Black Bears Hit the Road for Date with Desert Dogs
NLL Ottawa Black Bears

Black Bears Hit the Road for Date with Desert Dogs

Published on December 20, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Ottawa Black Bears News Release


Heads up, Las Vegas. The Ottawa Black Bears will play on the road for the first time this season on Saturday night, when they take on the Desert Dogs at the Lee's Family Forum at 10 p.m.

The Black Bears are coming off a win last Friday over the defending Western Conference champion Saskatchewan Rush. The win had milestones aplenty, serving as head coach Dan MacRae's first win behind the bench as head coach in the NLL and also the scene for Jeff Teat's 500th career point, which he reached faster than anyone in league history.

The last time the Black Bears and Desert Dogs faced off, Teat dominated, scoring eight goals and setting a career-high in that category. Ottawa will lean on Teat once again, along with running mate Rob Hellyer, who entered the weekend leading the NLL in both assists (10) and points (16).

THE GOODS

Watch: You can watch every regular season NLL game on NLL+ free of charge (excluding NLL Friday Night on TSN). Tonight's game will also be available on TSN+, and ESPN+.

The Opponent: Ottawa won their second-ever meeting with Las Vegas last season, 13-10 at home on April 12. While playing as the Riptide, they won 13-11 in New York on March 9, 2024.

The Stat: Jeff Teat scored eight goals last season against Las Vegas, setting a new career high, while Zach Higgins saved 41 of 51 shots.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

"We're focusing on us right now and just making sure that we're building towards 60 minutes. If you've watched the last two games I think you'll see that we haven't played 60 minutes yet. You'll see it in the first game and in the last game too, we had a bit of a quiet spell. The offence and the defence has been helping each other out, if one's been dry the other one's been playing well." - Dan MacRae on the keys to Saturday's game

"A lot, for sure. We had a really hard training camp, but I'd say we had our hardest practice of the week Wednesday. Guys are putting in the work at the ground level, so it's great when we get a win against an opponent like Saskatchewan. That's great, but now it's a reset. You look around the league, Colorado beats Vancouver, then gets beat by Philadelphia. There's all these instances of anybody beating anybody, so just trying not to get too high or too low." - Dan MacRae on the team's confidence after beating defending NLL finalists Saskatchewan

This year, the Black Bears will play four Friday home games and five Saturday home games from November to April.

Next up is a Saturday home game against Philadelphia Wings on Dec. 27 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Check out the Ottawa Black Bears Statistics

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