Photo: Jonathan Tenca/NLL
Love will not be in the air on Saturday night in Western New York when the Ottawa Black Bears visit the Rochester Knighthawks for their first meeting of the season.
Both the Black Bears and the Knighthawks enter at .500 on the season. For Ottawa, this game has been circled on the calendar for quite some time as the last before their second bye week of the season. Ottawa is one of just two teams in the NLL (the other being Oshawa) who have had just one bye week thus far and enter with two more games played than Rochester.
“The guys are due for a rest, but a big challenge ahead of us [with Rochester], so I’m just looking for them to stay hungry after a win,” said head coach Dan MacRae after the Black Bears defeated the Roughnecks last Saturday.
“Especially with the bye and Rochester being one of the top ranked teams, we really want to come in and set the tone early with them, and try and get a big win,” said goaltender Zach Higgins, who had his best performance of the season against Calgary, saving 45 of 54 shots.
The game also spells a meeting between Black Bears superstar Jeff Teat, who enters as the NLL’s leader in goals (28), assists (45), and points (73), and Knighthawks superstar Connor Fields, who enters as the leader in goals per game (3.25) and points per game (7.5).
THE GOODS
Watch: You can watch every regular season NLL game on NLL+ free of charge (excluding NLL Friday Night on TSN). Tonight’s game will also be available on TSN+, and ESPN+.
The Opponent: The Knighthawks have scored the most goals per game in the NLL (12.75), but have also allowed 12.25 per game. They will be without starting goaltender Rylan Hartley on Saturday night due to suspension and will turn to Riley Hutchcraft.
The Stat: Jeff Teat leads the league in points (73) entering play in Week 12. He also leads all forwards in loose balls (70, which is also ninth among all positions).
This year, the Black Bears will play four Friday home games and five Saturday home games from November to April.
Next up at home is a Saturday meeting with Oshawa on Feb. 28 at Canadian Tire Centre.
You can view the team’s entire schedule here, purchase Season Seats here, and Single Game tickets here.
Engage with the Black Bears on X: @OttBlackBears
Follow the Black Bears on Instagram: @OttBlackBears
