KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York was rocking Saturday night. 19,070 piled in to watch the Buffalo Bandits and Calgary Roughnecks do battle. The unified standings make games like these fun because these are two clubs that don’t see each other often, almost two and half years to be exact – and yet they have so much history between them.
Buffalo could clinch a playoff spot with a victory and the home crowd sure did help. After blanking Calgary in the first quarter, Buffalo rode this one out to the finish, clinching their spot with a 14-7 win. A good friend of mine once said, “wouldn’t be playoffs without the Bandits.” Let’s do it.
As previously stated, Buffalo blanked Calgary in the first quarter. The Bandits’ defense, along with Matt Vinc, was stifling. Buffalo lit the lamp four times in the quarter, which was exactly what the doctor ordered. Goal scorers were Chase Fraser, Tehoka Nanticoke, Kyle Buchanan and Josh Byrne. 4-0 Buffalo after one.
The second quarter wasn’t much better for Calgary. Buffalo kept their foot on the gas and outscored the Roughnecks 5-2 in the frame. Buchanan led it off with his second, but was answered by Tyler Pace’s first on the power play, breaking the 23 minute scoreless streak for Calgary. Buffalo answered that with two-straight, one from Fraser on the power play and the other from Chris Cloutier. Tanner Cook responded for Calgary, but once again, Buffalo punched back with two more, one from Steve Priolo, which was eight seconds after Cook’s and the other from Byrne, his 50th of the season and 200th of his career. Excuse me while I appreciate the Buffalo front office for extending Byrnzy five more seasons. 9-2 Bandits at the break.
“We’ve got some crazy vision on our offense,” said Kyle Buchanan, talking with Dave Buchanan at the half. “I think it’s kind of getting back to basics, that’s how a lacrosse game works. We’re doing a great job of sharing it and everyone is shooting their shot.”
The goaltender situation was polar opposite in the first half. On one side, Christian Del Bianco was pulled in the first half for a bit of a reset and in came Steve Fryer. That combination stopped 20 of 29. On the other side, Matt Vinc was downright silly, making 22 saves on 24 shots.
How did Buffalo come out in the third quarter you might ask? With another two-goal run to tack onto their already sizable lead. The first was from Cloutier and the second from Fraser, which was disgusting. Fraser deked his way out of the corner, ran around the crease with a defender draped all over him, and fired a one-handed scoop shot past Del Bianco. Gross stuff from 95. Those two goals were it for Buffalo’s scoring in the third. Calgary finally put a run of their own together, scoring the quarter’s final three goals. Scorers were Haiden Dickson, Dan Taylor and Pace. 11-5 Bandits after three.
The fourth quarter saw every other scoring. Cloutier, Dhane Smith and Fraser scored for Buffalo, while Jesse King and Josh Currier lit the lamp for the Roughnecks. Fraser’s was equally as gross as the other highlight-reel goal as he received a behind-the-back pass from Byrne as he was cutting to the net. He was diving to the left of the crease and fired a behind-the-back shot to his right that beat CDB. Where do these guys come up with this stuff? All of that to say, your final from raucous Banditland, 14-7 Buffalo.
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING
Chase Fraser goes around the world for an UNREAL goal that started with a filthy behind-the-back pass from Josh Byrne. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/Qn9tpU9NXO
— NLL (@NLL) April 14, 2024
Players of the game for Buffalo were Fraser (four goals), Cloutier (3+1), and Byrne (2+5). Vinc was outstanding all game long, stopping 43 of 50 in total. For Calgary, Pace (2+2), King (1+3), and Currier (1+2) led the way. Fryer saw some action again in the second half, and the combo of him and Del Bianco stopped 40 of 54.
“It was probably one of our best games of the year,” said John Tavares. “I’m most proud of the seven goals against. Kudos to the defense and to Matty. It seemed like every game this year has been a tight one. It’s nice to control a game for 60 minutes.”
Buffalo (10-7) really starts their title defense now that they have a playoff spot. They look to move up any bit they can with a win in their season finale. They hit the road to take on Las Vegas (5-12) this Saturday at 10 p.m. for Tucker Out Lymphoma Night, a game that can be seen nationwide on ESPNU.
“It’s a business trip,” said Fraser. “We need to play our game. It’s kind of a trap game, and we have to dominate and continue to play 60 minutes.”
Calgary (7-10) has been officially eliminated, and will finish their season back home, taking on PCLC (9-8) and looking to play spoiler, this Saturday at 9 p.m.
