Archers dominated the Chrome last week without Ament. Chaos edged the Cannons in overtime without Dhane Smith. Does he need a week of field game exclamation or will he be ready to roll?
Fully loaded Chaos is actually scarier than fully loaded Archers. Ament being out there reduces the touches for Schreiber who finished with 6 points in the easy win.
Does Max Adler return to the faceoff X for the Chaos?
Pick: Archers
The team that struggled against the basement dwelling Cannons got off to a blistering start against the then first place Archers.
The Canadian/Connecticut Scorpions took another leap forward in Columbus as Dane Smith joined the team.
The Chaos led 5-2 after the first quarter and 8-3 at halftime.
Josh Byrne has looked like the best attackman in the league only two games. He nearly doubled his first game output with a 7 point performance over the weekend. He now has 8 goals on 16 shots including this effortless finish.
We spent all last spring espousing the pending downfall of the Chaos. Their regular season performance supported the claim but they invariably ended up back in the finals.
This summer, the NLL season ended earlier which means the Chaos likely won't be scrambling in must win situations late in the year. If they don't need to expend energy late in the regular season, can you really bet against them to return to the title game?
The question for this roster moving forward is, do they stick with rookie Nick Rowlett or go back to veteran Max Adler at the face off? Rowlett won 72% in his rookie debut but hasn't topped 46% since including a 36% outing against fellow rookie Mike Sisselberger.
Adler has never been a top end PLL faceoff man but one more possession for this offense is not something any defense would prefer. One less defensive possession means one less timely save Blaze Riorden has to make.
Riorden by the way is at 65% on the year. How is it possible to score goals in the NLL then turn around and be the best goalie in the PLL?
Could another Canadian be on the way to the starting line up?
When do Chris Cloutier and Chase Fraser make their appearances?
The Chaos play the Woods, who looked awful in Columbus, after the World Games.