The Big Game (of Week 11 of the 2025-26 NLL Regular Season)
I’m assuming the Super Bowl is this weekend. I don’t actually know or care. Watch this instead.
Photo Credit: Candice Ward/Las Vegas Desert Dogs
You’re planning to watch the wrong game this weekend.
All season has led up to this pivotal moment, The Big Game, a clash of two of the best teams, but this super matchup isn’t getting the love it deserves. Damn it, we’re going to fix that.
Get hyped for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and Georgia Swarm in week 11 of the 2025-26 NLL regular season.
No disrespect for the other five matchups on the weekend, but they’re either unbalanced matchups or meetings where teams are trying to get off the schnide.
Calgary and Ottawa — two of the worst goaltending teams with inconsistent offenses and defenses.
Oshawa and Toronto — Emerson Clark was activated for Oshawa, so that tells you where they’re at mentally.
Philadelphia and Buffalo — you know what, the Wings might actually pull off the upset considering how the Bandits have looked lately.
Saskatchewan and San Diego — Seals are on an uptick, but the Rush are kings.
Rochester and Vancouver — Rylan Hartley’s serving his one-game suspension, which is for the best. Save the fights for the end of the game or possible postseason matchup.
Both teams are above .500. The Desert Dogs have matched their win total from last season and still have 11 more games to play. The Swarm are fourth in league standings right now thanks to the interstellar play of Brett Dobson between the pipes. Their seasons aren’t made or broken on Saturday’s result at Gas South Arena. But they’ll go a long way towards telling us how for real both teams are.
No, I’m not just saying this because I’ll cover the game in person on Saturday and am using this as an excuse to prep for it. This is the NLL’s best offense clashing with the NLL’s best defense. How can you not be hyped?
Photo Credit: Kyle Hess/Georgia Swarm
Saturday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gas South Arena
If you’re in the US, all games are available on ESPN+; if you’re in Canada, you can catch the games on the TSN app or Plus.NLL.com.
Last 2 Meetings:
2-0 in Swarm’s favor
Desert Dogs
12.9 GF/GAME | 13.0 GA/GAME
Swarm
10.1 GF/GAME | 7.8 GA/GAME
Desert Dogs Top Scorers
Mitch Jones, 46 PTS (18G, 28A)
Jonathan Donville, 39 PTS (8G, 31A)
Chris Cloutier, 33 PTS (14G, 19A)
Swarm Top Scorers
Shayne Jackson, 32 PTS (18G, 14A)
Lyle Thompson, 30 PTS (10G, 20A)
Bryan Cole, 28 PTS (6G, 22A)
Probable Starting Netminders
Desert Dogs
Landon Kells — 12.26 GAA | .763 Sv% | -8.50 GSAA | 352:24 min. | 51.76 SA/60
Swarm
Brett Dobson — 6.91 GAA | .870 Sv% | 32.22 GSAA | 460:26 min. | 53.17 SA/60
Offensive & Defensive Stats
Desert Dogs O | D
TrueES — 15.9/72.1/13.7 | 15.4/67.3/13.9
TruePP — 20.4/67.3/22.2 | 22.7/65.9/22.2
TrueFB — 23.7/78.0/19.2 | 19.7/74.6/18.2
TrueSH — 6.7/53.3/4.3 | 16.7/75.0/11.1
Swarm O | D
TrueES — 11.0/64.7/9.7 | 8.0/69.6/6.7
TruePP — 14.6/67.4/14.3 | 11.2/67.4/11.9
TrueFB — 31.1/75.7/25.6 | 13.1/83.8/11.7
TrueSH — 13.8/48.3/10.3 | 16.2/73.0/12.2
There aren’t any secrets to how both teams have been successful or where their issues lie.
Las Vegas is literally outscoring their defensive issues. Landon Kells hasn’t been consistent, tale as young as his career. When he’s on, he’s lights out, but when he’s off, then Alex Buque gets steps in. The defense in front of Kells is stronger and more disciplined than in years past, but his inconsistencies are keeping the team’s defensive efficiencies in the bottom half of the league. It’s still a marked improvement from when they were the worst settled and and penalty killing team last season.
Whatever coin flip performance the Desert Dogs get from him doesn’t matter much to an offense that scores at the highest settled clip in the league and is top five in efficiency for both the power play and transition game. Free agent hauls Mitch Jones, Chris Cloutier, and Chase Fraser have delivered early in their contracts, with Jonathan Donville playing the most like Wes Berg out of anyone in the NLL except for, well, Wes Berg. Fraser going down to injury is a blow, but the Desert Dogs’ performance against the Oshawa FireWolves last season should mollify that worry a bit. Obligatory Adam Poitras mention — duder’s so much fun to watch and worth the price of admission alone.
Part of that success has been the team’s philosophical shift, not forcing the transition game and focusing more on settled prowess. They averaged 14.8 TrueFBSets/GAME (18.3% of total shifts) last season but are down to 10.4 (12.7%) in 2025-26. Meanwhile, their TrueESSets/GAME have jumped from 49.9 (61.8% of total shifts) to 59.4 (72.1%).
Georgia’s struggled to score, although they’ve stayed above double digits in their three-game win streak. Normally, teams would want to reach 12 goals and hope their goalie holds the opponent to 10 or 11. For the Swarm, that floor’s lowered because of Dobson, my front-runner for MVP. If he holds an opponent to single digits, then the Swarm should be golden.
Considering only one opponent has potted double digits against him, I’d bet on Dobson standing on his head once again. That only mar on his season resume was courtesy of the Bandits; Dobson finished the season opener with a 14.19 GAA, .750 Sv%, and an American zebra escort to the penalty box. He hasn’t finished a game with a save percentage below 85% since. His GSAA of 32.22 is higher than Christian Del Bianco’s was when he won MVP in 2023. Bananalands.
Defense wins championships and all that jazz, but teams still think chicks dig the long ball scoring goals. While Lyle Thompson’s rebounding from his slow start (5.7 PTS/GAME in the last three games compared to 1.6 PTS/GAME in the previous five — what did I just write? That’s insane), the lefty duo of Shayne Jackson and Bryan Cole have led the team in scoring, and the team’s transition game has been minty, led by Jordan MacIntosh (my frontrunner for Transition Player of the Year) and Michael Grace (my barely frontrunner for Rookie of the Year). It’s the most successful in the NLL, the opposite of the team’s power play.
This is why I think this is such a compelling matchup. Georgia struggles to score even strength — although that’s slowly shifting in the right direction — but can bury an opponent in transition and have Dobson stonewall the everything and kitchen sink thrown his way. Las Vegas’s firepower is inevitable, propelling the team to success despite their defensive shortcomings (which, again, are much improved compared to years past).
Something has to give in this clash of spear and shield. Maybe Dobson and the Swarm defense have an off night. Maybe the Desert Dogs offense struggles to pot the pill. Maybe Georgia’s offense comes alive again like they’re back in Edmonton. Maybe Vegas stuffs Georgia’s run game and keeps their settled O issues going another week.
Whatever will be will be. Enjoy the action of what looks like the best matchup in a jam-packed Saturday of NLL games.