Clutch Kings: Playing with a lead and winning without one

Nathan Grennon, Albany FireWolves (Photo: WM Photography)

While box lacrosse is most definitely a game of runs, some swings are significantly longer than others, and that’s often what dictates the final score, right?

Often yes, but sometimes no.

This week, in addition to updating our weekly Clutch Kings leaderboard, The Lax Mag also examined how often National Lacrosse League teams maintain a lead, how long they play from behind, and how much of their games are spent tied.

Using NLLStats.com, we reviewed every team’s game (48 in total leading into Week 10), confirmed how long they led, the opposition led, or were deadlocked. From there, we added up that total for every game every team has played so far this season to determine what position they find themselves in most often.

Below is the percentage of time each team has spent in those three specific scenarios, plus the story those stats tell us.

Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits

Albany FireWolves

Leading: 49%
Behind: 30%
Tied: 21%

The only games the FireWolves found themselves constantly behind in was their season-opening win over Las Vegas (led for only 5 minutes and 29 seconds) and then their recent one-sided loss to San Diego, who led for almost the full 60 minutes. Albany is one of only two teams with three players on our updated Clutch Kings leaderboard below (Ethan Walker, Alex Simmons and Travis Longboat). It’s a group effort in Albany, and so far, the results have been extremely good.

Buffalo Bandits

Leading: 40%
Behind: 38%
Tied: 22%

Nothing too crazy here. In games Buffalo led little, they lost, well, except when they were in Rochester. Trailing for most of that game, Josh Byrne’s fourth quarter go-ahead goal gave Buffalo their first lead until midway through the first period. Byrne netter the game winner just 24 seconds later.

Calgary Roughnecks

Leading: 61%
Behind: 23%
Tied: 16%

Few teams have had the luxury to lead a game as much as the Roughnecks this year, but at just 2-3 in the standings, maintaining that lead has proved problematic.

Eli McLaughlin, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: John Harrison)

Colorado Mammoth

Leading: 21%
Behind: 67%
Tied: 12%

Being behind for nearly 70% of their season so far is very much on brand for the Mammoth, who over the past two years have pulled out some of the most dramatic wins we’ve seen en route to back-to-back Finals appearances. Over their first five games, Colorado held a lead for just about 90 seconds - that’s it! Their OT win over Vancouver was about as clutch as it gets (outscored Warriors 6-0 in the second half). They can clearly never be counted out.

Georgia Swarm

Leading: 45%
Behind: 36%
Tied: 19%

Georgia’s full-season stats are fairly average, but their last three games have obviously not been great. In losses to Albany & New York, the Swarm maintained a lead for all of two minutes combined. They had the upper hand in Hamilton against the Rock (led for nearly nine more minutes than Toronto), but a troublesome fourth quarter saw Georgia give away the game. While Shayne Jackson’s incredible start to the season still has him #1 in the Clutch Kings, he has not scored a single goal over the past three games, all of course losses.

Halifax Thunderbirds

Leading: 68%
Behind: 21%
Tied: 11%

No team has held leads longer than Halifax, but with just a .500 record, the Thunderbirds have struggled to maintain momentum so far this season. Coming off their most dominant result this year (led Rochester for 59 minutes and 54 seconds in a 13-8W), Halifax will see teams below the .500 mark in four of their next five. This is a critical stretch for a team that has shown they are capable of much more.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs

Leading: 24%
Behind: 59%
Tied: 17%

They kicked their season off by leading but losing (12-10L to Albany), and outside of their surprising win over San Diego, have been playing behind for most of 2024.

Rob Hellyer and Jack Hannah, Las Veger Desert Dogs (Photo: Mike Kirschbaum)

New York Riptide

Leading: 36%
Behind: 51%
Tied: 13%

The Riptide are on a franchise-best four-game run right now. When looking at their minute-leading metrics, it’s pretty straightforward: they play great with a lead but struggle severly to make comebacks. The Riptide have just four players (Connor Kearnan, Jeff Teat, Larson Sundown and Reilly O’Connor) who’ve registered a game-tying, go-ahead and/or game-winning goal so far this year. That’s be far the lowest team total in the NLL.

Panther City Lacrosse Club

Leading: 51%
Behind: 28%
Tied: 21%

Panther City has an above average amount of minutes leading on the scoreboard, but sit just 3-3 in the standings. With that said, over their last two games, PCLC has led way longer than their opponents (New York & Las Vegas), and still secured the dub.

Philadelphia Wings

Leading: 22%
Behind: 66%
Tied: 13%

Only the Mammoth have trailed for longer than the Wings, who have not led for a single second during game play over their last three games, which did include a thrilling OT win. Philadelphia needs to find consistency in a hurry, because continuous comeback lacrosse rarely ends with long-term success. Exhibit A: the Wings are 2-4 right now.

Rochester Knighthawks

Leading: 27%
Behind: 56%
Tied: 17%

While Colorado has made comeback lacrosse fashionable over the past few seasons, it’s a dangerous brand of ball to play. The Knighthawks are constantly playing from behind this year, and it’s caught up to them. On a three game losing streak, Rochester has been in a lot of back-and-forth fights this year, but are no longer sealing the deal.

Austin Staats, San Diego Seals (Photo: Jake Whiting)

San Diego Seals

Leading: 60%
Behind: 28%
Tied: 12%

Over their last three games, the opposition has held a lead over San Diego a total of 0 minutes and 0 seconds. That’s the longest score-leading stretch of any team this year. While clubs have mounted comebacks, the Seals have been able to maintain that lead late, lately at least . Their loss to Las Vegas appears to have been a turning point of their season.

Saskatchewan Rush

Leading: 40%
Behind: 43%
Tied: 17%

At 1-4, it’s a bit shocking to see that the Rush have led during 40% of their games. Zach Manns ranks a few spots outside of our Clutch Kings leaderboard below, but after him, Saskatchewan have few forwards that have connected in the clutch this year. In losses to the Knighthawks & Warriors, the Rush were ahead for significant stretches, but failed to maintain important leads at critical times.

Toronto Rock

Leading: 57%
Behind: 26%
Tied: 17%

The Rock have done a good job maintaining leads this year, and when they do let them slip away, it hasn’t been for long. With that said, they’ve trailed for nearly 72 minutes over the last two games (W over Georgia, L to Buffalo) and led for under 20 minutes. This week, Corey Small took over their Clutch Kings top spot (currently ranked sixth league wide) from teammate Mark Matthews, who was massively money early on.

Vancouver Warriors

Leading: 32%
Behind: 53%
Tied: 15%

The Warriors are usually playing from behind, which not surprisingly has not worked out well for them. Since Colorado’s ridiculous OT comeback victory over Vancouver (a game the Warriors had the lead for nearly 53 minutes of play), they’ve struggled mightily to gain any kind of scoreboard advantage. They did pull off their own Mammoth-like victory when they played from behind for a majority of their January 20th game in Saskatchewan, outscoring the Rush 6-0 in the fourth to claim an unlikely 11-9W. The Warriors as a team have scored only five game-tying goals all season, and they’ve come courtesy from just two players: Adam Charalambides (3) and Kevin Crowley (2).

Shayne Jackson, Georgia Swarm (Photo: Kyle Hess)

NLL Clutch Kings: Week 9

CKs Rank. Player (NLL Gs Rank), Team, CKs Points (GTG/GAG/GWG)

1. Shayne Jackson (T14), Georgia, 15.75 (1/6/1)
T2. Connor Fields (T5), Rochester, 13.00 (3/4/1)
T2. Ethan Walker (T16), Albany, 13.00 (2/2/2)
4. Josh Byrne (T5), Buffalo, 12.00 (4/1/2)
5. Ryan Smith (T5), Rochester, 11.50 (2/3/1)
6. Corey Small (T16), Toronto, 10.50 (0/2/2)
7. Jonathan Donville (T43), Panther City, 10.00 (4/3/1)
T8. Austin Staats (4), San Diego, 9.50 (3/1/1)
T8. Mark Matthews (T34), Toronto, 9.50 (3/1/1)
T10. Alex Simmons (10), Albany, 9.00 (2/2/1)
T10. Casey Jackson (T22), Las Vegas, 9.00 (2/3/0)
12. Kyle Jackson (T43), San Diego, 9.00 (1/2/1)
13. Callum Crawford (1), Panther City, 8.75 (2/3/1)
14. Jeff Teat (3), New York, 8.25 (4/2/1)
T15. Wes Berg (T11), San Diego, 8.00 (1/1/2)
T15. Travis Longboat (T34), Albany, 8.00 (1/1/1)
17. Andrew Kew (T25), Georgia, 7.50 (2/1/1)
T18. Chase Fraser (T11), Buffalo, 7.00 (4/1/0)
T18. Jason Knox (T59), Panther City, 7.00 (0/2/1)
T18. Mitch Jones (T31), Philadelphia, 7.00 (2/0/1)
T18. Connor Robinson (T34), Colorado, 7.00 (1/0/1)

Scoring System

First 3 Quarters (GTG/GAG/GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Power-Play Goal: 0.50/0.75/1.00
Short-Handed Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00

Fourth Quarter (GTG/GAG/GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 2.00/3.00/4.00
Power-Play Goal: 1.00/1.50/2.00
Short-Handed Goal: 4.00/6.00/8.00

Overtime (GWG)

Even-Strength Goal: 6.00
Power-Play Goal: 3.00
Short-Handed Goal: 12.00