The league’s top team, the Buffalo Bandits, were back in action Saturday night on their home floor as they welcomed the Calgary Roughnecks for a showdown. Buffalo sat atop the standings, while Calgary was right on the line for a playoff spot. I’d like to go on the record right now and say that prior to this game, I said that Calgary’s record was not indicative of their caliber, specifically on offense.
It’s like I had a crystal ball or something, because Calgary played near perfectly. The Roughnecks completely stunned the sellout crowd at KeyBank Center, putting an old-fashioned whooping on Buffalo, 17-11. During the third quarter, I messaged our lovely editor-in-chief and asked if she had Curtis Dickson’s contact information so she could tell him to please cut it out with all the scoring he was doing. Either she didn’t tell him, or he didn’t listen, I guess we’ll never know. To downtown Buffalo we go. FYI, he finished with six.
We were on milestone watch right out of the gates as Dhane Smith needed one goal to reach 400 in his illustrious career. Spoiler, he got it, and it was the game’s first goal. Ian MacKay followed that up with a coast-to-coast transition beauty. Calgary wasted no time getting those two goals right back as Tanner Cook buried two in a row to keep us deadlocked. 2-2 after one.
It would probably be a fair statement to say that the first quarter was pretty average or ordinary, right? Well buckle up because the rest of the way was an absolute track meet. Buffalo came out hot again with two-straight, one from Josh Byrne who didn’t have a soul around him after a turnover by Calgary and the other from Tehoka Nanticoke. Cook buried his hat trick in response, but Byrne answered right back after a filthy behind-the-back pass from Kyle Buchanan. This game thus far looked like Buffalo was going to have control, especially with Banditland behind them, but Calgary just would not go away. Three-straight from the Roughnecks changed the tide. Those three goals were scored by Tyler Hendrycks, Curtis Dickson, and Brayden Mayea. Smith and Dickson each traded their second goals of the night to close out the second. 7-6 Calgary at the break.
Both goaltenders were extremely busy in the first half. On one side, Matt Vinc stopped 20 of 27. On the other side, Nick Rose, who is no stranger to the KeyBank Center, stopped 20 of 26.
“Obviously it’s a great group of guys”, said Hendrycks at halftime. “It’s real nice having Rosey in net behind us. Our game plan is to stay tight, play as a unit, play physical, and try and deter them from the middle. I think with that, we’ll have great success.”
It took a little bit for the first goal to find the back of the net in the third quarter, but after six or so minutes, Buchanan finally lit the lamp to tie it back up. Two-straight from Calgary made that short-lived, as Jesse King buried his first on the power play, and was followed by Dickson. Here came the Bandits, however. Two-in-a-row for Buffalo tied it right back up, specifically one from Buchanan and the other from Nanticoke, which was a shorthanded beauty as he put his defender in the spin cycle before firing a missile. To close out the third, Dickson got his, uh, millionth? Nope, just his fourth. 10-9 Roughnecks after three.
The wheels completely fell off for Buffalo in the fourth, and Calgary was right there to increase their lead, all the while capitalizing on the mistakes. King and Chase Fraser traded goals to begin the frame, but Calgary answered that with two-straight, one from Dickson and the other from King on the power play. Clay Scanlan buried his first for Buffalo in response, but that’d be the last goal Buffalo would score in the game. Calgary finished on a four-goal run and quite literally, ran the Bandits and the Banditland faithful out of the building. Those final four goals were scored by Dickson, Mayea twice, and King on the power play. That gave us our final from Buffalo, 17-11 Roughnecks.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Buchanan (2+2), Smith (2+2), and Byrne (2+3). Vinc had an uncharacteristic performance, as he was removed from the game late in the fourth. He stopped 39 of 56 in 57:04 of game play. Steve Orleman stopped two of two in relief. For Calgary, Dickson (6+2), King (4+6), and Mayea (3+3) led the way. Rose finally got the monkey off his back and won a game in Buffalo. Rosey stopped 44 of 55 in a stellar outing.
“It’s huge”, said Dickson about the victory. “Obviously coming into a hostile environment like this and getting a win is massive for our confidence. We know we see these guys again next week and it’s going to be a war, we know that.”
“This is the pinnacle of our league”, said Rose. “19,000, it’s unbelievable playing here, it was clear when we got here to Buffalo, my demons in this building isn’t a Roughnecks demon. I’m excited that the boys instilled some confidence in me here tonight.”
“They outscored us because they shot the ball better than we did”, said John Tavares after the game. “In the fourth quarter, we didn’t really have an answer.”
“It was certainly different”, said Buchanan about Rose playing with Calgary. “We know how he plays; it’s a bit of an adjustment playing with a different defense. We’ve seen him before so that’s not an excuse.”
Buffalo (9-2) and Calgary (7-6) both sit in the top eight of the standings. These two powerhouses are set to battle again this Saturday at 9pm, only this time from the Saddledome. Keep your eyes peeled for the attendance in that game, as it is the annual St Patrick’s Day celebration in Calgary and it’s always a banger of a night.
