Four Games Including 2023 NLL Finals Rematch to Open the New Year in Week Six

PHILADELPHIA - Jan. 4, 2024 - PRLog -- The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, features four games, including the NLL Saturday Showcase, a 2023 NLL Finals rematch between the Colorado Mammoth and Buffalo Bandits at KeyBank Center (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+, TSN+, Altitude Sports, CW23), this weekend.

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL entering Week 6:

• Dobbie vs. Benesch Watch: The NLL's All-Time Scoring list will have two new occupants among the top five soon, but in which order is anyone's guess. Colin Doyle currently stands at No. 5 with 527, but Halifax forward Ryan Benesch (Elmira, Ont.) (521) and San Diego forward Dane Dobbie (Elora, Ont.) (519) are on his heels, and flipping the sixth and seventh spots weekly.
• Flipping the Turnstiles: Big crowds were the norm this past weekend in NLL arenas across North America, with Buffalo's near-17,000 attendance in its showdown with Georgia at KeyBank Center leading the way. WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome was rocking with 13,405.
• Breakthrough in Stripes: Calgary's Carmen Massel worked the shot clock during Saturday's Rochester vs. San Diego game (https://twitter.com/NLL/status/1740943101345112453) at Pechanga Arena. Notable because she became the first woman to officiate an NLL game.
• ESPN Top 10, Make it a Double: ESPN SportsCenter found two Top 10 plays to its liking last weekend: on Saturday, Buffalo's Kyle Buchanan's (Nepean, Ont.) nifty behind-the-back tally (https://youtu.be/O4IJtbKrAxg?si=V1ugZ-J4xL3b-nBp&t=43) was No. 7; and on Sunday, this incredible save by Toronto's Nick Rose (https://youtu.be/3ShJZe2Rl-Q?si=QtGky4y-stq102_x&t=78) (Orangeville, Ont.) earned No. 5.
• Metric Tons: The popular "LaxMetrics Powered by the NLL" feature on NLL.com this week has Cooper Perkins's look at Georgia Swarm netminder Brett Dobson's (Oshawa, Ont.) early-season case for Goaltender of the Year (https://www.nll.com/news/laxmetrics-week-5-dobsons-case-for-goaltender-of-the-year/).
• Three for Free: The New York Riptide may be looking for their first win, but there is past history that says teams who start 0-3 can still make the playoffs. Of current NLL franchises, 11 teams have started off dropping their first three and qualifying.
• Locally Shown: Six local outlets will have live coverage of the four NLL games this weekend, in addition to ESPN+ and TSN+ for every contest.
• Power Up: NLL.com posted its latest Power Rankings (https://www.nll.com/news/week-6-power-rankings-2/), and the Toronto Rock vault into first after a resounding win over New York, supplanting Buffalo, which slides all the way to sixth after a 1-2 start and impending Finals rematch with Colorado.