It seems that Week 11 is a bit early for teams to be saying that a game is a “must win.” Well, in Saturday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Wings and Buffalo Bandits, that’s the slogan that both teams were using. The Wings were coming in on a six-game losing streak, while Buffalo were losers of three-straight. Must win was the understatement of the century for both teams.
Buffalo, during their losing streak, didn’t eclipse nine goals in those three games. That changed in this one, with them scoring 11, however even that wasn’t enough. Philadelphia used big performances from Brennan O’Neill and Michael Sowers to steal a win in Banditland, 13-11. There was no lack of entertainment in this game, as there were a couple of highlight reel goals, as well as a staggering four shorthanded goals. To frigid Buffalo we go.
Buffalo got off to a great start, as they tallied the first three goals of the game. Dhane Smith, Kyle Buchanan, and Clay Scanlan all lit the lamp in the first four minutes of the game and KeyBank Center was jumping. That excitement in the building was short-lived, as Philadelphia swung the momentum right back with four-straight goals, two of which were shorthanded. Those were scored by O’Neill twice, the first was a laser from the restraining line, Joe Resetarits, and Scott Dominey. 4-3 Wings after one.
The back-and-forth continued in the second quarter, as Buffalo outscored Philadelphia 3-2 in the frame, and we remained deadlocked. Ian MacKay got the scoring started but was quickly answered by O’Neill. Tehoka Nanticoke answered back with his first on the power play, but Michael Sowers punched right back with his first. In the waning seconds of the quarter, Steve Priolo found himself with the ball in the offensive zone. He pump faked about a zillion times before he stung the top right corner of the net. 6-6 at the break.
Both goaltenders faced a flurry of shots in the first half and were hip to the task. Matt Vinc stopped 18 of 24, while Nick Damude stopped 24 of 30.
I’ll give you one guess what happens in the third quarter, as it was just one of “those” games. If you guessed another back-and-forth frame that resulted in the score being tied, you’d be right. This time, both teams each buried three goals, and boy were there some doozies. MacKay got it started but was answered by Kyle Jackson. KJ received a pass right on the crease that he had to stretch out for. He proceeded to stretch even further while diving/falling down and buried the shot, somehow managing to stay out of the crease. Sowers notched his second to give Philadelphia the lead back, but Buchanan had quite the response. Bucky fired a shot that was tipped and flew over the net. He collected his own rebound and spun 180 degrees and fired a side-armed whirling dervish type shot that went in. Crazy stuff. Sam Leclair buried his first and Smith scored his second, which was shorthanded, to keep this one deadlocked. 9-9 after three.
The first eight or so minutes of the fourth quarter were up-and-down with no result. Finally, MacKay broke the drought with his third of the game, another short-handed goal. Lukas Nielsen followed that up with his first, which was another crazy goal. Nielsen received a pass in the corner and was draped in a Philadelphia defender. He drove his way to the front of the net and threw a one-handed overhand shot that went in. Where do these guys come up with this stuff? Buffalo was flying high and appeared as though they were going to snap their losing skid. Wrong. Philadelphia showed their moxie, as they shutout Buffalo the rest of the way, all while scoring four more goals to run off with the win. Those four goals were scored by O’Neill, Sowers twice, and Jackson.
Players of the game for Buffalo were MacKay (3+2), Smith (2+5), and Buchanan (2+1). Vinc had his moments where he looked like he was settling in, ultimately faltering in the final quarter. He stopped 34 of 47. For Philadelphia, Sowers (4+1), O’Neill (4+1), and Jackson (2+5) led the way. Damude was very stingy down the stretch, ultimately being one of the main reasons Philadelphia came out with the win. He stopped 46 of 57.
“We’re finding ways to lose”, said John Tavares. “It’s frustrating to everybody, I’m not going to blame the loss on one play, but we need to find ways to win.”
“I thought we had a really good gameplan going into the game”, said MacKay. “We played a first half that we were really pleased with. That was the message this week; get back to basics, get back to fun.”
Buffalo has a lot of things to figure out if they want that ever-present “dynasty” to continue. They hit the road for their next crack at it, when they take on Halifax. That game is on Saturday February 14th at 6:30pm. Philadelphia looks to start a winning streak now. They also hit the road for their next game as they take on Calgary. That game is also on February 14th at 9pm.
