Buffalo Bandits 15 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 13

As they did the last time the Desert Dogs came to town, the Bandits got out in front right away, as Tehoka Nanticoke rebounded a Dhane Smith miss in front to open the scoring 24 seconds in. Two minutes later, Nanticoke found a cutting Kyle Buchanan for another goal in front, and then on the next possession, Buchanan cut to the net again, diving for his second goal following a pass from Josh Byrne. Chris Cloutier scored on the next possession to get his new team on the board, and that score held the rest of the way in the first quarter, as Landon Kells finished the first 15 with 14 saves after being under siege for a lot of the quarter.

After killing a penalty to end the first, the Bandits looked to have scored on their first possession of the second, but the near-side referee whistled down Clay Scanlan as landing in the crease before the ball went in the net. Back the other way, Mitch Jones scored off the bench, forcing a challenge from John Tavares. But the officials would uphold the ruling on the floor, meaning that the Desert Dogs would trail 3-2 instead of 4-1 following the sequence. It was Kyle Buchanan’s turn to find an open cutting Bandits, as Josh Byrne was on the end of his pass to get Buffalo their first of the quarter, and while Jones would add his second on their next possession, the Bandits would go on a run courtesy of Ian MacKay. After Jonathan Donville and Zack Belter got tied up with each other and were sent to the box for coincidental roughing penalties, Byrne and MacKay played pick-and-roll for the first of those goals. Then on the next possession, Buchanan rebounded a transition look off the faceoff, the Bandits got a fresh 30, where MacKay finished a quick stick from Dhane Smith. In the final two minutes, MacKay would bring the ball out from behind the net and fire a behind the back shot past Landon Kells to complete the natural hat trick, making the halftime score 7-3. Another video review going against Scanlan would end the half, as he dove for a trickling ball behind Kells to scoop it into the net, but his foot landed in the crease.

Mitch Jones would start the second half as he did the second quarter with his third goal of the game, but then Buffalo would extend their lead again, starting with an outside shot from Josh Byrne. On the next possession, Dhane Smith took a free drive to the net to make it 9-4, leading to Shawn Williams bringing Alex Buque into the game. Las Vegas became victim to their first called back goal of the game, as Jonathan Donville’s crease dive with 8:38 left in the quarter was waved off by his landing. Buffalo would beat Buque for the first time with 4:03 left in the third, as Kyle Buchanan completed the hat trick. Tyrell Hamer-Jackson scored his first goal of the season to make it 10-5 with 1:43 left. They had the ball for the final possession of the quarter as well, but Steve Priolo stripped Chris Cloutier, and after Nick Weiss picked up the loose ball, he passed it off to Dylan Robinson who scored on the empty net with the ball crossing the goal line with tenths of seconds left on the clock.

Buffalo won the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter, and while they were stopped on their first possession, Ian MacKay deflected an outlet pass attempt by Alex Buque and then fed Kyle Buchanan for a 2-on-0 goal to make it 12-5. But again like last year’s matchup, Las Vegas found success in the fourth quarter on offense. A delayed penalty call led to a 6-on-5 goal for Johnathan Donville. With 12:22 to play, Chase Fraser finally got on the scoreboard, picking the far right corner of the net so tightly that is came out the other side of the net. The Bandits would get those two goals back over the next couple of possessions, as Clay Scanlan was finally able to get a goal not turned back by review. On the next possession, Scanlan set a separation-creating screen for Josh Byrne to score from midrange, extending the lead back to 14-7. As Chris Cloutier scored with 10:09 left, Fraser tied up Zack Belter and wrestled him to the ground. This sent a wobbly Belter to the locker room, giving Banditland their first real taste of being on the other side of Chase’s role as a team’s pest. As Nick Weiss was also called for a penalty on the possession, the Desert Dogs would have a powerplay, where Cloutier would score again on a second straight sidearm shot from midrange. With another delayed penalty against Buffalo, Mitch Jones would score from about the same spot as Cloutier did, and then on the next possession, it would be Jones again, this time from outside, to make it 14-11 with 5:11 to play. A minute later, Cloutier would complete the fourth quarter hat trick, and now it was all of a sudden a two goal game once again.

As the game entered its final two minutes, Josh Byrne would find Dhane Smith left all alone in front of the net to extend the lead back to three. While Josh Jackson would score in transition to make it 15-13 with 54 seconds left, the Bandits would win the ensuing faceoff and run the clock down to 24 seconds. After a timeout, Matt Vinc would stop the drawn up look from the Desert Dogs and he would send the ball down the floor, not giving Vegas a chance for another shot. Kind of similarly to the Sabres game a couple days later against the Canucks, while Vegas cut it closer than the home crowd may have expected, the Bandits walked away with a victory to open up the 2026 chapter of their season.

The Bandits top four offensive contributors came to play, with 3 goals and 6 assists from Josh Byrne leading the way. Dhane Smith was right behind with 2 goals and 6 assists, Ian MacKay had 3 goals and 4 assists, and Kyle Buchanan had 4 goals and an assist. A performance that certainly that made a statement on a night when their former teammates were coming to town.

Speaking of those teammates, while Chris Cloutier had 4 goals, Chase Fraser was limited to 1 on 7 shots on goal. He also added 3 assists. Mitch Jones led the Desert Dogs with 5 goals and 3 assists. The loss dropped Las Vegas to 2-2.

Colorado Mammoth 18 – Rochester Knighthawks 13

Whistles were the theme early and often in the opening half, with the game’s first goal coming on a Ryan Smith powerplay goal 3:46 into the game. While the Knighthawks got that first goal and had a good amount of possession in the early minutes, the Mammoth would even the game with a 4-on-3 laser from Jalen Chaster. On the next possession with the game 4-on-4, Jack Hannah introduced himself to the home fans with a goal on the run that also picked the far corner. Hannah would then cut back door minutes and finish off his first gravity defying goal in Burgundy. After a transition turnover, the Mammoth would get the ball back and extend the lead to 4-1 on the first career goal of Braedon Saris, but the Knighthawks would make a push to finish the quarter, starting with a quick stick finish from Connor Fields. With the back-to-back of an illegal substitution and illegal crosscheck against the Mammoth, Fields would score 5-on-3 and draw a delay of game as Robert Hope was called for contesting the shot in the crease. Two goals in tight from Ryan Lanchbury on the next two possessions would give Rochester the lead after 1. Rochester finished the quarter 4-for-4 on the powerplay. In the writing business, they call this foreshadowing.

With the Knighthawks shorthanded early in the quarter, Dan Coates was next to go to the box for the crease delay of game, and it was the Mammoth’s turn to take advantage of 5-on-3 lacrosse, as Ryan Lee and Will Malcom finished quick sticks to regain a lead that they would not relinquish. While Colorado took a penalty on offense to put Rochester back up a man, a tipped pass by Robert Hope led to Warren Jeffrey scoring in transition. While Jeffrey went to the box instead of the bench after shoving Connor Fields as part of his goal celebrating. After a stop by the three-man PK unit, Hope recovered a loose ball rebound and chucked a high-arching outlet pass up the floor to Malcom off the bench, who finished a breakaway to extend the lead to 8-5. A goaltender interference call on Hannah was negated two possessions later by a check from behind on Jeremy Thompson, and then Braedon Saris would score his second of the game during the 4-on-4, ending Rylan Hartley’s half. Malcom would score on the powerplay after Hannah’s penalty expired, and then what became a 7 goal run was completed courtesy of a former Knighthawk in Thomas Vela. Ryan Lanchbury would score with the net empty in the final minute to stop the run, making the score 11-6 Mammoth at the half. After the perfect powerplay in the first quarter, Rochester was 0-3 with two short handed goals against in the second.

Rochester came out of the halftime break strong, with Thomas McConvey getting on the scoreboard for the first time in the opening possession of the third after faking out Dillon Ward in front of the net. Then after Ryan Lee scored just over two minutes into the quarter, Ryan Lanchbury got the goal back on the next possession with a shot just before the shot clock expired, and McConvey picked up his second from outside with 10:27 left in the frame to make it 12-9. But starting with a save by Ward on Matt Gilray off the ensuing faceoff, the Mammoth would hold up the rest of the quarter. At the end of three, Ward would finish the quarter with 14 saves, as the game stayed 12-9 for the remainder of the period, including another killed penalty by the Mammoth.

In the fourth, with the period beginning with another Knighthawks powerplay, Dylan McIntosh scored on the run for another Mammoth shorthanded goal, only further stifling Rochester’s quest to get back in the game, which would only get more challenging after Will Malcom was left uncontested in partial transition. And yet, Rochester had another run coming. Minutes later, Jake Piseno scored in transition, and then Ryan Smith and Zed Williams scored on back-to-back possessions with 8:02 remaining, once again cutting the deficit to two. As the game came out of its final timeout, with the score remaining 14-12 up to that point, as Colorado got the ball for the reset, a successful pick-and-roll between Jalen Chaster and Thomas Vela led to what would be the dagger goal. Thomas McConvey looked to get the goal back with 3:49 left, but Dillon Ward had landed on the ball with his back just before it crossed the goal line. When 6-on-5 play began, Brad McCulley was stopped cleanly by Ward. Then after Zed was stopped on the next possession, Jordan Gillies scored on the empty net to stretch the lead to 4. While McConvey scored with 1:34 left, Chaster and Matt Paolatto had additional empty net goals to close the game out, with the Mammoth defeating the Knighthawks 18-13.

Jack Hannah’s Colorado Mammoth debut saw him score twice and add six assists. With Will Malcom’s rebound with 4 goals and 5 assists to lead the offense, the revitalization of their offense after 3 goals the prior week was certainly sparked. Dillon Ward finished the game with 44 saves in the win.

Connor Fields led the Knighthawks offense with 2 goals and 6 assists, while Ryan Lanchbury had 4 goals and 5 assists. Thomas McConvey’s second half propelled him to 3 goals and 3 assists and 9 loose ball on the night. Ryan Smith added 2 goals and 3 assists. The goaltending had a night they’ll wish to forget, with Rylan Hartley only making 13 saves on 22 shots faced in 28:20, while Riley Hutchcraft had 12 saves on 18 shots faced in 31:17 in his first extended minutes on the season. Rochester will need to put the loss behind them right away with 2 games this weekend to proceed with a very tough January schedule.

Week 6 Around The League

Saskatchewan Rush 11 – Halifax Thunderbirds 7

The Rush defense started strong and finished stronger, with shutouts in those two quarters in a game where they never traveled, wrapping up the home-and-home sweep over the Thunderbirds with an 11-7 win. Ryan Keenan led with 4 goals and 2 assists in his Dad Derek’s 300th career game as a head coach in the NLL, while Zach Manns had 3 goals and an assist and Robert Church had a goal and 3 assists. Frank Scigliano made 30 saves in the win, as the Rush outshot the Thunderbirds 53-37. For Halifax, Clarke Petterson had 3 goals and 2 assists and Dawson Theede added 2 goals and 2 assists.

Ottawa Black Bears 16 – Oshawa FireWolves 14

The goal scoring dam finally broke open in Oshawa, as Alex Simmons had 6 goals and 5 assists to lead a FireWolves offense that that scored 6 more goals than their previous season high. However, the Black Bears had 7 fourth quarter goals to overcome an 11-9 lead after 3 and walk away with a 16-14 win against their new Ontario rival. Jeff Teat picked up his first double-digit point game of the season with 3 goals and 7 assists, while a quartet of Black Bears had 5 points (Larson Sundown 4G 1A, Reilly O’Connor and Connor Kearnan 2G 3A each, Rob Hellyer 1G 4A). Zach Higgins made 16 of his 43 saves in the final frame for the win. Ethan Walker and Tye Kurtz each had 7 points for Oshawa, while Dyson Williams added 4 goals and an assist.

Calgary Roughnecks 15 – San Diego Seals 11

The Roughnecks got their first win of the season after a strong start followed by some second half resilience, holding the home Seals off after they tied the game at 9 in the third quarter, scoring 6 of the final 8 goals. Tanner Cook and Brayden Mayea had 3 goals and 9 assists each in the winning effort for Calgary, with Tyler Pace adding 2 goals and 5 assists. Aden Walsh’s 50 saves in the win included 13 in the first quarter and 18 in the second. Wes Berg led the Seals, who dropped to 0-2 at home in the early season, with 3 goals and 2 assists. Tre LeClaire had 3 goals and an assist, while Corey Small and Pat Kavanagh each had a goal and 3 assists. Chris Origlieri had 24 saves in 32:27 before leaving the game with cramps. Cam Dunkerley had 13 saves in relief.

Week 7 Preview

Buffalo Bandits (3-1) @ Rochester Knighthawks (2-1) – Saturday January 10, 7:00 pm

The neighbor cities face off for the first time this season, but it’s the Knighthawks who will have the gameday travel home as they play in Philadelphia tonight. The Bandits have won 6 straight in the series and look to get that to seven, while the Knighthawks have had this game circled since the schedule was released as they are eager to shed the little brother narrative that developed while they were also under the ownership of PSE. Buffalo will be without Mitch de Snoo and Zack Belter, both of whom left last week’s game with injury.

Rochester Knighthawks (2-1) @ Philadelphia Wings (1-2) – Friday January 9, 7:00 pm

As mentioned, Rochester’s weekend will start with a road trip to Philadelphia to take on the Wings for the second time in three weeks, looking to take care of business as they did in their home opener.

Halifax Thunderbirds (2-2) @ Ottawa Black Bears (3-2) – Friday January 9, 7:00 pm, TSN

After sweeping last year’s series, the Thunderbirds are looking to begin their two game weekend with a road win in Ottawa after dropping two straight to the Saskatchewan Rush. Going back to the Riptide as well, Halifax is 9-0 against this franchise.

Halifax Thunderbirds (2-2) @ Oshawa FireWolves (1-4) – Saturday January 10, 7:00 pm

In their second leg, they will get the throwback treatment, as the FireWolves will be wearing Oshawa Green Gaels inspired uniforms this week as they look to snap a 4 game losing streak. Currently a Junior B organization in Clarington, the Green Gaels are regarded as one of the most dominant dynasties in the history of Canadian Lacrosse, winning 7 Minto Cups when they were Junior A between 1963 and 1969, featuring legends including Gaylord Powless, Jim Higgs, and John “Shooter” Davis. After the FireWolves knocked the Thunderbirds out in the 2024 playoffs, Halifax won last season’s lone matchup at home on December 28, 2024.

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Vancouver Warriors (2-1) @ Calgary Roughnecks (1-3) – Friday January 9, 9:30 pm, TSN

With many of his former teammates coming to town, it’s only fitting that the Roughnecks have chosen their game with the Vancouver Warriors as their opponent for their retirement of Dane Dobbie’s #44. On the floor, the road team won each matchup of last season’s series.

Saskatchewan Rush (4-1) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (2-2) – Friday January 9, 10:30 pm

The Friday slate continues into the late night, with the Desert Dogs hosting a Rush team that is beginning to separate themselves atop the standings coming off of two marquee wins against the Thunderbirds. The Rush have won all 4 all time matchups against the Desert Dogs, including a 15-9 win at home on January 11 last year and 17-5 win in Vegas on December 15, 2023.

Toronto Rock (1-2) @ San Diego Seals (1-2) – Friday January 9, 10:30 pm

Last season, the Seals got their first all time win over the Rock after losing in their first 4 attempts since their inception, an 11-10 win at home on February 8 last season. They will need to repeat the home win to get back to .500.

Colorado Mammoth (2-2) @ Georgia Swarm (2-2) – Saturday January 10, 7:30 pm

And finally to wrap up an 8 game weekend in the NLL, the Mammoth head to Duluth with reinforcements as they look to avenge the 12-3 home loss they suffered against the Swarm back on December 27. Unfortunately for Colorado, the knee injury Ryan Lee suffered last week is going to keep him out for the rest of the season, a third major injury in the last four seasons and the first on the other knee.