The Buffalo Bandits headed into their back-to-back weekend with one goal in mind: win one game and you’re back in the playoffs. First up was a home game Friday night against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs that had those playoff implications, as well as being the finals for the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup.
The emotions of that game were going to be palpable, as the Tucker Out Lymphoma Night originated in Buffalo, and now Tucker’s dad, Shawn, is the coach of the Desert Dogs, and had a solid career as Bandit in his own right.
Onto the game we go. Buffalo came out of the gates piping hot, scoring the game’s first eight goals. Las Vegas didn’t roll over and die, as they scored the game’s last five. Buffalo should have run away with this one after the first quarter, but snuck out with a 13-10 win, punching their ticket to the postseason.
As we said, Buffalo scored the first eight goals of the game, and an already raucous Banditland was going crazy. Two things: one, we didn’t think that barn could get any more raucous, but it certainly can, and two, I was one of the 18,000+ going bananas. No shame over here. The first of those eight goals was a big one, as Josh Byrne fired a pass to a lone Bandit on the doorstep, that being Lukas Nielsen. The rookie was making his debut and buried that shot for his first career NLL goal.
The next seven were a complete masterclass by Buffalo when it came to swinging the ball and pinpoint accuracy. Those goals were scored by Chris Cloutier twice, Dhane Smith twice, Byrne, Justin Martin, and Kyle Buchanan. Out came Landon Kells, in entered Justin Geddie for the Dogs. Casey Jackson buried the lone goal for Las Vegas to close out the first. 8-1 Buffalo after one.
The pace slowed down in the second quarter, as there were only four total goals scored, one by Las Vegas and the other three by Buffalo. Holden Cattoni kicked it off with his first on the power play, but the Desert Dogs just couldn’t get anything else going. The three Bandit goals were buried by Byrne, Cloutier, and Buchanan. 11-2 Buffalo at the break.
The tide turned a bit in the third quarter, as Las Vegas finally broke through a bit more on offense, but more importantly, shut Buffalo’s offense down. The Bandits’ lone goal was scored by Ian MacKay on the power play, and it was followed up by two from Las Vegas, one from Kyle Killen and the other from Jonathan Donville on the power play. 12-4 Bandits after three.
That lone goal situation Buffalo found themselves in in the third quarter was exactly what happened in the fourth as well. Kudos to Las Vegas for adjusting and making this one a game. Donville and MacKay traded goals to begin the fourth, and then it was all Desert Dogs the rest of the way. That five-goal run referenced at the beginning ensued, and Banditland got eerily quiet.
Obviously, we know the outcome, but Las Vegas showed some serious guts for not rolling over after the first half. Those five Desert Dogs goals were scored by Jackson, Killen, Luke Pilcher, which was his first career goal, Jackson Webster, and Donville. If there was one more quarter, I’d be curious as to how this one finishes. Nonetheless, that gave us our final from Buffalo, 13-10 Bandits. There was a nice trophy presentation after the game honoring Tucker Williams and congratulating the Bandits on winning the inaugural Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Cloutier (3+2), Byrne (2+6), and Smith (2+5). Vinc was a stud for a good majority of the game, stopping 37 of 45 in total. Steve Orleman entered late in the fourth quarter and stopped two of four. For Las Vegas, Donville (3+3), Jackson (2+4), and Killen (2+3) led the way. Kells had a rough go of it, stopping six of 14 in 12:17 of game play. Geddie was phenomenal in relief, stopping 33 of 38.
“When you’re up by a lot, you don’t attack the net as often,” said John Tavares. “It seemed like offensively we stopped going to the cage the way we were in the first half.”
The Bandits packed their bags right after the Las Vegas game, boarded a bus, and shipped up east, about 4 hours on the I-90 to Albany for their Saturday night matchup. The playoff implications got a bit juicier, as Buffalo could beat Albany, and with some help, clinch a home playoff game. Spoiler, Albany had something to say about that. I, too, loaded up the vehicle and away we went to Albany.
If I may, this game was one of the most back-and-forth I’ve ever seen in person. The Bandits found themselves down late in the fourth quarter, tied it up courtesy of a three-goal run, and to overtime we went. After almost nine minutes of chance after chance, Dyson Williams played a little bit of backyard lacrosse. The rookie received a pass after a broken play and fired a behind-the-back shot that beat Vinc for the game winner. Oh Dyson, you sicko. That gave us our final from the 518, 11-10 FireWolves.
Buffalo got out to an early lead in front of the almost split crowd, as Chase Fraser buried his first just 47 seconds into the game. Good to see him get one early, as he was a late scratch for Friday night’s game. Tye Kurtz answered right back for Albany with two-straight, those being not even two minutes apart. Buffalo got the last laugh of the quarter with two of their own, one from Ian MacKay and the other from Dhane Smith. 3-2 Bandits after one.
The two clubs continued the back-and-forth in the second quarter, as the first four goals were every other. Johnathan Peshko kicked it off for Albany but was answered by Smith’s second on the power play. Alex Simmons buried his first but was answered by a beautiful transition goal from Nick Weiss. Chris Cloutier continued his hot play with his first to close out the second. 6-4 Bandits at the break.
“I mean it’s tough”, said Smith. “They’re a great team over there; we obviously came off a game. There’s no excuses, we knew they were going to come out flying. We’re just matching their speed, and hopefully we have a better second half.”
One goaltender got a bit more work than the other in the first half. Doug Jamieson faced a flurry of shots and was up to the task. He made 31 saves on 37 shots. Vinc didn’t see as many, but he was equally as stout, stopping 19 of 23.
The tide changed in the third quarter, as Albany completely shut down Buffalo. The FireWolves held the Bandits scoreless in the frame, all while scoring three goals of their own and taking the lead back. Those goals were scored by Peshko, Simmons, and Ethan Walker. 7-6 Albany after three.
The fourth quarter was a track meet, as both sides played vigorously up and down the floor. Dyson Williams kicked off the scoring with his first on the power play but was quickly answered by Kyle Buchanan. Walker and Williams went back-to-back following that, and Albany led by three with 10:51 to go. With the way Jamieson was playing, it seemed like that lead was going to be safe. Wrong. Buffalo scored two quick goals in response, one from MacKay and the other from Fraser to cut the lead to one. After five plus minutes of back-and-forth, Josh Byrne buried the tying goal with less than two minutes to play. The clock struck zero and we went overtime.
I wish I had an exact number of saves and chances by both sides in the overtime period but take my word that it was a bunch. Both goaltenders were as stout as could be and neither offense could break the ice. As we said at the beginning, Williams found himself on the doorstep and fired a behind-the-back shot that beat Vinc for the winner, giving us our 11-10 final. Pure elation inside MVP Arena.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Smith (2+4), Fraser (2+2), and MacKay (two goals). Vinc had himself a solid game, obviously wanting the last one back. He made 45 saves on 56 shots. For Albany, Williams (3+1), Kurtz (2+4), and Simmons (2+2) led the way. Jamieson was disgusting down the stretch, stopping 57 of 67 in total.
“What an atmosphere here”, said Williams. “Obviously Buffalo travels well, what a game to be a part of. It felt like a playoff game; it was a must win for us. We still have all our faith and trust in the locker room, truly love the guys here.”
Buffalo (11-3) still sits atop the standings and have their ticket punched. They look to strive towards that ever-important home playoff game this Saturday as they return home to take on Vancouver (7-7) at 7:30pm.
Albany (6-9) is heating up at the perfect time. They have a bye week before they try to continue their winning ways. Their next game is on the road against Vancouver on Friday April 4th at 10pm.
Las Vegas (3-12) is just looking for feel good stuff at this point of the season. They look to get back into the win column next Sunday April 6th against Toronto (5-9). Faceoff in that one is at 5pm.
Firewolves
