All season long, the Buffalo Bandits have been on top of the mountain. Very rarely do other teams absolutely dominate the Bandits in every facet of the game. In addition, this season opposing teams don’t come into Buffalo and win, period.
But the New York Riptide came into KeyBank Center Saturday afternoon and blew the doors off the building, 15-12, handing the Bandits their first home loss of the season.
Don’t let that final score fool you, this one wasn’t close for a good majority of the game. To add more salt to the wound, this gives Buffalo a two-game losing streak for the first time this season and makes them 0-2 in their attempt to lock up home-floor advantage throughout this year’s playoffs.
For this game, keep in mind, prolific scorer Callum Crawford was a last minute scratch for the Riptide. So it’s an understatement to say New York desperately needed someone to step up.
The first tally of the game was a slick transition goal from Scott Dominey, courtesy of a Bandits’ turnover. Just about three minutes later, monster forward Tyler Digby planted himself right in front of Matt Vinc, scooped up a rebound and put it over Vinc’s shoulder. Buffalo’s first, and only goal of the quarter was pretty slick as well. Dhane Smith took a shot that went over the net and got caught up in the backside of the cage. Chase Fraser cruised around, picked up the loose ball, dove, and buried it to the left of goaltender Steven Orleman.
There was a scary moment on the ensuing faceoff. Buffalo defender Justin Robinson went for the loose ball off the faceoff, planted, and went down hard. Non-contact injuries are always scary especially after planting the wrong way. Fingers crossed it isn’t too serious, but history has shown us that non-contacts can be nasty. Robinson was escorted off the field, and play resumed.
Connor Kearnan, Dan Lomas and Kieran McArdle all scored quickly for the Riptide to make the score 5-1, which opened the floodgates. Lomas’ goal was an absolute rocket from the restraining line. McArdle one-upped it with a sweet dunk from behind the net. Remember that line “the Riptide needs someone to step up”? Jeff Teat, ladies and gentlemen. Arguably, the ROTY front-runner notched his first goal of the game with just over three minutes left, to give New York a 6-1 lead at the end of one.
With Buffalo facing their biggest deficit so far this season, the second quarter was a lot of the same: Riptide goals. Ron John got the first of the quarter and the first of his career with 10:54 left in the frame. Kearnan and Teat each got their second of the game, and the score was 9-1 New York with 6:15 left. After Teat’s goal, Buffalo pulled Vinc and brought in backup Doug Buchan. While Banditland is usually quite the party, an eerie shock and silence fell over the crowd. Ian MacKay and Chris Cloutier scored for Buffalo just over a minute apart to make the score look a little better. However, Teat put an end to that with his hat trick, to make it 10-3 going into the half.
Steven Orleman was sparkling, saving 21 of 24. On the other side, the combination of Vinc and Buchan only saved 14 of 24.
The third quarter looked a little better for Buffalo, but not before Larson Sundown opened the scoring for New York on the power play. Not a very nice way to welcome Vinc back into the game. Josh Byrne and Connor Fields both notched their first goals of the game, making the score 11-5 with 10:05 left in the third. The goal by Byrne was on the power play, and eventually ended up making them one-for-one on the man advantage for the game.
With 7:18 left in the frame, Jay Thorimbert was tripped up on a breakaway resulting in a penalty shot. Who took the shot you might ask? Jeff Teat. Did Jeff Teat score on that penalty shot? He sure did. Lomas got his second of the night shortly thereafter on the power play, to make it 13-5. Tehoka Nanticoke notched his first, scoring while falling, and Fraser got his second to make it 13-7 going into the fourth.
Teat also opened the scoring in the fourth, only to be answered by Byrne getting his second of the game. Teat answered right back with another goal, giving him the “sock trick” on the night. Goals from Kyle Buchanan, Dhane Smith, Fraser, and Byrne made the score 15-12. Byrne’s goal gave him the hat trick and was the 100th in his career.
Buffalo made a valiant attempt at a comeback, however, frustration definitely got the better of them late in the fourth. The Bandits took seven penalties in the fourth quarter, three of which were in the last two minutes of the game. With so many Bandits already in the box, two more penalty shots were awarded to New York with just seconds left in the game, both of which Vinc stopped.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Byrne (3+1), Fraser (3+0), Fields (1+5) and Smith (1+8). Smith broke the single season assists record, previously held by Mark Matthews, giving him 87 and counting on the season. Vinc struggled, stopping 37 of 51. As for New York, Teat (6+4) was outstanding, Kearnan and Lomas chipped in a pair of goals each, and Orleman shined all night, stopping 43 of 55.
As expected, the post-game was short and sweet. Dhane Smith was asked about the assists record.
“I just want to win championships,” he said. “The record will stand for a little while, but I don’t really care about that. I want to bring a championship to Buffalo.”
Head coach John Tavares didn’t have much to say either. He complimented Jeff Teat and the Riptide for an outstanding performance, while adding that the game was “definitely disappointing. I don’t think we showed up in the first half of that game. We can’t give anybody a 10-3 lead, granted they played very well. It just wasn’t our night tonight.”
Buffalo (13-3) has a week to get the train back on track, as they travel to Georgia to take on the Swarm (8-7) Saturday night. New York (5-10) travels home to take on Rochester (3-12) Saturday night as well.
