Ten Stories to Watch: NLL Week Three

Week three is breathing down our necks and you all know what that means. It's time for my top ten story lines of the week.

10. What will we see from Edmonton?
This is the first that we will be seeing from the Rush and I am interested to see how they play without Nooch. I think that Colorado is a beatable team if their opponent plays consistently. Because this is the third week and Edmonton's first game, there could be some cohesion issues between the team.

9. Mammoth back-to-back games
Colorado plays the first back-to-back games of the season. While they don't have to make a huge trip between games (3-4 hours), the team will still have to recover quickly. It's unfortunate that Colorado has to play Calgary in their second game.

8. Can we get a repeat performance from John Grant Jr.?
One of the keys to Colorado winning one or both of their games will be Grant Jr. turning in another performance like he did against Minnesota. An eleven point game is not necessary, but every point would help. I think that he will be able to put up around seven to nine against Edmonton and four to five against Calgary.

7. Stealth offense
The Stealth ran into some problems against the Roughnecks and their defense but that shouldn't be a problem when Washington travels to Philadelphia. Washington has one of the top offenses in the league and if Rochester was able to drop 22 goals on Philly then this game should be a lot of fun to watch.

6. How the Wings and Knighthawks deal with suspensions
In light of the massive brawl at the end of the Philly-Rochester game, players from both teams will be receiving suspensions and/or fines. When we hear the verdict, possibly later today, we will learn just how much each team will be affected.

5. Rochester offense vs. Buffalo defense
Rochester's offensive stars will do everything that they can to get past Mike Thompson. Only one of these sides can shine when they clash on Saturday.

4. Calgary starting 3-0
Calgary has the skill set to run the table. Now, I'm not saying that they will go undefeated. In fact, the odds are against that with them playing Toronto and Buffalo once each and Washington two more times. However, their game against Colorado is a highly winnable game and every win counts for seeding in the playoffs.

3. How Toronto deals with the time off
Two heartbreaking defeats at the hands of Calgary and Buffalo has the defending champions sitting at 0-2. During this bye week Toronto must work on their defense in order to stop all of the late game goals. Toronto has the skills to rebound from this start, but the question is, do they have the mindset to do it?

2. Breakaway goals
As exciting as it is to see one player force a turnover or scoop a loose ball and take it the length of the field to score, I would rather see a team earn the goal. I might be in the minority here, but I'm rooting for teams to strengthen their transition to be able to get back and defend those chances.

1. Second half woes
One of the main trends that has emerged in the five games so far is teams pulling away/falling behind due to a flurry of second half goals. If we look at first and second half goal totals as separate entities we can see what I mean. The average goal differential at the end of the first half is 1.6 goals while the average differential of second half goals increases by four goals up to 5.6. Teams need to tighten up their defense or continue to score for all 60 minutes.

On a side note, it was brought to my attention that the Washington at Philadelphia game will mark Paul Rabil's first game in Philadelphia. Let's see how successful he is in the city of brotherly love.