For much of Game 2 of the NLL Finals, the gameplay looked very similar to that of Game 1, and not just because the Rush were on the board in the first minute and change again, as Jake Boudreau sprung a fastbreak after Dhane Smith’s first offering of the game sailed wide, running the floor and getting to the net with some screen support from Mike Messenger 1:07 in. After each team exchanged some multi-shot possessions, it was an early shot clock outside shot from Austin Shanks three minutes later that was the next to find the back of the net. The next two possessions were once again mirrors. Two shots for the Rush, two shots for the Bandits, a turnover for the Rush, a turnover for the Bandits. The trend was bucked after Tehoka Nanticoke threw one too many shoves behind the play and was sent to the box for the first penalty of the game. The Rush powerplay started as most Bandits penalty kills do, as the first shot from Shanks was blocked by Wyers. Zach Manns sent the next shot towards the net, and Wyers got another piece. When Brock Haley got another shot off with 5 seconds left on the shot clock, Paul Dawson got the block this time. They got a reset after the Dawson block went out of play, but they were only able to muster a wide shot that sailed over and back. Buffalo killed the penalty down to its final 45 seconds on offense, and when the Rush got the ball back, the first and only shot of the man advantage that reached the net was turned away by Matt Vinc, and then Buffalo killed the rest of the 2 minutes. Fortunately for the Rush, their first possession back at 5-on-5 saw different results, with Ryan Keenan scoring from midrange to put the Rush up 3-0 with 5:52 left in the quarter.

Fortune shortly flipped in the favor of the Bandits. After Matt Vinc made a timely stop on a Mike Triolo quick stick, Dhane Smith went back the other way and used his speed to burn past his defender and get Buffalo on the board with 3:41 left in the quarter, and the score would hold to the quarter break. Aside from a bouncer in transition from Zach Manns hitting off the post in the first minute, Buffalo controlled the first five minutes of the new period. A turnover forced by Cam Wyers created the possession that led to Josh Byrne feeding Ian MacKay for a goal from outside to continue his tear. After Triolo was stopped in front by Vinc, Smith scored a mirrored shot from MacKay, and the game was back even. The Rush were able to strike next after being handed their second powerplay of the game, and it was Ryan Keenan with a sidearm rip from in close making it 4-3. The Rush got a trio of looks on their next possession as well but all three shots sailed wide, but Buffalo’s lone shot on their next possession also went wide, and after Saskatchewan got the ball back, persistence from Keenan led to a gritty offensive rebound, and Manns scored off the bench to extend the lead back up to 2 with 7:11 to play in the half. The Bandits looked to score right away, but Kyle Buchanan’s foot grazed the crease, and the goal was taken off the board by a challenge. It turned out they just had to wait a tad longer for the goal, as another forced turnover from Wyers gave his offense the ball back, and Byrne played a pick-and-roll with Clay Scanlan, who got in tight and stayed out of the crease for the tally. More defense into offense re-tied the game, with a soak from Justin Martin leading to MacKay’s second of the quarter, again in tight, only this time, the ensuing challenge was held up. With the half entering its final two minutes, textbook ball movement was rewarded with Buffalo’s first lead of the game. Dhane Smith found Tehoka Nanticoke after drawing a double team, and Nanticoke found an open Scanlan after drawing a double team of his own, with the rookie getting his second of the quarter. A pair of highlight saves from Vinc on the ensuing Rush possession looked like they would lead at halftime, but in the final 15 seconds, after the Rush picked up a defensive rebound, the Bandits failed to recover a pair of stray passes, and it led to Jake Boudreau getting the ball and scoring on a tight 3-on-1 in the final 2 seconds to make it 6-6 after 30 for the second straight game.

Frank Scigliano set a tone on the first possession of the third quarter with a sprawling save on a Dhane Smith rebound. After the Rush were sent to their first and only penalty kill of the game, the netminder made three more saves to preserve the deadlock. But the Bandits were persistent, and Chase Fraser decided that maybe his offense needed another head shaker of a highlight, going behind the back with one arm on a submarine sweeper to make it 7-6. But again, they were unable to turn that spark into a run, as the Rush defense held up on the backend, countering Bandits blocks, turnovers, and saves with those of their own. An outside stop from Scigliano on Smith as the clock dropped under 6 minutes to play led to Clark Walter picking up an offensive rebound after a transition shot sailed wide, and the sequence ended with Austin Shanks feeding Brock Haley for a give and go in traffic. And in the theme of defense into offense and countering, after Nick Weiss stripped Zach Manns, and then Josh Byrne swept a bouncer far side to make it 8-7 with 3:50 left. The ensuing possession saw Buffalo get three more shots off, but the Rush held up once again, punctuated by Holden Garlent contesting a drive to the net from Byrne. Garlent came up with a block on Scanlan as part of another strong defensive sequence from the Rush that forced a shot clock violation, and when they went back the other way, Walter recovered a stray pass and then went over the top to even the game back up at 8 with 1:05 left. But once again, the Bandits had an answer. After Scigliano made his 15th save of the quarter, Kyle Buchanan picked up a crucial offensive rebound after Jarrett Smith misplayed the loose ball, and Buchanan found Fraser, who swam past his man and scored after throwing a fake, and the Bandits took a 9-8 lead into the final frame.

With the Bandits registering a quarter-high 18 shots on goal in the third, the Rush had survived the biggest push of the game to that point only trailing by one, with the steadiness from Scigliano anchoring the home squad. In contrast, Buffalo had held Saskatchewan to 8 shots on goal. After Game 1 saw saw offense come to a halt for almost 18 minutes, both teams had to be feeling confident with where the scoreboard sat with 15 to go, with Buffalo just needing win or tie one more quarter to end their season and once again find themselves officially atop the lacrosse world for the third straight season, while for Saskatchewan, with the crowd on their side and the end of a quarter offering a reset from the shot onslaught they faced in the third, a one goal deficit in no way felt insurmountable, especially for a team that used late game heroics to force overtime and finish the Halifax Thunderbirds season a week prior on their neon turf.

And probably in a fashion that was surprising to nobody, the fourth quarter stalemate resumed to open things up. Wide shots exchanged in the first two possessions and then two straight crease violations to end back-to-back possessions. Cam Wyers had the first marquee chance of the quarter with an interception and a breakaway 2:30 into the quarter, but Frank Scigliano made the save. Unfortunately for them, the Bandits were also the first team to blink, as Josh Byrne was penalized for the second time in the game, this time on an illegal screen with contact to the helmet of Bobby Kidd III. Paul Dawson blocked the first Rush shot attempt on the man advantage, and Matt Vinc stopped the second to end the first possession of the Saskatchewan powerplay. Brock Haley was stopped on the next possession before the Bandits were able to kill the penalty clock down to 20 seconds, but that would be enough time for the Rush, as Zach Manns sent a near-side laser from the point to tie the game at 9 with the clock showing 8:55. After a stop on each side, more loose ball difficulties came to bite the Bandits, as after Vinc stopped Mike Triolo in close, the ball bounced around and hit off a myriad of player sticks before bouncing to Austin Shanks, who immediately turned in front of the net and dove to beat Vinc with play unsettled, and the Rush had regained the lead with 7:17 left.

The Bandits didn’t get their next shot attempt until there was 5:45 to play, and even that one was off of a broken play, as Ian MacKay appeared to be looking to pass to Clay Scanlan, but the ball reached the net instead, and the Rush took possession back. After a shot clock violation on each side, there was 4:39 left, and the final TV timeout of the game commenced. Adam Jay blocked an outside attempt from Dhane Smith out of the break. After Nick Weiss blocked Holden Garlent, the Bandits went back out and ran, but a Chase Fraser submarine shot was stopped by Frank Scigliano. It was there first shot on goal since 11:08 to go from Josh Byrne, seconds before the forward was penalized for the illegal cross-check. Zack Belter picked up the very long rebound, but after being forced into the far corner, his attempt to pass to Clay Scanlan was interfered with by Bobby Kidd III, and Matt Hossack picked up the loose ball, with the clock dropping under 3:30.

When the Rush offense is humming, it’s usually passes between Robert Church and Ryan Keenan that remind Rush Nation of their dynasty run, one where there offense would go stretches that looked like it was impossible to stop them for weeks at a time. While the likes of guys like Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh have moved on as the 2020s have moved forward, when Zach Manns found an open back-door cutting Austin Shanks while Church and Keenan set screens, with the UFA-joining Shanks finishing the hat trick to put his team up 2 with 3:08 to play, Sasktel Centre must have had collective flashbacks to the last time they entered the barn with the calendar turned to May and the lights were as bright as the new turf, when a different tall lefty was setting up his righty teammates for open looks that were finished off up high.

Saskatchewan picked up the ensuing faceoff and killed the clock down to 0. Dhane Smith was forced into a contested look halfway through the shot clock that went wide, which was rebounded by Matt Hossack. 2:08 left. It took Steve Priolo forcing a turnover on Ryan Keenan with 1:45 left for the Bandits to get the ball back, with John Tavares calling timeout. Now with the net empty, Hossack blocked a shot by Ian MacKay, but Buffalo picked up a reset as the ball went out of play. Josh Byrne looked for Tehoka Nanticoke on a fake shot into a quick stick, and while the pass was unsuccessful, Kyle Buchanan was there for the loose ball, as he’s been all year. Buchanan and Smith played catch, and after a pair of windups, again, as he’s done all year, Buchanan scored through the screening defender for the clutch goal with 1:05 to play. It was the first Buffalo goal in 14:27 of game time.

Jake Naso was called for a violation on the ensuing faceoff. Buffalo would have the chance to tie the game right away. But once again, a look from Byrne to Nanticoke was off target. Nanticoke got his own rebound this time and found MacKay, who passed to Buchanan this time for a quick stick about 5 feet from the crease to the right of Scigliano, but the far side look was saved. Scigliano fell on the ball with 36.9 seconds left. On the reset, the Rush killed the full shot clock. Nick Weiss recovered the ball with 5.8 on the shot clock, and the ball reached the stick of Chase Fraser who wound up from outside with about a second left, and while his shot was uncontested on-ball, Holden Garlent went all out to block the shot with his right shoulder, nearly taking the ball off the top of his helmet. With the effort from the Rush alternate captain, the ball flew to the side boards and time expired. The Rush forced Game 3.

The Rush once again put together a full team effort, and while they once again were the victims of 32 shots missing the net, they were the ones ahead where it mattered after 60 minutes. Another 3 goals and 5 assists from Austin Shanks led the Rush, with Zach Manns adding 2 goals and 4 assists and Robert Church distributing 4 assists as well. Frank Scigliano’s save on Buchanan was his 40th of the game.

For the Bandits, Dhane Smith once again led with 2 goals and 3 assists. Josh Byrne had a goal and 3 assists, while the rest of their offensive personnel compiled different permutations of 3 point games, including another 2 goals and assist for Ian MacKay. Matt Vinc had 41 saves despite the loss, and the defense blocked another 11 shots, this time led by 5 from Nick Weiss.

Game 3 – Saturday May 24, 4:30 pm, ESPN 2, TSN

The NLL season’s grand finale will get the continental cable stage, with The Deuce being the TV setting for Game 3 of the NLL Finals in a sold out Banditland, airing immediately after Penn State vs Cornell at Noon and Syracuse vs Maryland at 2:30 in the D1 Men’s Final Four, also on ESPN 2.

With two neck-and-neck games bringing us here, there isn’t too much analysis to do. Truly all that remains is both teams going out and continuing what has gotten them here, 60 minutes away from a title.