NLL: Bandits’ offense explodes for 18, tames Black Bears

Buffalo Bandits at Ottawa Black Bears 12.13.24

The opener of the week three slate was set to be something special. The hometown Ottawa Black Bears welcomed in the champs, the Buffalo Bandits. Ottawa and Buffalo were coming off of wins in their season openers, and they’d be clashing for the first time ever. (Considering Ottawa is in its first year of existence.) Buffalo used multiple four-plus goal runs throughout to absolutely cruise to an 18-7 victory. Talk about a nice welcome home to Kyle Buchanan, who is from the greater Ottawa area.

Not only did Buffalo have a multitude of runs, they had the dynamic duo, Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith, combine for 19 points. Ian MacKay contributed five goals, Chase Fraser had seven points. Whew. As Pat Gregoire eloquently stated on the broadcast, how does a defensive coordinator plan for this Buffalo offense? Good luck. Let’s get to it.

Ottawa opened up the scoring in the first, as Jacob Dunbar stung a corner. Unfortunately, that’d be it for their first quarter scoring. Buffalo settled in nicely after that, and proceeded to go on a five-goal run stretching into the second quarter. Four of those five were in the first, and they were scored by Chris Cloutier, Ian MacKay twice, and Josh Byrne on the power play. 4-1 Bandits after one.

The fifth goal of that Buffalo run was less than a minute into the second quarter as Cloutier buried his second courtesy of a pick-and-roll and a disgusting behind-the-back pass from Byrne. After about a seven minute lull in scoring, Ron John finally broke the Buffalo run and on came the teddy bears, as it was teddy toss night at the Canadian Tire Centre. *Please hold for cleanup.* Alright, we’re back. MacKay completed the hat trick with a coast-to-coast transition goal, but was followed up by Jeff Teat’s first. Cue another Buffalo run, only this time it was four, three of which closed out the second quarter. Those goals were scored by Fraser on the power play, Smith, and Nick Weiss. Smell that? Buffalo’s offense was all gas, no brakes. 9-3 Bandits at the break.

“It’s unique for us, usually we have seven guys on offense, with me going back-and-forth, we have eight out there”, said MacKay. “JT’s got us a good game plan, we’re just buzzing around and having some fun.”

The last goal of the Buffalo run was courtesy of the hometown boy, Buchanan. Teat finally stopped the bleeding with his second, but once again here came the Bandits. Scratch that, here came MacKay, burying his fourth and fifth consecutively. Funny moment after MacKay’s fifth, as it was under review for what felt like an eternity. Ian was standing near Ashley Docking and he was asked on air what he thought. “No comment. Good goal”, said MacKay from the floor. Turns out he was right. Ottawa finally put a bit of a run together, scoring three-straight stretching into the fourth quarter. Two of those were to end the third, one from Dunbar on the power play and the other from Teat. 12-6 Bandits after three.

Larson Sundown tallied his first on the power play to begin the fourth, and that completed Ottawa’s run, and their scoring for the remainder of the game. For the second game in a row, Buffalo completely took control in the fourth quarter, limiting their opposition to one goal, while going on a run themselves. Six-straight for Buffalo allowed them to cruise to victory, and even pull the great Matt Vinc to give him a break. Scorers during that Buffalo run were Smith twice, Buchanan, Cloutier, Byrne, and Tehoka Nanticoke. Your final from the capital region, 18-7 Buffalo.

Players of the game for Buffalo were, well, pick a few. Let’s go with MacKay (five goals), Byrne (2+8), and Smith (2+7). Byrne eclipsed the 500 career point mark in the second half, and Smith eclipsed 1,100 career points with a first half assist. Scary to think they’re teammates for the next four seasons at least. Vinc was spectacular again, stopping 34 of 41 in 55:13 of game play. Steve Orleman was perfect in relief, stopping all three shots he faced. For Ottawa, Teat (3+2) and Dunbar (two goals) led the way. Zach Higgins just couldn’t find his footing in net, stopping 25 of 41 in 55:08 of game play. Cameron Dunkerley came in and stopped three of five the rest of the way.

“At the end of the day, I think we brought back a lot of our guys from last year,” said Byrne after the game. “Dhane and I were talking, we said that we felt we could step on the floor and play right away.”

“I lost a lot before I figured out how to win,” said Smith. “We still have a long way to do it again, but that’s what we’re hoping for.”

Buffalo (2-0) is cruising right along. They have a week off before they return home for their home opener and more importantly, their banner raising. That contest is next Saturday at 6:30pm against Rochester (1-2). Ottawa (1-1), need not panic, as they have the right pieces to make a run. Their next game is also next Saturday as they travel to take on Toronto (0-3). Faceoff in that game is at 7pm.

Pictured below is the co-author of this article, my son, Rowan. He has taken extreme interest in dad’s lacrosse recaps, and wanted to lend a helping hand expressing the magnitude of this Bandits victory. He apologizes in advance for any grammatical errors, and he hopes you enjoy reading!

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