As famously stated by former US President George W. Bush, “Fool me once, shame on you… [really long pause]… fool me… you can’t get fooled again.”
All kidding aside, after getting upset by the Roughnecks a week ago on home turf, the Buffalo Bandits were hungry to get to the rematch and show just why they are the class of the NLL.
And they didn’t disappoint.
Playing typical “Bandit Ball,” they used a five-goal run and a dominant defensive performance to put away the Roughnecks 11-6. Josh Byrne led the way with six points including a hat trick while Kyle Buchanan also notched a hat trick of his own. Matt Vinc stopped 45 of 51 shots for a whopping 88.2% save percentage. Buffalo remains in top spot with a 10-2 record and will take on Albany (5-9) next week.
It was Calgary that got off to a hot start in this contest. After missing last week, Dane Dobbie notched two early power-play goals and Haiden Dickson potted another to put them up 3-1. Buffalo’s goal came from the newly acquired Kiel Matisz. Both Matisz and Ron John were acquired at the trade deadline and both were inserted into the lineup for Saturday night’s contest.
Chase Fraser sparked Buffalo’s five goal run with a fifty-five-foot bomb with only 26 seconds left in the first quarter. It was all Buffalo in the second quarter as they scored another four goals including the nicest goal of the night off the stick of Kyle Buchanan. As time was winding down in the first half, Tehoka Nanticoke wound up like he was going to take an outside shot. While never taking his eyes off the net, he passed down to Buchanan who had just come around the back of the cage. Buchanan quick-sticked it past a frozen Nick Rose to give Buffalo a 6-3 lead.
Buffalo did an excellent job of squashing any momentum that Calgary tried to build. As good teams often do, each time the Roughnecks scored and got the 16,000+ fans into it, the Bandits would immediately answer with a goal of their own. They used that recipe the rest of the way to polish off a brilliantly played 11-6 win.
Calgary’s record drops to 7-7 and they currently sit in the 8th and final playoff spot. Justin Inacio continues to impress at the face-off dot going 15-21 against a very tough Connor Farrell. Of the big face-off men in the league, Inacio ranks number one in face-offs won and number two in win percentage at 63%.
