For the first time since February of 2020, the Buffalo Bandits walked into Rogers Arena in Vancouver ready to battle the Warriors. These two clubs are eerily similar when it came to needing a win, badly. Buffalo, the reigning champs may I remind you, have been an injury-ridden, sputtering mess. Vancouver, the last place team, still was not out of playoff contention, but needed to string some wins together.
Buffalo was trailing for a good majority of the game, but in the ever-so-Bandits fashion, they made it interesting at the end. In the last few seconds of the game, Buffalo thought they tied it up, as Aden Walsh fell backwards into the net, pushing it back. The shot looked like it could have gone in (depends which side you’re on), and after a long video review, it was inconclusive and not a goal. All of that to say, Vancouver wins 13-12. Woosah Vancouver faithful.
“Feels great, just a matter of time with this group,” said Walsh. “I just try to be the calm guy in the back. Hopefully my calmness radiates to the rest of the team, it was a full team effort tonight.”
The first quarter was an absolute mess. Seven total goals and 18 penalty minutes will do that, with an added wrestling match late in the quarter. Josh Byrne drew first blood with his first, which was the only non power play or non short handed goal of the quarter. See what I mean? Vancouver answered with three-in-a-row, two power play goals from Kevin Crowley and Adam Charalambides, and a 5-on-3 shorty from Ryan Martel. Buffalo tied it right back up with two straight power play goals of their own, one from Tehoka Nanticoke and the other from Mr. Waterbug, Kyle Buchanan. Keegan Bal buried his first on the power play to give the Warriors the 4-3 lead after one. At the 1:34 mark of the first, the wrestling match ensued as Nanticoke went hard to the net and some other fellas took exception to how that was handled. Cooler heads prevailed, as they usually do.
Vancouver built on their lead with the first four goals of the second quarter. Scorers were Riley Loewen twice, Crowley, and Bal. Crowley’s goal caused Devlin Shanahan’s exit from the game, and in came Steve Orleman between the pipes. (Remember, Matt Vinc is injured) Dhane Smith stopped the bleeding, but only for a moment, as Charalambides answered right back. Chris Cloutier scored his first to close out the first half. 9-5 Warriors at the break.
The goaltender situation could not have been more different on either side. For Buffalo, Shanahan just couldn’t get settled, stopping 14 of 21 in 18:09 of game play. Orleman, in relief, stopped 9 of 11. For Vancouver, Walsh was outstanding, stopping 19 of 24.
Buffalo cut the deficit in the third, but still trailed. The scoring by both sides was in increments of two. The first two belonged to Buffalo, one from Cloutier, his second, and the other from Byrne, his second. Clooch’s goal was short handed and also his 100th in his career. The next two were from Vancouver, one from Loewen, his third, and the other from Kyle Killen. To close out the quarter, Byrne got his third and Chase Fraser got his first on the power play. Definitely a feel good goal for Chase, as he was born in Vancouver, BC and had a ton of friends and family at the game. 11-9 Vancouver after three.
Buffalo saw the game finish before their eyes to begin the fourth quarter as Crowley and Bal rattled off two-straight. Any time Buffalo mounted any sort of comeback, the Warriors had the answer and then some. But the resilient, never-say-die Bandits made it interesting. Three-in-a-row for Buffalo made it a one-goal game with 2:32 to play. Byrne buried his fourth and fifth and Buchanan got his second, and this one was very interesting all of a sudden. As we mentioned in the beginning, Buffalo thought they tied it up with under a minute to play, but it was not to be. Your final from Vancouver, 13-12 Warriors.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Byrne (5+3), Cloutier (2+2), and Buchanan (2+2). Orleman had an extremely good outing in relief, stopping 30 of 36 in total. For Vanvcouver, Crowley (3+4), Bal (3+3), and Charalambides (2+6) led the way. Walsh was even more stingy in the second half, despite having to bite his nails at the end. He made 39 saves on 51 shots.
“That was a challenge, we challenged the boys to step up, and we did,” said Curt Malawsky after the game. “They did go three-goal runs a couple times, but we ended up answering them and he (Walsh) kept us in the game.”
Buffalo (5-6) definitely doesn’t look like they did last season as far as performance and personnel. But, lest we forget why they are the reigning champs. They have to get back into the win column and their next chance is this Friday as they welcome Saskatchewan (4-5) to town. Faceoff in that game is 7:30pm. Vancouver (3-8) looks to build off this monster win. They travel to Albany (9-2) this Friday for a 7pm start.
