The final installment of the I-90 rivalry between Buffalo and Rochester definitely did not disappoint. Whenever these two clubs meet, there are instant fireworks. Blue Cross Arena in Rochester was rocking on Saturday night, partially due to a split crowd. It may have been “black-out” night at the game, but there was a ton of orange in the crowd.
Rochester came into the game looking to gain ground in the East division standings. As for Buffalo, they are sitting pretty atop the division and looked to sweep the season series against a stout Rochester club. Aside from a six-goal run by Buffalo and a four-goal run by Rochester, this game was very much tit-for-tat. Buffalo used that six-goal run in the third and fourth quarters to propel themselves to a 14-8 victory.
Bandits’ assistant captain Dhane Smith was asked before the game how they are going to capitalize on their offensive opportunities against a stingy Rochester defense.
“We just have to stick to our game plan. Everything else will take care of itself,” he said.
Chase Fraser opened the scoring for Buffalo just 33 seconds into the game with a quick shot past goaltender Rylan Hartley. Barn burner alert. Rochester’s Ryan Smith answered right back to knot it up at one. Smith gave the Bandits the lead back, just to be answered by Matt Gilray 14 seconds later. Two straight goals from Tehoka Nanticoke and Ian MacKay and a power play goal from Turner Evans, made it 4-3 Buffalo at the end of one.
The second quarter was a defensive and goaltending battle. Hartley and Matt Vinc shone and both defenses completely shut down any scoring chances for the opposition. Connor Fields scored 33 seconds into the quarter. Fields has a knack for taking shots from way outside and this goal was exactly that. There may still be burns on the turf from that shot because it was an absolute worm-burner.
Now cue the defensive battle. It speaks volumes that another goal wasn’t scored until Holden Cattoni buried one on the power play for Rochester with 1:24 left in the quarter. One would assume Buffalo was content taking that one-goal lead into the half considering how well their defense was playing. Vinc and Hartley were stellar with Vinc stopping 28 of 32 and Hartley stopping 18 of 23.
Buffalo is 5-0 on the year when leading at halftime. That statistic plus their offense and tendency to come out hot in the third quarter smelled like the recipe for another win. Rochester didn’t have much to adjust considering they were trailing by only one goal and matched pretty much everything Buffalo did thus far.
The third quarter was owned by Buffalo. Only three goals were scored in the frame, but that was more than enough to give Buffalo a cushion going into the fourth. Also, it was the start of the six-goal run that propelled Buffalo to close the game out. Smith tallied the first of those three goals 3:12 into the third with a missile on the power play. This goal also reignited the Bandits’ offense, as it was the first goal in nearly 17 minutes of game action. The second goal of the quarter was also the second of the night for Fields and the second straight power play goal for the Bandits. The Buffalo native took a pass behind the net and did a little shimmy before he completed the dunk to the right of Hartley. The third and final goal in the quarter for Buffalo was the epitome of a transition goal. Kevin Brownell picked up a loose ball for the Bandits, dropped it back to Justin Robinson who jab-stepped one defender and fired a rocket past Hartley. Robinson has been an unsung hero for Buffalo this year because of his defense and transition play. This goal was also his first as a Bandit. Buffalo was sitting on a nice four-goal lead going into the final frame.
Side note, keep your eyes on the SC Top 10 because of an insane save from Vinc at the end of the third. Vinc was on the bench for an extra attacker. Hartley made a stop in his end, and fired a shot down at the empty net. Vinc sprinted off the bench and went full Superman to make the ridiculous save, much to the pleasure of the Bandits’ fans right in front of him. The 39-year-old veteran is extremely stingy about letting opposing players score on him, so he definitely wasn’t going to let the opposing goaltender get one either.
The beginning of the fourth was a continuation of what Buffalo did in the third. Three more goals from Nanticoke, Smith, and Kyle Buchanan in a four-minute span made it 11-4. Rochester’s record is not indicative of how gritty they are, especially when trailing late in a game. This one was no different. The Knighthawks came storming back with a four-goal run of their own. Goals from Charlie Bertrand, Thomas Hoggarth, and two more from Smith, and the deficit was cut to three. Unfortunately for them, that was as close as they would get.
Nanticoke answered right back for Buffalo and with a bang. Siri, play the SportsCenter theme song again. The stud rookie for Buffalo took a pass and got knocked down and still had the presence of mind to shoot laying down on the turf, with a defender on top of him. The list of superlatives is running low when referring to Nanticoke. With another goal from Fields and one on a penalty shot from Max Adler, the score finished 14-8 Buffalo. That was Adler’s first career goal, on his first career shot. Pretty decent percentage.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Smith, Fields and Nanticoke as they all tallied hat tricks. Josh Byrne was kept out of the goal column, but still tallied eight assists. We can’t forget Vinc either, who stopped 52 of 60 on the night. Rochester’s would include Smith (3+1), Cattoni (1+2), and Turner Evans (1+2). Hartley kept them in the game for most of the night, stopping 35 of 49.
“It’s our defense and our goaltending. We know we’re going to get going, it’s just a matter of when,” said Smith after the game about the patented fourth quarter surges from Buffalo. Smith also commended “Banditland” for the amount of people who showed up and for their support.
Buffalo (8-1) keeps on rolling. They travel to Albany to take on the FireWolves (5-6) next Saturday. Rochester (3-6) travels to Georgia to take on the Swarm (4-6).
