Yes, you clicked on the right article. Saturday’s game between the Buffalo Bandits and Albany FireWolves was almost an exact replica of Buffalo’s season opener last year. The Bandits walked into Albany and got smacked around, figuratively and literally. With 29 penalty minutes in the first quarter, a couple of fights, and strong performances from their young core, the FireWolves knocked off the defending champs, 17-13.
Ethan Walker got the party started for Albany on the power play, but was answered by a filthy one-handed goal from Josh Byrne. Buffalo saw their only lead of the game as Brandon Robinson tallied his first, but he was answered by Marshall Powless on the power play. 2-2 after one.
Aside from the physicality, the first quarter was pretty quiet. How about a 12-goal second quarter to spice things up a little bit? The first few goals continued the “every other” trend. Tye Kurtz for Albany, Dhane Smith for the Bandits on the power play. Walker got his second, and was answered by Chris Cloutier. Then, Albany really picked up the pace. Alex Simmons rattled off two-straight, Joe Nardella notched his first, and Powless got his second. Those four goals were scored in about three and a half minutes, and all of a sudden Albany had control of the game. Cloutier finally stopped the bleeding with his second, but was answered 20 seconds later by Travis Longboat. Tehoka Nanticoke tallied his first, but once again Longboat had the answer. 10-6 FireWolves going into the half.
“We’re young, we’re youthful,” said Simmons at the break. “We want to just keep moving the ball, and it’s just been falling for us. I think we’ll come out and give them a show.”
With the game being a track meet so far, let’s give some love to the goaltenders. First, Doug Jamieson was sparkling for the FireWolves, making 15 saves on 21 shots. On the other side, Matt Vinc looked a bit shaky at times, making 18 saves on 28 shots.
The pace calmed down in the third quarter. Buffalo, as they always seem to do, made it interesting. Cloutier got his hat trick to get it started, but was answered by Kurtz’s second. Ian MacKay got his first of the season with a full-field sprint in transition, and was followed up by Nanticoke’s second. Simmons got his hat trick, but was answered by Byrne’s second. 12-10 Albany going into the final frame.
Any comeback that Buffalo thought they were mounting, was put to rest in the fourth quarter. Every time Buffalo made a surge, Albany was right there to stifle it. If I may, kudos to Albany for being so young and staying so composed knowing the defending champs were in their barn. Jackson Nishimura and Patrick Kaschalk rattled off two-straight and restored the four-goal advantage for Albany. Robinson tallied his second and Chase Fraser got his first to cut the deficit back down to two. Powless and Cloutier each traded goals, their hat trick and fourth respectively. Then, the man of the hour put a nail in it. Simmons scored his fourth and fifth of the night, one bigger than the next, to close this one out. Your final from MVP Arena, 17-13 FireWolves.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Cloutier (4+1), Byrne (2+7), and Nanticoke (2+2). Smith also threw in six points of his own. Vinc settled in in the second half, however just coming up short. The veteran made 32 saves on 49 shots. For Albany, Simmons (5+3), Walker (2+5), and Longboat (2+5) led the way. Jamieson stood tall late, stopping 33 of 46.
“It’s been a really surreal moment to come out here and play Buffalo, a childhood team who I loved, and to go out there and do what we did, it was amazing,” said Simmons. “We got the ball out of our sticks, got it to each other, and they fell.”
Albany (2-0) almost has as many wins already as they did all last season. They travel to Philadelphia (1-1) to try and continue the momentum this Saturday at 1pm. Buffalo (0-1) obviously wanted to start the year with a win, but after last year’s outcome, who knows. They travel home to hang their banner and take on San Diego (1-0) Saturday at 7:30pm.
