After a five-week absence from its home floor, on which it is undefeated, the Colorado Mammoth returns to the Pepsi Center on Friday night to face Arizona in a battle of the National Lacrosse League’s top Western Division teams.
Colorado (10-2) is two victories shy of clinching the division title and is not looking ahead to Arizona without looking back at the 19-15 loss Saturday to Buffalo, according to coach Gary Gait.
“I think what we take from it is that you’ve got to show up prepared to play,” he said. “Sometimes you think you’re prepared, but if you’re not focused and you don’t go out and work hard, it is not always going to go your way.”
The defense was decimated by NLL points leader John Tavares. The 38-year-old from Ontario scored seven goals on 10 attempts, a 70 percent accuracy mark in a sport in which 20 percent shooting is above average. Tavares also passed out six assists.
“He played great, he really did,” Gait said. “That’s the best I’ve seen him play in a long time. He stepped up and made his shots and led his team, and that’s what great players do.”
Gait, a Hall of Famer in his second season of coaching, knows about great players. His 662 goals and 1,213 points in 15 seasons were the most in NLL history until Tavares surpassed him. With four games remaining in his 16th season, Tavares has 647 goals and 1,356 points.
Gait says if Colorado faces Tavares and Buffalo in the playoffs, adjustments will need to be made.
“We went in with a pretty solid game plan, but we didn’t execute it. We always look for things to change come playoff time,” Gait said.
All-star goaltender Gee Nash was replaced after making 24 saves but allowing 15 goals.
It was the second consecutive game Nash was spelled by Chris Levis. Typically, Nash performs exceptionally well after being pulled, and he’ll retain that opportunity against Arizona (7-4).
“Gee is our starter,” Gait said. “We’ll look to get him back in there and build his confidence.”
Nash will need his defenders to slow down Arizona’s Dan Dawson, a 6-foot-5 forward who combines his lengthy arm span and an effective swim move to get close to the net.
Dawson ranks fourth in the NLL in scoring with 36 goals (76 points).
Colorado counters with an offense that played well against the Bandits. Team goal-scoring leader Dan Carey scored four goals on 12 shots and ranks second only to Tavares’ .288 in shooting percentage at .267.
Brian Langtry and rookie Jordan Cornfield scored three goals each. Langtry was 3-for-11, and Cornfield was 3-for-7.
Team point-scoring leader Gavin Prout, who has occasionally struggled to fulfill roles as a playmaker and a scorer, attempted only five shots and scored once. He also made a team-leading six assists.
“We’ll look to tweak what we’re working on and try to get him some more opportunities,” Gait said. “The more shots he gets, the more he’ll build his confidence, the better he’ll probably play. But he certainly did a good job of getting everybody involved.”
