It was back to business in the National Lacrosse League again with 5 games on the docket for Week 4. The Toronto Rock was the only team that played twice as they split games against their eastern rivals Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks, who got their first victory of the season. In Alberta, coach Derek Keenan was back behind the bench and suddenly the Edmonton Rush of 2015 looked like the Edmonton Rush who dominated the regular season last year as they dismantled the home Calgary Roughnecks 16-8. That loss drops Calgary’s record to 0-3. Like the Toronto Rock, the New England Black Wolves also got their first loss of the year as the high scoring Minnesota Swarm defeated the Wolves 19-13. And in Colorado, the high-scoring Mammoth scored 20 goals for the second time this season as they defeated the Vancouver Stealth 20-9 to remain the only undefeated team in the NLL. It should not be too hard to guess what team is the new leader of the Power Rankings. Check it out.

The offense in Colorado has set a blistering pace as the Mammoth move into the No. 1 slot in ILIndoor's Power Rankings. (Photo: Michael Martin)

1. (2 last week.) Colorado (3-0). Colorado has a ridiculous 57 goals in its three games so far this season. Adam Jones led the way for the Mammoth, scoring 4 goals and 6 assists but Colorado had 9 different players scoring as it outshot the Stealth 56-36. A tip of the hat goes to Alex Turner, who scored 4 goals for the Mammoth. Next week these two teams go at it again, this time in Langley.

2. (1). Toronto Rock (3-1). While the Toronto Rock would have loved to sweep their games on the weekend, realistically they can’t be disappointed with their efforts and the results. Friday’s home opener against the Buffalo Bandits started with a very nice pre-game tribute to the late Terry Sanderson and it was obvious that players and fans felt that this was more than just an ordinary game. The Rock turned a 7-5 first half deficit into a 13-11 victory. Toronto was led by Steph Leblanc’s 10 points as well as Josh Sanderson’s 6 second-half assists. After that win the Rock jumped on a bus a travelled to Rochester, where they lost a close defensive battle by the score of 8-6. Next week the Rock will host the winless Calgary Roughnecks on the TSN game of the week.

3. (5). Minnesota (2-1). Only the Colorado Mammoth have scored at a higher rate than the Minnesota Swarm and the Swarm continued to pump in the goals as they thumped the New England Black Wolves by a score of 19-13. Rookie Miles Thompson continues to impress as he scored 2 goals and 5 assists while third-year player Shayne Jackson scored 4 goals and 3 assists and is off to his best start in his short career. Goaltender Zach Higgins stopped 41 of 54 shots to go 2-0 on the season. Next week the Swarm will travel to Buffalo for a Friday evening tilt.

4. (3). New England (2-1). We knew it wasn’t going to last forever so it should not come as a big surprise the New England Black Wolves have finally tasted defeat as they lost to the visiting Swarm 19-3 despite a 5-goal performance from Kevin Buchanan. The Black Wolves have yet to play a road game and their first one couldn’t be more difficult as they will travel to Edmonton next Friday for a game against the Rush, who look like they have been awoken from their early season slumber.

5. (4). Buffalo (2 -2). The Buffalo Bandits lost a tight game to the Toronto Rock at the ACC on Friday. The Bandits were playing with a short bench as John Tavares left very early into the contest with an injury. Ryan Benesch and Mark Steenhuis were dangerous every time they touched the ball but the difference in this game was that Buffalo’s power play went 0-4 and allowed 2 shorthanded goals, both in the fourth quarter. Next week the Bandits host the Minnesota Swarm on Friday night and then travel to Rochester on Saturday.

6. (8). Edmonton (1-2). It’s not meant as a slight to Edmonton’s assistant coaches Jeff McComb and Jimmy Quinlan but the Edmonton Rush is a different team when Derek Keenan is not on the bench. Edmonton looked very ordinary in its first two games of the season and when it allowed 9 fourth-quarter goals in against the Minnesota Swarm a few weeks ago, it was way out of character. On Saturday, Derek Keenan returned to the bench and the Rush looked like the team we expected as they steam rolled their Alberta rival 16-8. First overall draft choice Ben McIntosh scored 2 goals and 5 assists and the right-shooting rookie has helped make up for the loss of last season’s team MVP Curtis Knight. Edmonton got hat tricks from Riley Loewen, Mark Matthews and Jarrett Davis but their MVP on the night was coach Derek Keenan. Next week the Rush will host the New England Black Wolves.

7. (9). Rochester (1-2). Rochester finally got the monkey off its back as it defeated the visiting Toronto Rock by an 8-6 score. Slow starts to the season are not an unusual thing for the 3-time defending champs but when the NLL changed its playoff format last year (three teams qualifying for playoffs instead of four), there was an added sense of urgency to every regular season game. On Saturday, Rochester ended up on the winning side of a defensive battle against the visiting Toronto Rock. Cody Jamieson scored the last two goals of the contest to give the home team an 8-6 win. Next week the Rochester Knighthawks will host the Buffalo Bandits and for the second week in row they will be waiting for a team that played the night before as Buffalo hosts Minnesota on Friday.

8. (6). Vancouver Stealth (1-2). I don’t like the way this season is going for the Vancouver Stealth. Aside from a crazy 11-goal run in their season opening game, the Stealth has not looked good at all. Saturday night, they were owned by the Colorado Mammoth in a 20-9 loss in which they were outshot 56-36. Vancouver is missing some key defensive players but it also has to be concerned that Johnny Powless got zero points Saturday night and only has 1 goal in the first 4 games. Newcomer Corey Small scored 2 goals and 2 assists in his first game with the Stealth but they have to find some way to get some chemistry from all of their offensive lefties. Next week the Stealth will get a rematch with the Mammoth, this time in Langley.

9. (7). Calgary (0-3). The Calgary Roughnecks lost their third game in a row as the Battle of Alberta proved to be a decisive 16-8 victory for the Edmonton Rush. Sooner or later the Roughnecks are going to have a break out game but so far they share the worst goals-against record in the league (17 goals per game average) and are only No. 6 in offensive production. They look like a team that is waiting for the magic to happen but aren’t willing to play disciplined lacrosse for 60 minutes. Next week, the Roughnecks will get their chance to turn things around as they travel to Toronto to play the Rock on the TSN game of the week.