The second round of the NLL Playoffs came to us from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York on Friday night. The hometown Bandits welcomed the Vancouver Warriors for the first game of the best-of-three series.
The path that these two clubs took to get to this point was vastly different. Buffalo defeated San Diego 5-4, in the lowest scoring game in history, while Vancouver exploded for 15 goals in their win over Rochester. Which would prevail, the stout Buffalo defense and Matt Vinc or the explosive Vancouver offense and Christian Del Bianco?
Spoiler, it was the Bandits. Buffalo, somehow, topped their first-round victory by holding the Warriors to only three goals, winning 9-3 in front of raucous Banditland.
Vancouver jumped out to the early lead as Kevin Crowley buried his first on the power play. That’d be the only goal the Warriors would score until deep into the second quarter. Buffalo closed out the first with a three-goal run, which turned out to be the first three of an eventual six-goal run. The three goals in the first were scored by Ian MacKay, Dhane Smith, and Chase Fraser. Dhaner’s and Chase’s were both power play markers. 3-1 Bandits after one.
The scoring took a little while to get going in the second, but it was MacKay twice and Tehoka Nanticoke who gave us the final three goals of that six-goal run. Nanticoke’s was, what looked like, a changeup in baseball that he just flung at the net that ended up sneaking in. That goal also caused the exit of Del Bianco for a moment. Aden Walsh came on and stopped the only shot he faced. Dylan McIntosh finally stopped the bleeding with his first on the power play and the first Vancouver goal in just about 23 minutes. Josh Byrne lit the lamp for the first time this postseason with his first to close out the second. 7-2 Bandits at the break.
“Obviously, so far, so good”, said MacKay. “It’s only the first half, we came out with a good game plan, we’ve been buzzing. It’s really unselfish on the offense right now, I think that’s what’s going to make this offense stick for us.”
The goaltender battle was clearly a bit opposite in the first half. Vinc was sensational yet again, stopping 16 of 18. Del Bianco had a rough go of it during that Buffalo run, as he made 19 saves on 26 shots.
Buffalo took a page out of last week’s playbook when it came to the third quarter and turned that page. Last week, Buffalo was shut out in the third quarter, (eventually the second half). This week, Buffalo shut out Vancouver in the third quarter and tacked on one goal to their already sizeable lead. The Bandits’ defense was stout and Vinc stopped all ten shots he faced. MacKay buried his fourth with just eleven seconds to go, making it 8-2 after three.
The fourth quarter was also a defensive battle, only this time, Vancouver did tally one goal, which was their first in just over 21 minutes of game play. That goal was scored by Keegan Bal on the power play. Did you notice something throughout this recap? Vancouver did not score a single five-on-five goal in the entirety of the game. That playoff Bandits defense is something different. Smith buried his second with just over seven minutes to go, that goal also was on the power play. For the remainder, Buffalo continued to stifle Vancouver, and Vinc continued to shine. Your final from Banditland, 9-3 Buffalo.
Players of the game for Buffalo were MacKay (four goals), Smith (1+2), and Byrne (1+4). Vinc was silly all game long, stopping 35 of 38 in total. A 3.5 GAA in two playoff games for the 42-year-old is not too shabby. For Vancouver, Bal (1+2), Crowley (1+1), and McIntosh (one goal) led the way. All things considered, Del Bianco did not have a bad game, just couldn’t get offensive support, along with that six-goal run in the first half. He stopped 39 of 48 in total.
“To hold a team to zero five-on-five goals is quite a feat”, said John Tavares. “It’s short rest for both teams; we’re just going to try and do what we did tonight. Just try and carry it over, usually it’s one game a week, but this is two games in three days. Both teams are doing it, so it’s pretty fair.”
“Luckily for me, it was falling tonight”, said MacKay. “Obviously, it’s better than five goals in the previous weekend total. We had to make adjustments along the way, but we were able to do that and come away with the win.”
It was a quick turnaround for both sides, as both teams packed up and trekked over 2,700 miles to Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC for a Sunday night showdown. Usually, quick turnarounds plus a long haul, many times, spell a lackluster second game. Not this one, that’s for sure. Vancouver showed their moxie, but it was Buffalo who used a four-goal run late in the third and beginning of the fourth quarters to seal the deal on this one, winning game two, 11-9, punching their ticket to their fifth consecutive NLL Finals.
Buffalo started the game perfectly as the away club, as they tallied the first two goals, one from Dhane Smith on the power play and the other from the red-hot Ian MacKay. After some up-and-down the floor for a few minutes, Vancouver tied the game up with two of their own, courtesy of Kevin Crowley and Riley Loewen. 2-2 after one.
The second quarter started and the back-and-forth continued, as Chase Fraser and Adam Charalambides traded goals. Buffalo, nay, MacKay (unintentional rhyme), buried the game’s next two goals to complete the hat trick for the second consecutive game. Keegan Bal answered back in the waning seconds with his first, and it was 5-4 Buffalo at the break.
The goaltender battle was on display once again, as both men were outstanding. Vinc stopped 15 of 19, while Del Bianco stopped 13 of 18.
“We’re just trying to build off our last game”, said MacKay. “I think it’s been working so far. A lot of guys are getting really good looks. We have to commit to it, take away transition, little things is going to win us this game.”
Just like the start of the game for Buffalo, the beginning of the third quarter was just what the doctor ordered for the Warriors. Charalambides and Marcus Klarich decided to take over and scored back-to-back goals just 14 seconds apart, and Vancouver held their first lead of the game. Not even a minute later, Tehoka Nanticoke tied it right back up with a laser around multiple defenders. But once again, here came Vancouver with two more goals, one from Charalambides and the other from Bal. Chris Cloutier buried a power play goal with 5:03 left in the frame, and that’s how it’d close. 8-7 Warriors after three. Rogers Arena was on fire.
Little did anyone know, but Clooch’s goal to end the third was the first of four-straight for Buffalo, in turn, being the decider in this game. Buffalo rattled off the other three in just 3:59 to start the fourth, and any life that was in that barn, was quickly sucked out. Those three Bandits goals were scored by Smith, Fraser and Cloutier. Klarich finally stopped the bleeding with his second, but that’d be it for the Vancouver scoring. One more goal was scored, and holy smokies, was it a banger. Fraser executed a pick-and-roll beautifully and received a pass at the doorstep. With a defender draped all over him, he fired a shot between his legs that went in. The broadcast team eloquently called Fraze a “sicko” and commented on the audacity of Chase to pull this out in the semifinals. If I may, those were my sentiments exactly when the goal was scored. The clock struck zero and that’d be all she wrote. Buffalo punched their ticket to the Finals with an 11-9 win.
Players of the game for Buffalo were MacKay (3+3), Fraser (3+1), and Smith (2+3). Vinc was phenomenal down the stretch, stopping 29 of 38. For Vancouver, Charalambides (3+4), Bal (2+3), and Klarich (2+3) led the way. Del Bianco had a solid night apart from that late run. CDB stopped 30 of 41 in total.
“We’re not done yet”, said Fraser after the game. “It’s a good feeling, but it’s not the ultimate goal we’re trying to feel.”
On the topic of his ridiculous goal, Chase said, “whatever comes to my mind. Just don’t think and cool things tend to happen.”
Buffalo now sits for a little over a week to see who they face in the Finals. Game one is Friday May 16th at 7:30pm at KeyBank Center.
