The Buffalo Bandits and Colorado Mammoth are no strangers to one another. The two clubs have faced off darn near 10 times over the course of the last three seasons, most notably in the 2022 and 2023 NLL Finals, where each team secured a championship. In front of 15,147 in Banditland on Friday, January 6, it was almost a mirror image of the week before for the Mammoth. If you remember, Dillon Ward was chased in the first period and Colorado was down in a hurry. Fast forward a week, Buffalo might have taken notice, as they went out to a six-goal lead going into the second quarter, all the while holding the Mammoth scoreless for the first 24:41 of game play. All in all, the Buffalo offense slowed down, but they cruised to the end, securing a 12-8 over their familiar foes.
The first quarter was short and sweet. There was a feeling out process, but Buffalo finally netted the first goal, courtesy of Josh Byrne. Chase Fraser got the other Bandits goal of the quarter with a snipe on the power play. 2-0 Buffalo after one.
It should be noted, at the 10:19 mark of the first, Buffalo was called for an illegal substitution that resulted in a Colorado penalty shot. Eli McLaughlin came out and Matt Vinc stood tall to make a massive save.
Head coach of the Bandits, John Tavares, had a laugh about that after the game.
“On the penalty shot, you’re taking your time and you are thinking what to do. I’d much prefer just having a breakaway,” he chuckled.
Buffalo turned on the offensive jets in the second. Four more to tack on to their lead seemed like the recipe for success. Brad McCulley notched the first on a gorgeous quick-stick goal, and was followed up by Byrne’s second. The third Buffalo goal of the frame is also a milestone alert for y’all. Fraser received a pass, did a little shimmy, and fired a bullet past Ward for the 100th goal in his career. The fourth of the run was a shorty by Tehoka Nanticoke and it was TN1 doing TN1 things. Nanticoke found himself right in front of the crease, and we all know he doesn’t miss often from there.
Colorado finally got into the goal column as Zed Williams beat Vinc on the power play. That penalty Buffalo took was goalie interference on Byrne, and depending on what team’s colors you wear, you may have thought it was a bit questionable. Anyway. The final goal of the quarter was the oddest of them all. Dhane Smith was “quarterbacking” the offense, as he does, and went to fire a pass near the crease. Instead of the pass connecting with Chris Cloutier, it connected with the back of the net. Dhane was trying to avoid a three-game scoreless streak, so that was a funny way to get back into the goal column.
Smith had quite the laugh at his own expense. “It’s funny how it works sometimes. I was looking to pass the ball and it went into the back of the net. It was a weight off my shoulders.”
7-1 Buffalo at the half. Banditland was rocking.
On the topic of 100 career goals, he said, “It feels really good, unreal, a lot more to go.”
Time for some goalie love. Vinc was unbelievable in the first half, stifling a very dangerous Colorado offense, making 30 saves on 31 shots. Ward, on the other hand, continued to struggle. He made 27 saves on 34 shots.
It didn’t take long for Buffalo to continue the hot play. Byrne cruised in off the opening faceoff of the third quarter and after review, beat Ward for his third of the game. Another milestone on that play as Steve Priolo registered his 200th career assist. McLaughlin finally got Colorado back on the board with his first, but was quickly answered by Smith’s second, which was far prettier than his first.
Cue another odd moment of the game. Paul Dawson received five minutes for cross-checking, which was huge for the Buffalo power play, right? Wrong. Colorado proceeded to score three straight, all on the man-down. Goals were scored by McLaughlin, his second, Tim Edwards and Connor Kelly. McCulley got his second, also shorthanded, and McLaughlin got his third on the power play to end the quarter. 10-6 Buffalo.
Buffalo put the game in cruise control in the fourth. Nanticoke got his second, but was followed up by two straight from Kelly, giving him the hat trick. Kyle Buchanan added his first for good measure, and that’d be all she wrote. Your final from KeyBank Center, 12-8 Bandits.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Byrne (3+4), Smith (2+5), and McCulley (2+4). Vinc was the backbone for Buffalo, stopping 49 of 57 in total. For Colorado, McLaughlin (3+2), Kelly (3+1), and Edwards (1+1, 17-25 f/o’s) led the way. Ward looked like he couldn’t get comfortable all game, making 45 saves on 57 shots.
“Putting the ball in the net solves a lot of problems,” said Tavares after the game. “We didn’t panic, we stuck to the game plan.”
“I thought it was our best first half of the year, followed up by probably our worst third quarter,” said Byrne. “At the end of the day I’m proud of our group for staying with it.”
