(Week 21 Preview will be getting its own post this week)

Buffalo Bandits 15 – Halifax Thunderbirds 12

For Halifax entering a sold out KeyBank Center, the name of the game was going to be defense and transition to get them a huge win to stay alive for a top 2 seed. And in the first quarter, they were certainly doing it. Through 10 minutes, the Bandits were relatively held in check. By the end of the quarter, their offense was credited with 10 turnovers. But another key for the Thunderbirds was going to be to stay out of the box, and after Carter McKenzie and Colton Armstrong took penalties on the same possession late in the first, the Bandits made lemonade. Dhane to Josh to Ian on the doorstep quickly gave Buffalo their first goal of the powerplay after only 15 seconds, and then in the waning seconds of the now man up, Josh Byrne went over the top from midrange to make it 2-0. Mike Robinson would put Halifax on the board before the end of the quarter to cut the deficit in half.

The Thunderbirds would force another 8 turnovers in the second quarter, but the Bandits forced 8 of their own, and it led to a back and forth frame. Josh Byrne scored in transition on Buffalo’s first touch of the quarter, which was followed up minutes later with Clay Scanlan scoring from outside. Halfway through the quarter, the Thunderbirds would go on a run to tie the game, starting with Clarke Petterson picking the far corner with some power and then showing finesse and touch in front of the crease rolling off a screen and burying a pass from Randy Staats. Dawson Theede would look off a screen and create his own space to sweep an outside shot past Matt Vinc to tie the game with 3:47 left in the quarter, but the Bandits would get the lead right back with Kyle Buchanan finishing in transition on a 3-on-2 break. With the Bandits packing it in on the next Halifax possession, Staats would get his first goal of the game from a sharp angle, only for Byrne to score his third of the half on the next Bandits possession. However, Staats would get his second in a row from midrange on the next Thunderbirds touch to tie the game at 6 at the half.

There were no signs of the slow start anymore by the time the third quarter started. Buffalo would put together a 6 shot possession that was finished off with a step back from outside from Josh Byrne to re-take the lead. On their next possession, Byrne would feed Dhane Smith who would find Kyle Buchanan cutting wide open to extend the lead. The Thunderbirds went on the powerplay soon after and had their own 6 shot possession that was finished by Dawson Theede. Chase Fraser would join in on the scoring in the final 6 minutes of the quarter, only for Halifax to get the goal right back courtesy of Randy Staats, who would also be the one to tie the game up at 9 with 3:41 to go in the quarter after posting up and getting to the net. Smith scored in transition to break the tie on the next possession, but Cody Jamieson would ensure the back and forth game would remain deadlocked after 3 with his first goal of the game on the next possession.

A powerplay with 12 minutes to go gave Clarke Petterson the opportunity to give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game at 11-10, but it would also be their only lead of the game. More transition expertise saw Ron John slipping a pass to a crease diving Steve Priolo to tie the game back up at 11, and the captain’s goal upped the energy at KeyBank Center, and on the next Bandits possession, what other combination would be expected other than Dhane Smith finding a wide open rolling Kyle Buchanan to an open goal to get the Bandits back in front with 10:10 to play. While Jamieson would find the slimmest of space to tie the game back at 12, that would be their last goal of the game, and with 6:31 to play, Ian MacKay scored the eventual game winner from outside. A minute later, Smith would draw two defenders in front of the net, and after taking a few steps back while the defenders followed, it was Buchanan again wide open in front for his fourth goal of the game — the first time he reached that plateau since March 30, 2019. Cam Wyers would add the cherry going the distance after a rebound for a breakaway goal, the sixth of the game in transition for the Bandits, and that would send Buffalo to their top milestone of the regular season, home floor advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.

Owning the transition advantage, Buffalo also would finish the game with the advantage in the turnover department, with the Thunderbirds turning the ball over 16 times in the second half compared to 6 for the Bandits.

Dhane Smith’s 5th double digit point game of the season came with his third career 10 assist game. With a game remaining, he is at 99 assists, only 2 behind the record-setting 101 he had last season (also sealed with a 10 assist game in last year’s finale in Vegas). He also scored a goal to reach 30 on the year to put him at 129 points. If he can get 8 points Saturday in Georgia, he will tie his all time point record that he set in 2016.

As for the rest of the Bandits, 4 goals and 4 assists for Josh Byrne put him at 126 points on the season with a game remaining, 9 short of the 135 he picked up in his MVP winning campaign last year. Kiel Matisz had 4 assists out the back door as well as 10 loose balls. Matt Vinc finished the game with 51 assists for his third 50+ save game of the season.

The Thunderbirds were led by 4 goals and 5 assists from Randy Staats and 3 goals and 4 assists from Clarke Petterson. Drew Hutchison made 33 saves, getting the start over Warren Hill. Halifax is now 10-7, tied with Vancouver and Rochester in the unified standings, but own the 3 seed owning the three-way head-to-head tiebreaker.

Week 20 Around The League

Vancouver Warriors 12 – Toronto Rock 10

While the Rock put together a comeback effort in the fourth quarter, time was not on their side, as the Warriors cliched their spot in the NLL playoffs with a 12-10 win and moved into the four seed over Rochester with their advantage in the three-way tiebreak with Halifax (head-to-head in common games). Adam Charalambides led Vancouver with 4 goals and 4 assists, while Keegan Bal had 2 goals and 5 assists and Christian Del Bianco made 13 of his 34 saves in the fourth quarter as the Rock made their push. Chris Boushy had 3 goals and 4 assists for the Rock, who were eliminated from playoff contention in the loss. There’ll be time to investigate what the future looks like for Toronto after their first postseason miss since 2018, but there are certainly reasons to believe that this season will be remembered as a pothole in a rather smooth ride down the QEW as they return to Hamilton next year following the major renovations the arena is currently undergoing.

Ottawa Black Bears 13 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 10

Jeff Teat continued his tear with 8 goals and also added an assist as the Black Bears find themselves still in the playoff mix after a win over the Desert Dogs. Reilly O’Connor had a goal and 4 assists, while Travis Longboat also had 4 assists and Connor Kearnan had 4 assists. Jack Hannah and Jonathan Donville each had 5 points.

Albany FireWolves 12 – San Diego Seals 10

The defending NLL runners up haven’t heard no bell (this has discord lore btw pls subscribe etc), as 6 goals and 3 assists from Tye Kurtz paced the FireWolves to a nostalgic victory over the Seals. Included in the sock trick were the goal that tied the game at 9 and then the 11th goal that proved to be the game winner. While there are still 4 teams with 9 losses in seeds 7-10, one of those being San Diego means that another win next week would give both teams an 8-10 record with Albany owning the head-to-head tiebreak if they are the lone 8-10 teams. Dyson Williams, Alex Simmons, and Ethan Walker combined for 13 assists. For San Diego, Ben McIntosh had 2 goals and 2 assists, while Rob Hellyer had 4 assists.

Philadelphia Wings 16 – Georgia Swarm 13

The Wings built upon their win in Georgia a week prior and led by as much as 10 for a second consecutive win and, like Albany, stayed alive into the final weekend. Joe Resetarits continued his phenomenal season with 3 goals and 7 assists. Mitch Jones bounced back with a goal and 5 assists after being ejected early in last week’s game. Rookies Dalton Young and Brennan O’Neill each had 2 goals and 3 assists, while Phil Caputo added 4 goals. Deacan Knott made 40 saves for the win in his first career start. For Georgia, who scored 9 goals in the fourth quarter to narrow the deficit, Jordan MacIntosh led with 5 goals and 2 assists, while each of Andrew Kew, Bryan Cole, and Lyle Thompson had 4 points. The Swarm own the 8-9 tiebreaker, placing them in the 7 seed heading into the last week.

Saskatchewan Rush 11 – Colorado Mammoth 6

A 9 goal run secured another win for the Rush on their way to their 12th win of the season, their most since winning 14 in their 2018 championship-winning season. Austin Shanks led the Rush with 4 goals and 3 assists, while Frank Scigliano made 38 saves in the win. Will Malcom led the Mammoth with 3 goals and 2 assists, as they have now dropped their last 4 games.

(Photo Credit: NLL)