What to watch for vs. Rochester – Playoff Edition

The Playoffs Are Here!

Hamilton, ON – The Toronto Rock (#1 Seed) will take on the Rochester Knighthawks (#8 Seed) tonight at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, ON. It’s a one-game, winner-take-all showdown to open up the NLL Playoffs.

The Rock and Knighthawks met just two walks ago in Rock City, with Toronto posting a 13-6 win, which represented the Rock’s largest margin of victory this season.  The Rock jumped out to a 10-1 halftime lead and rode that opening 30 minutes of domination to victory.

Rochester had a 3.13% chance of making the playoffs entering the final weekend of the regular season.  They completed defied the odds by winning at Georgia and then coming home to defeat Philadelphia in the final game on the NLL’s regular season schedule.  The Knighthawks finished 8-10 and won a five-way tiebreaker to become the NLL’s eighth playoff seed.

Fans can watch the game vs. Rochester at 4:30pm ET on TSN’s digital platform TSN+ via TSN.ca and the TSN App as well as ESPN+.  To stream the game, you need a TSN+ subscription.

Here’s what to watch for in Saturday’s matchup.

• The goaltenders just might decide this one. Two Orangeville natives going head-to-head in goal tonight in the Rock’s Nick Rose and the K-Hawks’ Rylan Hartley.  Rose won the NLL’s goalie triple crown by leading the league with the best save percentage (.812), lowest GAA (9.18) and most wins (15) and is the heavy favourite to win the NLL Goalie of the Year.  Hartley is coming in hot, having played a strong second half in Rochester’s April 13 loss to the Rock and earning the two wins that his team had to have to make it to the postseason.
• The battle at the dot should be a pretty interesting one tonight. Head-to-head on April 13, TD Ierlan won the showdown 13-9 over Rochester’s Joe Post.  This matchup should be a game within the game that plays a part in who wins this evening.
• The Rock and the Knighthawks 2.0 have never met previously in the postseason.
• INJURY REPORT: Brandon Slade is on the IR with a lower body injury. Latrell Harris and Chase Schiavon remain on the PUP List.
• Next weekend should the Rock advance they would host Game 1 vs. the Buffalo/Georgia winner on Friday at 7:30pm at FOC in Hamilton.

Fans should also check out the latest episode of Rock City Unplugged, streaming now on the Rock’s YouTube Channel and on TSN+.

Get primed for tonight’s game with the latest episode of the Toronto Rock Total Access podcast.

For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.