The 2026 National Lacrosse League Playoffs began on Friday night with the Halifax Thunderbirds defeating the Vancouver Warriors 10-7 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The game was considered a significant upset because heading into the NLL postseason, the Thunderbirds were the eighth seed and the Warriors were the first seed.
What we saw on Friday was not just an upset, but an amazing comeback too. The Warriors had a commanding 7-1 lead at halftime, before they were completely inept offensively in the second half. They were outscored 9-0 in the second half by Halifax as the Thunderbirds had six third quarter goals and three fourth quarter goals.
Jason Knox of Huntsville, Ontario led the Thunderbirds with six points. He had a team-high four goals and two assists. Clarke Petterson of Toronto, Ontario and Mike Robinson of Peterborough, Ontario had two goals each. The two Thunderbirds players with one goal were Jake Withers of Peterborough and Cody Jamieson of Six Nations, Ontario.
On Saturday, there will be a second Canadian NLL franchise that will be joining the Thunderbirds in the semifinals. That is because in another quarterfinal matchup, the Toronto Rock are facing the Saskatchewan Rush from SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
