Saturday night’s game at the KeyBank Center was going to be a clash of the titans so far this season in the NLL. The one-loss Philadelphia Wings were set to take on the undefeated Buffalo Bandits. To make it even more juicy, both teams led the league in average goals per game. The scoring statistic remained true because there were a million goals scored in this game. Buffalo exploded for ten goals in the second quarter and netted 19 in total. Philadelphia fell extremely behind, but made a valiant effort at a comeback, ultimately coming up short. The final from always raucous Banditland was 19-14 Bandits, keeping them undefeated.
As a season ticket holder, I go to every single game without fail, the up-and-down and celebrating 19 times showed me that I’m getting very old, very fast.
Buffalo started this game out perfectly. They used the home crowd to their advantage, as Josh Byrne, who had a monster game, buried the first two goals. Those two goals were followed up by a transition goal from Cam Wyers, that being the first of his NLL career. Buffalo native Joe Resetarits finally got the Wings on the board with a power play marker to close out the first. 3-1 Bandits after one.
The second quarter was the proof that was needed that Buffalo can score in bunches. As previously stated, Buffalo buried ten goals in the frame, to Philly’s four. The first five of the quarter belonged to Buffalo and there were some names on the list that you don’t normally see in the goal column. Scorers in that run were Chase Fraser, Byrne twice, Steve Priolo, and Paul Dawson. The Wings finally stopped the bleeding as Blaze Riorden and Sam LeClair rattled off two-in-a-row. But here came the Bandits once again, this time in the form of three-straight. Those three were scored by Byrne, Ian MacKay, and Dhane Smith. The monster performance from Byrne was on full display at this point, and believe me, there was more to come. Every time Philadelphia lit the lamp, Buffalo had the answer. Resetarits scored his second but was quickly answered by Byrne’s sixth and Chris Cloutier’s first (welcome back to Clooch). Here came the socks. I get the whole sock-trick thing, but like, gross. LeClair netted his second to close out the quarter, but this one looked like it was going to be a runaway for the Bandits. 13-5 Buffalo at the break.
The goaltender situation at halftime could not have been any more lopsided, just like the scoreboard. On one end, Matt Vinc was outstanding, making 17 saves on 22 shots. On the Wings’ end, it was an in-and-out type of night for Nick Damude and Deacan Knott. The combination made 21 saves on 34 shots.
“It’s massive, Connor’s (Farrell) doing his thing, defense is crushing it, V’s always standing on his head”, said Byrne at the break. “Our offense is buzzing and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of.”
The third quarter was an interesting one when it came to the momentum of the game. Buffalo was way ahead, clearly, and continued the pace for about half of the quarter. The other half was Philadelphia showing their grit and trying to make a game of it. Fraser and Holden Cattoni scored to begin the quarter, and then there was a bit of a lull in the scoring. Phil Caputo followed it up, almost six minutes later, but once, again here came the Bandits. Buffalo answered with two-straight, one from Fraser and the other from Byrne, who saved the best for last. Byrne was on his offhand with a defender draped all over him. He came streaking toward the crease and fired a one-handed underhand shot that went in. Number seven was arguably the best one of the night for Byrnzy. That goal would also be the last one Buffalo would score for quite some time, considering they were lighting the lamp at an alarming rate all night. Philadelphia closed out the third with three-straight, and that was the beginning of a six-goal run to get them within only three come the fourth quarter. Scorers were Cattoni, Mitch Jones, and Riorden. 16-10 Buffalo after three.
The Wings continued their run with three more to begin the fourth quarter. Scorers in that span were Caputo, LeClair, and Cattoni. There was a stunned silence in Banditland, as what once looked like an insurmountable lead, was now down to three. MacKay finally got the Bandits back in the goal column, and more importantly, restored the noise inside KeyBank Center. Jones answered with his second, but that’d be it for Philadelphia’s scoring in this one. Cloutier buried his second and Tehoka Nanticoke scored his first to close it out. Your final from Buffalo, 19-14 Bandits.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Byrne (7+5), Smith (1+9), and Fraser (3+4). Vinc was sort of a tale of two halves, ultimately standing tall down the stretch. The ageless wonder made 36 saves on 50 shots. For Philadelphia, Cattoni (3+5), Resetarits (2+6), and Jones (2+5) led the way. The Damude/Knott combination had a rough go of it throughout the entire game, making 43 saves on 62 shots.
“You’re really not pressing, you’re not trying too hard”, said Byrne about his effortless seven-goal performance. “Everything is working. I didn’t have to do a whole lot, suddenly, it’s a wide-open shot.”
“It’s hard not to relax”, said John Tavares. “What we did to them in the first half, they could do to us. They have that type of offense. We found a way to win, and that’s what matters.”
“It helped me get in a groove”, said Fraser about his breakout performance after a bit of a slow start. “We’ve had how many bye weeks so far, so it’s been tough to get into that groove. The energy we get from them (Banditland) on the floor is just amazing.”
Buffalo (5-0) keeps on rolling. The defending champs have another bye week (sad face) before they take on another New York rival, the Albany FireWolves. That game is Saturday February 1st at 7:30pm. Philadelphia (4-2) looks to clean it up a bit on defense, because they have no problem scoring goals. They have a quick turnaround as they play Monday night at home against Vancouver. Their next contest after that is also at home against Rochester, Saturday February 1st at 8pm.
