3)

After a brief stay atop the division, lopsided losses to Toronto and Buffalo have dropped the Black Wolves to third.

They rank seventh among the nine teams in goals for and they are eighth in goals against. They must tighten up defensively to make the playoffs.

The captain’s C was missing from Shawn Evans’ sweater — Kyle Buchanan wore the C instead — when they lost 18-13 to Buffalo on Friday. Evans had a five-goal game but an offensive imbalance continued as right-handed forwards again produced little.

GOALLL! @shawnevans1588 with his th tonight!#BUFvsNE pic.twitter.com/Vbqs5LXKf2

— NE Black Wolves (@NEBlackWolves) February 10, 2018

4. GEORGIA (3-5)

Where have the goals gone?

On their way to winning the championship last spring, the Swarm scored 35 goals more than any other team during the regular season. Today, they are ranked sixth in both offense and defense. Lyle Thompson won the scoring title with 116 points including 45 goals. Miles Thompson scored 32 goals. That’s 77 goals. In eight games this year, Lyle has 14 goals and Miles six. That adds up to 20, which is a significant drop-off.

No. 1 goalie Mike Poulin was lifted in both weekend losses to Buffalo and Rochester.

It is discouraging to see the league champion playing home games in front of so many empty seats.

Jordan Hall, a vital cog in the 2017 championship run, hasn’t played this year due to weekday work commitments. Head coach Ed Comeau might want to look for his phone number.

5. ROCHESTER (3-6)

The Knighthawks won their first two games convincingly but lost a sixth in a row when the visiting Rock beat them Saturday. A 17-10 win at Georgia on Sunday, with Dan Dawson out of the lineup and Cody Jamieson and Kyle Jackson each scoring four goals, might get them back on track.

The stats show them in the middle of the pack on both offense and defense, and ahead of both New England and Georgia, the penalty killing is tops in the league and goalie Matt Vinc has been solid, yet, they are last in the division. The impressive win in Georgia should be a sign of better things to come.

“It’s definitely going to be a turning point,” said defenseman Billy Dee Smith, who played his 200th NLL game.

WEST

1. SASKATCHEWAN (8-1)

After relinquishing their two-year ownership of the Champion’s Cup last spring, Rush GM-coach Derek Keenan acquired goalie Evan Kirk and let it be known he expected his defensemen to get back to playing with an aggressive physical edge. It’s working. The Rush are No. 1 on defense, allowing an average of 10.78 goals a game.

The offense has been dynamite, too. The Rush are scoring a league-best 15.44 goals a game. Mark Matthews has a league-best 36 assists and Ben McIntosh and Robert Church are 1-2 in goals with 25 and 22 respectively. The power play — 69.2 per cent success rate — is No. 1, too.

2. COLORADO (4-3)

The Mammoth have cooled off since their hot start. The offense sputtered in a 13-9 loss in Calgary on Saturday. It was their second straight loss. Colorado is ranked fifth on offense. It has only one player, Ryan Benesch, among the top 20 scorers.

The defense is ranked third and with Dillon Ward in the nets, they’re capable of winning any game. They are the least-penalized NLL team.

Holding onto second place ahead of Calgary will be a challenge.

3. CALGARY (3-5)

The Roughnecks’ 1-5 start was discouraging but they’ve played well for the last month and have won two in a row since giving Christian Del Bianco starts in the nets. He made 51 saves in a 13-9 home win over Colorado on Saturday. His 9.49 GAA and .807 save percentage are league bests.

The offense needs to get going. It is ranked eighth with 11.13 goals a game. The Roughnecks don’t have a player among the top 20 in points. They’re ranked fifth on defense.

Calgary has stoked some positive momentum heading into the second half of its season.

4. VANCOUVER (1-8)

Nothing is going right for the Stealth.

“We are nervous,” said coach Jamie Batley. “We don’t want to make mistakes. You can’t play like that. You need to play on the edge and, if you make a mistake, you make a mistake. I don’t mind if guys make mistakes if they are trying to do something constructive.”

Vancouver is scoring a league-low 10 goals a game. Corey Small, who led his team with 46 last season, has 13. Rhys Duch, who scored 38 last season, has only six.

“If you aren’t scoring above 10, you don’t have a shot to win in this league,” says Small. “We need myself and Duch to get going. We have to look in the mirror and watch some more film and see what we are doing wrong.”

100 Wins

Troy Cordingley has become the third head coach, and only the second active head coach, with 100 regular-season wins. An 18-13 win at New England did it for him Friday. He got his 101st when his team beat Georgia 18-9 Saturday.

All-Time Top 10

Coach	Wins
Derek Keenan	129
Darris Kilgour	121
Troy Cordingley	101
Les Bartley	93
Chris Hall	85
Ed Comeau	82
Paul Day	82
Bob Hamley	79
Mike Hasen	68
Jamie Batley	55

Franchise Record

Curt Malawsky became the winningest head coach in franchise history with his 47th — one more than the late Chris Hall — when Calgary defeated visiting Colorado 13-9 Saturday. Malawsky, 47, who calls Coquitlam, British Columbia home, played 11 NLL seasons. He was hired to coach after helping the Roughnecks win the Champion’s Cup in 2009.

Dane Dobbie presented Malawsky with a game ball that is awarded in the dressing room after wins.

“He lives and dies the game,” said Dobbie. “I gave him the ball. He didn’t want any recognition. You know him. But it’s something he can look back on when it’s all said and done. It’s a special thing.”

Crowd Favorite

Calgary fans have always appreciated the work ethic Dane Dobbie displays. He’s an accomplished scorer, too. With four goals and three assists in the win over Colorado, the 31-year-old lefty surpassed 700 career points.

Patten Produces

Liam Patten got a rebound and shot the ball between the legs of New England goalie Aaron Bold at 12:08 of the second period to give Buffalo an 8-5 lead on Friday. The 6-foot-1 defenseman was appearing in his third NLL game. It was his first NLL shot on goal. It was his first NLL goal.

Patten, 21, from Barrie, Ontario, was a third-round pick in the 2017 entry draft by Calgary, where he played Junior A box lacrosse last summer. He played field lacrosse at the University of Guelph. The Roughnecks released him Nov. 15. Buffalo signed him Nov. 17.

Patten scored his second goal in the win over Georgia on Saturday.

Rebound for Roe

Tyson Roe, Vancouver’s 6-foot-10 defenseman, snared a rebound and scored the last goal in his team’s 16-9 loss to Saskatchewan on Saturday. Roe, 25, was drafted 16th overall by Calgary in 2014. He was a free agent when the Stealth signed him last Nov. 16.

Hidden Ball Trick

It’s rare to see a hidden ball trick result in an NLL goal but it happened Sunday night in the fourth quarter of Rochester’s 17-10 win in Georgia when Kyle Jackson scored into the open side of the Swarm net as goalie Warren Hill concentrated on a phantom ball carrier on the other side of the floor.

Hostrawser Scores

It was an empty-net goal and Bill Hostrawser was happy to get it late in Toronto’s win in Rochester. It was his second goal this season and the seventh of his six-year career. He was rewarded for his efforts with the team’s game MVP award, a colorful Gord Downie-style hat, in the dressing room afterwards.

Hostrawser, 26, has evolved into one of the most dependable Rock defensemen. He wears No. 91 because that is his birth year. He has played 69 games in Rock colors. He was acquired on Feb. 5, 2014, from the Stealth for a third-round pick in the 2014 draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft. The yield for the Stealth on that trade was Evan Messenger, who has played 10 NLL games and who is currently on injured reserve.

WEEK 11

Four games are on tap. Buffalo gets a bye.

FRIDAY

VANCOUVER (1-8) at CALGARY (3-5), 9 p.m. ET

This is the Twitter game of the week.

Vancouver has lost four in a row and is 1-4 on the road. The Stealth will never find the stairs out of the NLL West basement if they lose this one.

Calgary beat visiting Colorado 13-9 on Saturday for their second win in a row. The Roughnecks are 2-3 at home. A win here will arm them for a serious battle with Colorado for second place.

This will be the second of four meetings. Calgary won 15-12 at home back on Dec. 15 despite being outshot 63-53 by the Stealth. After this one, they meet in Langley, B.C., on March 31 and April 21.

SATURDAY

TORONTO (5-3) at GEORGIA (3-5), 7:05 p.m. ET

Toronto can move even with idle Buffalo atop the NLL East with a win. The Rock are 2-1 on the road.

Toronto is coming off a 12-9 win in Rochester. Tom Schreiber limped to the Rock dressing room in the second half, returned to the bench and was used sparingly in the fourth quarter so his status for this one is up in the air.

“We’re hoping it’s nothing major,” said owner-GM Jamie Dawick.

Georgia was drubbed 18-9 in Buffalo on Saturday and was trounced 17-10 at home by Rochester on Sunday. The Swarm are 1-2 at home.

“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Comeau said. “I think every guy in the locker room is going to look in the mirror.”

This will be the first of three meetings. They’ll play March 3 in Toronto and return to Georgia April 8.

These teams last met in the division final last season and Georgia won 11-8 in Toronto before ending it 13-9 at home.

SASKATCHEWAN (8-1) at ROCHESTER (3-6), 7:30 p.m. ET

No. 1 overall versus No. 8 overall, with some history to take into account: The Rush have defeated the Knighthawks nine consecutive times since the 2012 title game that Rochester won 9-6 at home.

Saskatchewan won their fourth in a row, 16-9 at Vancouver, on Saturday to improve to 6-0 on the road.

Rochester’s six-game losing streak ended with a 17-10 win in Georgia. The ‘Hawks are 2-3 at home.

This will be the first of two meetings. They’ll square off March 24 in Saskatoon.

SUNDAY

COLORADO (4-3) at NEW ENGLAND (4-3), 2 p.m. ET

Colorado has won five in a row against this franchise since March 29, 2014, when it lost 14-12 at home to the Philadelphia Wings.

Both of these teams lost during the weekend. Colorado was defeated 13-9 in Calgary and New England lost 18-13 to Buffalo.

Colorado is 2-1 on the road. New England is 3-1 at home.

This will be the first of two meetings. They’ll clash April 14 in Denver. Last season, Colorado beat the Black Wolves 11-10 in Denver before winning 14-9 on the road.

Time Travel

FEB. 14, 2009: Buffalo’s Mark Steenhuis set two single-game records in the Bandits’ 25-10 victory over the visiting Toronto Rock. His 13 assists broke the previous record of 11 by Derek Malawsky and his four goals gave him 17 points on the night, breaking the previous record of 15 by John Grant Jr. The records still stand.

FEB. 20, 1999: Canadians rallied to defeat Americans 25-24 in overtime in an all-star game in front of 9,070 spectators in Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena. American faceoff specialist Paul Cantabene was named MVP. There has been no all-star game since 2012.