Colorado Mammoth team captain Gavin Prout took a break from his search for the fine line between distributor and shooter and excelled at the National Lacrosse League All-Star Game.
In the West’s 20-16 loss to the East on Saturday, Prout had a game-high five assists and scored three goals. Only East star Mark Steenhuis twinkled brighter, with six goals and one assist.
With the NLL-leading Mammoth (9-1) returning to action Saturday at Toronto (4-5), Prout resumes a balancing act. He leads the Mammoth in assists with 36 and ranks fifth in goals with 15, well behind his career average of two goals per game.
Particularly on the power play, where Prout plays the point, the question is raised: shoot or pass?
“I have a lot of confidence in a lot of guys on the power play,” Prout said. “At times, there are shots I should take. For some reason I’m not taking them and I do get yelled at on the bench for that. It is always in the back of my mind to try to take those shots, but at the same time you don’t want to look greedy.”
Prout believes he can get off shots throughout the 30-second shot-clock period, so he sees no harm in working for a better shot.
“When everybody is scoring, it is tough to take all those shots,” he said. “You want everyone to contribute on this team and everyone is doing that, doing a great job. So I don’t feel I need to take 10 to 12 shots a game, whereas maybe last year not everyone was shooting as well.”
With 139 goals, the defending NLL champion Mammoth ranks second in scoring behind Rochester’s 154 goals. Eight Mammoth players have scored at least seven goals.
In the playoffs, scoring is typically not as balanced, however.
“When it comes to playoffs, some people feel the pressure; some people don’t,” Prout said. “So if we get in that situation, where some guys are feeling the pressure and their shots aren’t falling, then maybe I will take it upon myself and take a few more shots and hopefully score, and calm the team down a little. But the playoffs are a long way away. We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
All-star highlights
With a 102-mph blast, Colorado’s Josh Sims won the fastest shot competition. Teammate John Gallant lost to Rochester’s Steve Toll in the final round of the agility contest. University of Denver alum Geoff Snider, a Philadelphia rookie, won the accuracy contest.
Lax brotherhood
Ilija Gajic , the younger brother of Mammoth standout rookie Nenad Gajic, is part of DU’s outstanding freshman class.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Ilija ranked second in goals scored, with nine. Joey Murray, a sophomore from Regis High School, leads the squad with 10 goals.
