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The Colorado Mammoth beat the Calgary Roughnecks in Denver to clinch a playoff spot on Friday night. The two may meet up in the postseason.
It’s not unusual in the National Lacrosse League for teams to have somewhat wonky schedules with several back-to-back games or to play the same team several times in a row as Colorado did against the Edmonton Rush. What is interesting about this occurrence though is how different each game truly can be.
Sometimes the teams look so different you almost feel like you’re watching a different set of teams. Often when teams play one another in such quick succession, there’s often an extra level of chippiness.
Heading into Friday’s game against the Calgary Roughnecks, many Mammoth fans wondered if Kaleb Toth might be on the receiving end of extra Mammoth aggression after his hit from behind last Friday that momentarily knocked out Mammoth captain John Gallant.
Surprisingly, the game was relatively reserved in all aspects. Outside of Geoff Snider, who got into it with Ilija Gajic in the second quarter and then ejected in the final minutes of the fourth after putting Matt Leveque in an MMA style guillotine, both teams could almost be described as aloof.
On the one hand, Calgary not playing super-hard isn’t too surprising, as they really didn’t have much to play for. With the playoffs starting in two weeks, why push yourself and risk injury right beforehand against the team you’re most likely facing? On the other hand, these guys are competitors and no one likes to lose.
The Mammoth did have something to play for. If they won, not only would they clinch the final playoff spot in the West, they would also have beaten the team for the second time this season they would be facing in the playoffs. Watching their play though, you wouldn’t have known it.
The Mammoth made mistakes left and right all game and once again the offense barely moved the ball. Colorado scored four of their goals on the power play, one with an extra attacker and one empty netter. They even scored a short-handed goal in the fourth. Calgary only scored on one of their seven power play opportunities, and scored two short handed goals – one in each half.
Mammoth fans couldn’t help but be at least slightly nervous after Chris Levis failed to block the first shot he faced from Brandon Ivey.  Levis has been playing strong all season, but incidents like that definitely make some goalies crumble.
The Roughnecks won’t play again until the playoffs when they face the Mammoth in Calgary in two weeks. The Mammoth though will head to Minnesota to face the Swarm in a game that may very well determine who takes second in the West. If the Swarm wins, they will be tied with the Washington Stealth and the Swarm holds the tie breaker.
>Needless to say, the playoffs are going to be interesting.
Final Score:
Colorado Mammoth 11, Calgary Roughnecks 7
Attendance: 17,841
MVP: Chris Levis
Around the League
Boston Blazers 16, Buffalo Bandits 9
Philadelphia Wings 9, Minnesota Swarm 11
Toronto Rock 14, Edmonton Rush 18
Rochester Knighthawks 18, Washington Stealth 10