National Lacrosse League Betting Odds & Picks: NLL Week 9 Best Bets

We kicked off Week 9 in the National Lacrosse League with a pair of winning bets on Friday night, so let’s pick some more winners for the Saturday slate. To wrap up the weekend, I’m looking at bets in four games in particular.

If you’re an avid bettor who’s new to lacrosse or a lacrosse fan who’s new to betting, check outmy guide on how to bet on lacrosse for some tips to use when placing a lacrosse bet.

New York Riptide vs. Buffalo Bandits (-2.5)

Odds via bet365

Get in losers, we’re fading an NLL team on short rest. After successfully betting on the Buffalo Bandits to cover the 2.5-point spreadt last nigh, we’re going to fade them in their second game of the weekend. Following their 13-9 win in Philadelphia, the Bandits travel to Long Island for another East Conference battle – against the New York Riptide.

As I’ve highlighted already this season, the 24-hour turnaround is historically a very challenging spot for teams playing their second game of the weekend against a team that is playing in their first game of the week. Since 2021, teams playing in their second game of the weekend against a team playing in its first is 4-12 straight up and 3-13 against the spread, according to the Bet On Lacrosse report. So far this season, we saw the Halifax Thunderbirds and Panther City fall victim to this trend, both losing outright and failing to cover the spread.

While the short-rest trend certainly makes this a desirable spot, it’s not the only reason I like backing the Riptide.

Despite some personnel differences, we saw the Riptide play Buffalo extremely tight last season, losing 18-17 in overtime in their first meeting and winning outright 15-12 in their most recent game. In both games, New York covered the 2.5-point spread, and I think they’ll do so again on Saturday night. I recommend betting a full unit on Riptide +2.5 (-125 on bet365) and even throwing a half unit on the Riptide on the moneyline (+190 on bet365).

Pick: New York Riptide +2.5 (1 unit), New York Riptide ML (0.5 unit)

Calgary Roughnecks vs. Toronto Rock (-1.5)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

We get an inter-conference Canadian matchup on Saturday night as the Toronto Rock travel to Calgary to face the Roughnecks. The Rock enter as 1.5-point favorites, and the total is as high as 23.5 at some sportsbooks.

Both teams are coming off big wins, and this game should be a tight one. The two players to watch in this matchup will be goaltenders Nick Rose and Christian Del Bianco, who both are saving more than 80% of shots faced. Rose in particular is quickly becoming the favorite to win 2023 Goaltender of the Year, stopping 83% of shots and posting a league-best 8.01 goals against average. It’s no surprise that LaxMetrics.com has both goals ranked in the top two in wins above replacement, with Rose posting a WAR100 of 1.402 and Del Bianco posting a 0.772.

While both offenses have had some high-scoring games, they’ve come against weaker defenses, and I think defense will prevail in this matchup. Furthermore, Toronto’s games have stayed under 23.5 in four of their six contests while Calgary’s games have stayed under in three of their five. This is a great spot to back two of the top netminders in the NLL and bet under 23.5 (-120 on DraftKings).

Pick: Under 23.5

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Colorado Mammoth vs. San Diego Seals (-1.5)

Odds via bet365

Saturday night features a 2022 West Conference Finals rematch between the San Diego Seals and Colorado Mammoth. The Seals enter as 1.5-point favorites, and the total is 23.5 at most sportsbooks.

This showdown is an interesting one to handicap when considering how profitable Seals overs (4-1) and Mammoth unders (3-1) have been this season. Furthermore, all five Seals games have gone over 23.5, while the highest-scoring Mammoth game had only 24 goals, with the other three falling below 23.5.

So how do you play the total? Short answer: You don’t.

Instead, I’m looking toward a side in this game. While as favorites the Seals have covered the spread in only two of their five games, I think they have the offense to overwhelm the Mammoth defense and win by margin on Saturday. A lot of their issues have stemmed from an inconsistent goaltender situation, with Frank Scigliano struggling in every start this season.

The Seals started backup goaltender Chris Origlieri in their win over Vancouver before turning back to Scigliano in their last game against Calgary, but Scigliano would get pulled once again in San Diego’s first loss of the season. I don’t think Seals coach Patrick Merrill will go back to Scigliano and will instead opt for a bit more stability in Origlieri.

On the Mammoth side, while their defense continues to look elite in front of last year’s NLL Finals MVP Dillon Ward, the offense is still a big question mark. This should be a good “get right” spot for a Seals defense that can be more aggressive with capable goaltending, while being able to also rely on its high-powered offense. I think this is a good game to back San Diego coming off a loss, and I recommend betting Seals -1.5 (-105 at bet365) in Colorado.

Pick: Seals -1.5

Vancouver Warriors vs Panther City Lacrosse Club (-1.5)

Odds via bet365

The weekend wraps with what could be considered a must-win between two West Conference foes. Panther City travels to Vancouver to take on the Warriors with both teams hoping to remain relevant in the West Conference playoff race.

Panther City enters as 1.5-point favorites following a big road win over Philadelphia and just a week after trading for the NLL’s 2019-20 leading scorer, Callum Crawford. The blockbuster trade gives Panther City another proven goal-scorer on the right side in Crawford and was a clear indication that Panther City plans to compete this season. While we shouldn’t necessarily expect a huge performance out of Crawford as he gets comfortable in this new offense, Panther City matches up well with Vancouver at nearly every facet.

The defense has played well in front of goaltender Nick Damude, with the only outlier in their six games being a 17-9 defeat at the hands of the league’s top team in the Rochester Knighthawks. In addition to their win over the Wings, they also played the Saskatchewan Rush extremely tight and have been competitive in every game but their loss to Rochester.

On the other hand, the 1-5 Vancouver Warriors have managed to look competitive only in an early matchup with Calgary and a pair of back-to-back games with the 1-4 Las Vegas Desert Dogs. The defense hasn’t looked great all season and has given up more than 14 goals in five of six games. They are allowing an average of 15.2 goals against, which is the worst in the league. While their offense has enough talent to hang around, they could be looking at another long night against Panther City.

This price on Panther City suggests they are closer to the bottom tier of teams along with Vancouver and the Las Vegas Desert Dogs as opposed to the top tier of Calgary, Colorado, San Diego and Saskatchewan. While Panther City has a tough remaining schedule, they are much closer to being a playoff team than a bottom-feeder in the West.

I recommend betting Panther City -1.5 (+115 at bet365), but would certainly be fine with a bet on the moneyline (-130 on bet365) for those less comfortable in betting Panther City as a favorite. Ultimately, I have a hard time believing Panther City won’t win by more than a couple of goals if they do pull out the victory against Vancouver and think this is a great price to bet them to cover the 1.5-point spread.

Pick: Panther City -1.5