It was the first installment of the I-90 rivalry of the season on Saturday night, as the Buffalo Bandits made the hour-long trip down the thruway to clash with the Rochester Knighthawks. These games are always fun and intense because of the split crowd, as well as the disdain both clubs have for each other. After all, these two play for bragging rights in the entire state of New York.
It’s been quite a while since the Knighthawks 2.0 team beat the Bandits. That changed Saturday night, as Rochester kept Buffalo at bay, Rylan Hartley was a brick wall, and the crowd was jumping. Rochester cruised to a 12-9 win over their crosstown rivals, maintaining second place in the league standings. Off to Blue Cross Arena we went.
Much to the appreciation of the mass number of Bandits fans in the crowd, Kyle Buchanan opened the scoring in enemy territory with a power play goal. Connor Fields answered right back with his first, also on the power play. A few minutes later, Clay Scanlan buried his first to give Buffalo their lead back. Unfortunately, this would be the last time they would lead the rest of the way. Rochester, oops, no, Zed Williams responded with three-straight to close out the first quarter, completing the natural hat trick. 4-2 Knighthawks after one.
Dhane Smith opened the scoring in the second to stop the bleeding for Buffalo, but once again, here came the Knighthawks. Another three-goal run really felt like this game was getting out of reach for the Bandits. Rochester was buzzing. Those three goals were courtesy of Kyle Waters, Ryan Lanchbury, and Ryan Smith. Buffalo made the scoreboard look a little better with the quarter’s final two goals, one from Ian MacKay and the other from Buchanan on the power play. Don’t let the score fool you, Rochester was running circles around the Bandits and frustrating their offense. 7-5 Rochester at the break.
The intensity and speed of this game came to complete stop in the third quarter. Both defenses and goaltenders seemed to have settled in significantly, and both offenses were stifled. There was one goal in the quarter, and it was from Thomas McConvey at the 12:56 mark. 8-5 Rochester after three.
Hopefully you enjoyed that 15-minute breather in the third quarter, because the intensity ramped right back up in the final frame. Smith opened the scoring for Rochester, but Buffalo answered right back with two-straight, one from Buchanan and the other from Tehoka Nanticoke, which cut the deficit back down to two. Rochester saw those two, and raised Buffalo two of their own, which pretty much sealed the deal. The two K-Hawks goals were scored by McConvey, the first being on the power play. Buffalo didn’t roll over completely, as they scored two more, but they were very spaced out, with Rochester doing a very good job at limiting their chances. The final Bandits goals were scored by Buchanan on the power play and Josh Byrne. Fields buried his second in the waning seconds for good measure, and that’d be all she wrote from the Flower City.
Players of the game for Buffalo were Buchanan (four goals), Smith (1+4), and Byrne (1+3). Matt Vinc had a bit of an uncharacteristic night, as he was given a breather early on. He stopped 37 of 48 in 59:24. Steve Orleman was beaten by the only shot he faced in his short stint in net. For Rochester, McConvey (3+4), Williams (3+2), and Fields (2+3) led the way. Hartley was an absolute stud all night, stopping 42 of 51.
“We always believe in ourselves”, said McConvey. “We know we have a great team; we just wanted to come out here and protect our home floor. We just go five strong every time we’re out there. They fell for me tonight; it could be anyone’s night anytime. Hopefully we can keep this going throughout the whole season.”
Buffalo looks to spark the offense a bit more and get back into the win column. Their next chance at it is back on their home floor as they welcome in Ottawa. That game is on Friday January 16th at 7:30pm. Rochester is comfortably in second place in the league and is firing on all cylinders. They stay on their home turf for their next contest against Toronto. That game is on Saturday January 17th at 8pm.
