Single-digit temperatures in Buffalo, New York make no difference when the interstate rival Rochester Knighthawks come to town. KeyBank Center was piping hot on Saturday night. The Bandits being 5-0 may have had something to do with that as well.
Buffalo came in looking to notch their sixth straight win to start the year. As for Rochester, they were trying to stop a three game skid and gain some ground in the East division standings. In a game that was dominated by Buffalo, Rochester showed a ton of grit late, in an attempt to come back, but the Bandits prevailed 11-8 to remain the only unbeaten team in the NLL.
The first quarter was all Buffalo. Scoring a four-pack of goals in just about nine minutes is the epitome of a perfect start. Kyle Buchanan opened the scoring with a slick diving shot from behind the net.
Kyle Buchanan with the one-handed-behind-the-net dunk we’re ALL here to see….
💪 What a way to get it kicked off in #Banditland pic.twitter.com/Vc0KeRY58F
— NLL (@NLL) February 6, 2022
One from Chris Cloutier and two from Dhane Smith made it 4-0 Bandits with 6:11 left in the first. Smith’s second goal was set up perfectly by Matt Spanger who intercepted an outlet pass from goaltender Rylan Hartley. Spanger came off the bench then passed it right back to Smith for the goal. Rochester finally found the back of the net as the crafty veteran Shawn Evans made a nice flip pass to a driving Ryland Rees who beat Matt Vinc. Smith added another for Buffalo to make it 5-1 at the end of the quarter. Goaltenders Vinc and Hartley were peppered with shots, Vinc stopping 11 of 12 and Hartley going 12 of 17.
Rochester seemed to have gotten their wits about them a little better in the second quarter, but not before Buffalo’s dynamic rookie Tehoka Nanticoke opened the scoring. Nanticoke came streaking off the bench, took a pass from Smith and bulldozed his way through three defenders and beat Hartley with a twisting shot.
“Tehoka is a very smart lacrosse player, very strong and creative,” said head coach John Tavares. “He’s brought in another threat for us to score and is just starting to feel comfortable.”
Not even a minute later, Rochester’s Curtis Knight took a sweeping shot from the middle and beat Vinc to make it 6-2. Chase Fraser, who has had a stellar year for Buffalo, found the scoresheet with an absolute bullet right over a Rochester defender, answering right back. Two goals from Shawn Evans made it 7-4 going into the half. With the first of those two goals, Evans reached the 450-goal plateau in his very illustrious career.
Rochester had their fair share of chances in the first half, and the scoreboard was not indicative of their solid defensive play. Hartley stopped 23 of 30 shots and their defense clearly made positive adjustments to slow down Buffalo’s scoring chances. Vinc was sparkling as well, stopping 20 of 24 at the half. Buffalo also played very stingy defense and their transition play limited a lot of Rochester’s chances.
Dhane Smith was asked at halftime about his first quarter hat trick.
“All of my teammates are going to be open, and it could have been anyone else. Tonight I’m kind of feeling the hot hand,” he said.
Smith was also asked what needed to be done to prevent a breakdown like the team had in their game last weekend against the Riptide.
“I think if we cut off transition and stick to defense and offense, we’ll be fine.”
Buchanan, just like in the first quarter, opened the second half scoring for Buffalo. Josh Byrne found the scoresheet with 7:54 left in the third. An “outdoor-esque” sweeping shot from the top beat Hartley low left. This type of shot is becoming quite the patent for Byrne.
One thing that hasn’t really been mentioned is any physicality between these two rivals. Psych. With 6:57 remaining in the quarter, Connor Fields dove hard into Hartley and an all-out yard sale ensued. Rochester took exception to it (rightfully so). Cooler heads prevailed after quite the wrestling match and Buffalo took the majority of the penalties. Smith added another goal for Buffalo, to make it 10-4 to end the third.
Side note, keep your eyes on the SC Top 10 again. Hartley made his case for “Save of the Year” with an insane east-to-west save late in the third quarter.
STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING!
Rylan Hartley just made a HUGE entry for Save of the Year.#SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/YJ4ghLEcv6
— NLL (@NLL) February 6, 2022
Maybe the ramped up physicality was what Rochester needed. Trailing big going into the final frame, the Knighthawks turned on the jets. Hold your breath Bandits fans, it was eerily similar to last week’s meltdown. Two goals from Knight (giving him the hat trick), one each from Holden Cattoni and Mike Burke, made it 10-8. Rochester kicked up the pressure and Hartley continued to shine. Unfortunately for the Knighthawks, that was the end of their comeback. Byrne added another with 4:50 left, to make it 11-8 Buffalo, giving them their sixth straight win.
Buffalo’s stars definitely had to include Smith (4G/3A), Buchanan (2G/2A) and Vinc, stopping 38 of 46. Rochester has nothing to hang their heads about, as they almost caused another Buffalo meltdown in the late stages of the game. Curtis Knight led the way in scoring (3G/3A) and Hartley stopped 48 of 59 shots.
Buffalo is 6-0 for the first time since the 1993 and 1996 seasons, and not to add any pressure, but they won the championship in both of those years. There is one correlation between those three Bandits teams, that being John Tavares.
“Without thinking about it much, [those teams] had a balanced attack, good goalie, and good defense,” Tavares said. “Usually good teams win in different ways.”
Captain Steve Priolo was asked about the tremendous start to the year.
“The mentality in the locker room is that we’ve broken the season into thirds,” Priolo said. “We’re 0-0 moving forward, and that’s the type of mentality we have to have.”
Buffalo (6-0) travels to Toronto (4-3) next week for a 5 p.m. start against the Rock. This matchup is going to be interesting for two reasons. The physicality that ensued the first time they met, and that there will be no fans in attendance for the game due to COVID protocols at FirstOntario Centre.
“It’s interesting, we’ve played scrimmages in front of no fans. It’s nice when the music is going and it gives you energy. So this is going to be different,” Priolo said. “There’s a lot of communicating going on while playing defense. People might get an idea about what goes on out there.”
Rochester (2-5) will try to stop their losing streak as they travel home next week to take on the surging Albany Firewolves (4-3).
