Buffalo Bandits 9 – Vancouver Warriors 3

After a regular season matchup that saw untimely penalties create the difference in the game, Buffalo went to the box 1:25 in, and while the first Warriors possession saw their shooters be throttled, Ryan Martel found Kevin Crowley between the box for the game-opening goal on the quick stick. But the Bandits would get their opening goal after turning defense into offense, as Ron John stripped Martel before he could get off a crease dive and he sprung the fastbreak to get Ian MacKay the ball, and MacKay swam and got to the net for the opening Bandit goal in consecutive games. It was Vancouver to be punished with a major penalty less than a minute later, and Buffalo would capitalize with both opportunities to score with the man advantage. Dhane Smith would get space off a screen from Tehoka Nanticoke for the first goal, and then despite the Warriors killing off about two minutes of the major after the goal, Chase Fraser would score from the point to make it 3-1, which would carry to the end of the quarter.

Sustained 5-on-5 play to start the second quarter settled both teams in, but the Warriors were the first to blink, as Owen Grant went back to the box about halfway through, and Ian MacKay registered his second goal of the game from midrange on the ensuing powerplay. The run would continue off an unforced turnover that the Bandits would take advantage of, with MacKay beating Del Bianco through a double screen from Zack Belter and Dylan Robinson to finish off the first half hat trick. The lead was extended to 6-1 on the goal that Christian Del Bianco would most want back, as Tehoka Nanticoke scored from deep on his off-side and snuck a changeup between Del Bianco’s arm and the post, sending Aden Walsh into the game until the under 5 timeout. Buffalo took a penalty in the meantime, and Adam Charalambides fed Dylan McIntosh on the crease for the powerplay goal to stop the run. However, the Bandits would get the five goal lead right back, with Josh Byrne joining in on the scoring with 2:49 left to make it 7-2 at the half.

The second half looked a lot more like the week prior at KeyBank Center. Vancouver got five shots off on an early penalty, but only two reached the net and were turned away. A Bandits powerplay looked the same halfway through the quarter, as Vancouver’s defense settled in as well. Buffalo had 7 shots in a single possession on a second powerplay of the quarter in the closing minutes and were once again turned away on each of them. But as the quarter came to an end, what might go down as the most memorable play of the entire playoffs when all is said and done courtesy of the core for Ian MacKay’s fourth goal of the game.

Now trailing by 6, Vancouver’s window to get back into the game remained slightly opened, and with an early fourth quarter powerplay, Keegan Bal got his first of the game 12 seconds into the man advantage, and then they returned right back to the powerplay after Connor Farrell was called for a cross-check on the ensuing faceoff. This powerplay was more indicative of the rest of the game with one shot blocked and three stopped before Matt Vinc came up with one more save for good measure as Farrell exited the box. A tough game for Owen Grant continued into the midway point of the fourth, as his third trip to the box led to Dhane Smith’s second goal of the game for the 9th Buffalo goal. And as the Bandits looked to work down the clock and look towards Game 2 Sunday, the story remained the same in their own end. There were good looks, but Matt Vinc was there for every one in the second half, and the final score read 9-3 Buffalo.

It certainly wasn’t all goaltending in this one for the Bandits, as 31 of the 69 shots the Warriors took were off target and another 11 were blocked, but when there have now only been 11 games in NLL history where the winning team only surrendered 3 or less goals, the conversation does start with Matt Vinc.

Three of those 11 all-time games with 3 goals or less have come with Matt Vinc in the net, including one of the two where the losing team was limited to 2 goals. The other 3 goal game is one John Tavares had a front row seat for, as full circle as it gets, a 9-3 win for Vinc’s New York Titans on May 9, 2009 against the Bandits, a win that advanced the Titans to the finals.

35 saves for Vinc were good for a .921 save percentage. That paired with a 3.5 GAA through two games only adds to a resume that already has enough toppings on it that you can’t even see the cherry on top anymore.

The 11 blocked shots were distributed with 4 from Nick Weiss, 3 from Steve Priolo, 2 from Paul Dawson, and one apiece from Cam Wyers and Zack Belter. Top to bottom, most experienced to the youngest guys on the back-end, we saw this during the last two playoff runs as well and plenty of glimpses of it throughout the regular season even before getting to this two game playoff sample: if you still don’t believe in the Bandits defense, you’re choosing to ignore it.

Up front, Ian MacKay’s 4 goal performance was paired with a goal and 4 assists from Josh Byrne and 2 goals and an assist from Dhane Smith.

For Vancouver, Christian Del Bianco made 39 saves despite the second quarter that he would definitely like to have back. Keegan Bal had a goal and 2 assist.

Saskatchewan Rush 16 – Halifax Thunderbirds 7

An old friend did the majority of the damage for the visiting Rush, as Austin Shanks put up his second sock trick of the season, as the 2-seed’s execution in the road game of their 3 game series was almost everything they could have asked for. Zach Manns led the Rush in points with 2 goals and 7 assists. Robert Church had 2 goals and 3 assists, while captain Ryan Keenan had a goal and 4 assists. Leading 6-3 after the first, the Thunderbirds made their best push in the second quarter, but Frank Scigliano was there to save 15 of the 16 shots he faced in the frame, finishing with 41. Brock Haley scored on two penalty shots during some Corn Cob extra-curriculars in the final two minutes to add to the differential.

For the Thunderbirds, they were unable to carry their strong quarterfinal performance into the start of the semis. Randy Staats led the way with a goal and 5 assists, but his shot was snake-bitten, hitting 4 posts. While Thomas Hoggarth and Dawson Theede each scored twice, but no Thunderbird aside from Staats had more than 3 points. Drew Hutchison struggled in his second playoff start, only making 21 saves on the 32 shots he faced in 32:49. Warren Hill stopped 14 of 18 in 27:10 of relief. We’ll see if Hill gets the starting nod in Game 2 next weekend or if they will go back to Hutchison in the deciding weekend.

(Photo Credit: Caroline Sherman)