[XcelLaX]

And here's my usual Facebook write-up:

Swarm Game 5: Do you know the way to Sa - oh, Nevermind...

We're only one-fourth of the way through the NLL season, and the Minnesota Swarm already have their backs to the wall, at 1-3 and tied with the defending champs from Calgary, of all teams, for the keys to the West Division cellar as they pay their first-ever visit to the 5-0 San Jose - er, Washington Stealth's new digs in Everett, just north of Seattle. The Stealth forwards have looked impressive so far even without Colin Doyle leading the charge, but their defense and goaltenders have cooled off in the last couple of weeks, and could be ripe for exploitation. Will the Stealth remain in unbeaten Nirvana, or will they be "Outshined" in their own Soundgarden by the visiting Blue Crew?

First quarter: Thor must have been scratched because Scott Self took the opening faceoff instead. Jeff Zywicki and Luke Wiles get back-to-back goals, and the Stealth are up 2-0 after just a couple of minutes. Nick Patterson and the Swarm defense settle down after that, but the offense looks a bit out of sorts in the early going, until Aaron Wilson scores off a turnover. That's lit a fire under the Swarm on both sides of the ball, especially the offensive unit which has become visibly more confident and aggressive, eventually tying the score courtesy of a Callum Crawford head-fake. But Cam Sedgwick gives Washington the lead again late in the period, and only a replay reversal keeps Jason Bloom from notching another Stealth goal just as time expired. Stealth 3, Swarm 2.

Second quarter: Both goalies are giving stout efforts so far this game, especially Patty who's being challenged a bit more by the Washington attack than Matt Roik is by ours. The Swarm are having way too many one-shot possessions; they need to start snagging more rebounds and loosies to give themselves more chances, and especially to keep Washington's attackers off the floor - attackers like Rhys Duch, who extends the Stealth lead on the power play. But Kevin Ross cuts it to one again on an amazing play, a sort of impromptu version of the Air Gait, firing one-handed from behind off Roik's back and into the net. Crawford ties it up again on a cannon-shot through heavy traffic on the Swarm's next possession. He would later score short-handed during a 5-minute power play, answering a Zywicki power-play goal a couple minutes earlier. Peter Morgan, brother of the Swarm's Richard Morgan (ironically the one who drew the major penalty), added another PP tally to give the Stealth the lead again just before the half. Even so, the Swarm have been playing inspired ball so far tonight, a far cry from the Stealth's 18-8 pasting of the Blue Crew in their last meeting in San Jose. Stealth 6, Swarm 5.

Third quarter: Defensemen Ryan Cousins of the Swarm and Eric Martin of the Stealth couldn't even wait for the opening faceoff to drop the gloves and go at it, so they both get ejected from the game. A few minutes and two more goals per team later, Paul Rabil of the Stealth also gets tossed for a cheap shot - and a low blow at that - on Ryan Benesch, leaving both a major and minor penalty in his wake for a seven-minute Swarm power play! The minor was served first, and Sean Pollock converted to tie the game up again at 8-8. But Roik is still looking sharp in the Stealth net, and despite keeping the heat on Washington's penalty killers the Swarm are unable to score in the first 3:05 of the major penalty as the quarter comes to a close. But they have set the stage for what promises to be a fantastic finish. Stealth 8, Swarm 8.

Fourth quarter: What is it with Minnesota teams and too-many-men penalties, anyway? Two weeks ago such a penalty wound up costing the Vikings a trip to the Super Bowl. Tonight it may have cost the Swarm this game. The penalty wiped out most of the rest of Rabil's major penalty, and although the Stealth couldn't score on their own brief power-play, Duch scored low just after it ended to take back the lead for the Stealth, for good this time. He and defenseman Mike Grimes would each add insurance goals to seal the win. Wilson would get one of those goals back, only to be quickly answered yet again by Peter Morgan. But the real hero of the quarter, if not the entire game, was Matt Roik. His Stealth were outshot 48-41 on the game, yet Roik turned back 39 of those 48 Swarm shots for a save percentage of 0.812 on the night. Final score: Stealth 12, Swarm 9.

Closing thoughts: The Swarm played the kind of game they needed to play to have a shot at knocking off the NLL's last remaining unbeaten team - offensively aggressive, with an eye toward exploiting a porous Washington defensive unit that has now given up 47 or more shots on goal in five of their first six games. But once again the Blue Crew ran into a hot opposing netminder. Three of the Swarm's four losses have been to goalies posting a save percentage above 80% for the game: at Calgary on 1/10 (Matt King 38 for 45, 0.844), at Buffalo on 1/30 (Ken Montour 44 for 51, 0.863), and at Washington last night. The other loss, at home to Colorado, was in OT so that game could have gone either way anyway. The Stealth alternate goalies each game, so chances are Tyler Richards will start in the rematch at Xcel Energy Center a week from tonight in place of Roik - but Richards, in just his second year in the league, has also proven himself capable of coming up big. I swear, if it wasn't for bad luck the Swarm wouldn't have any luck at all.

Official game box score