Buffalo Bandits 11 – Saskatchewan Rush 10 F/OT

A fast start was what the Bandits needed to let everyone at KeyBank Center know that they did not see themselves as underdogs, and in the form of defense turned into offense, off of a forced shot clock violation to open the game, Tehoka Nanticoke came right off the bench full speed and cut hard to the net to pick up a pass from Josh Byrne and put Buffalo up 1-0 immediately. The Rush went to the box after a slash during the ensuing faceoff’s loose ball battle, and Ian MacKay scored on the powerplay, making it 2-0 1:45 into the game. Byrne got his third assist of the quarter after Kyle Buchanan flashed to the middle of the floor and scored low-to-low from midrange. While Josh Zawada swam to the net for an open lane to pick up the Rush’s first goal of the game, Clay Scanlan would get the goal back about a minute later, once again on the finishing end of Josh Byrne finding an open teammate in a marquee scoring location. Matt Hossack scored in transition to get the deficit back to two, but on the final possession of the quarter, once more, Josh Byrne sent a pass to an open Buchanan behind the net for a textbook dunk with 1.3 left to make it 5-2 after the first.

Picking up where they left off, the second opened with an offensive putback from Ian MacKay, but the Rush wiped got it back on their next touch following Ryan Keenan scoring on the run from outside and then Zach Manns scoring right away on the powerplay after Mitch de Snoo was called for everyone’s favorite shot block in the crease rule. Back on a powerplay of their own, Buffalo utilized the back of the crease again with Dhane Smith setting up a flashing Tehoka Nanticoke for an open goal. A transition tally from MacKay wrapped up the scoring in the opening half, with the Bandits holding a 7-4 lead.

After killing a penalty to close out the half, Saskatchewan opened the third quarter with some flexing of the muscles that have gotten them to 9 straight wins, taking advantage of a broken play finished off by a loose ball and outside goal from Robert Church. Another broken play during a change led to Ryan Keenan being wide open in front of the net, and the Rush captain buried the pass from Church to get it back to a two goal game. While Ian MacKay got the next goal, once again on the end of a pass from Josh Byrne, another opportune chance came for the Rush with a bobble from Austin Shanks bouncing past Matt Vinc. After a back-and-forth middle of the quarter with both Vinc and Frank Scigliano locking in, Mitch de Snoo fed an outlet pass to a sprinting Steve Priolo who picked up a huge transition tally with 2:00 left in the quarter to put the Bandits up 10-7. A chance to go up 11-7 was taken off the board on the next possession after Tehoka Nanticoke was found to have stepped in the crease before his shot rolled over the goal line.

Sometimes graphics are jinxes, other times they are omens. Two minutes after the TSN national broadcast highlighted the Rush’s 4th best 4th quarter goal differential in the league compared to Buffalo’s 3rd worst (+7 compared to -12), Ryan Keenan completed the hat trick from outside through traffic to get it back to a two goal deficit. The Rush got the first and only powerplay of the second half soon after, but four saves from Matt Vinc and a blocked shot from Mitch de Snoo kept the score 10-8 with only an eighth of regulation left to play.

The game stayed put into the final two minutes, but as the Rush went 6-on-5, another bounce ended up coming up in the favor of the road team, as a shot from Keenan went into the mesh of Vinc’s stick put rolled out and into the net. The Rush won the ensuing faceoff, but a shot from Jake Naso went wide. Steve Priolo took the rebound to the other net but had the ball wacked away by Mike Messenger. After Nick Weiss picked up the loose ball back near the center line, he passed back to Priolo, but the play was whistled down, as he was the next to touch after landing in the crease, giving the Rush the ball back with 1:08 left. Following a timeout, Keenan fed Robert Church, and Church’s outside shot beat Vinc five-hole to tie the game. Priolo forced a turnover on Keenan with 30 seconds left, but following a timeout of their own, Holden Garlent picked off a pass and sent the ball down the floor to force overtime.

Buffalo got the first opportunity of overtime, but a Clay Scanlan offering was waved off after review confirmed he landed in the crease before the ball crossed the goal line. The next marquee opportunity was from the Rush, but Matt Vinc stopped a crease dive from Zach Manns. Minutes later, Vinc kicked away a shot from Robert Church and the Frank Scigliano stopped Josh Byrne on a quick stick going post-to-post to turn it away. Now under 9 minutes to play, after another stop and Vinc’s fourth save of overtime, Byrne got the ball along the boards and ran to the KeyBank Center Logo and fired an over the top shot on the run. After distributing 7 assists and having 11 shots on goal turned away, the 12th found the back of the net, solidifying a Bandits win with 8:14 showing on the OT clock.

The Bandits were finally able to get their secondary scoring to carry a game, which is symbolic of what could be the turning point of the season back on the right track. With Josh Byrne (7) and Dhane Smith (4) combining for 11 assists, Ian MacKay picked up 4 goals, while Kyle Buchanan and Tehoka Nanticoke each had 2. Buchanan also finished the game with the third most loose balls with 11 (Mitch de Snoo and Nick Weiss each had 13).

For the Rush, Robert Church led with 2 goals and 4 assists, while Ryan Keenan had 4 goals and an assist. Frank Scigliano finished with 37 saves.

Rochester Knighthawks 13 – Saskatchewan Rush 12 F/OT

The timing worked out really well for this game script to align with the Knighthawks celebrating Red Wings Knight, with Spikes and Mittsy getting to watch a back-and-forth game that very nicely aligned with what felt like the teams getting their at-bats. The Rush did much of their damage with small ball, starting the night off with Jake Boudreau feeding Ryan Barnable in transition for the first goal of the night 3 minutes in. Saskatchewan picked up the ensuing faceoff and scored again after a pick-and-roll from Levi Anderson to Zach Manns. The Rush went back-to-back-to-back (I’m taking all of the opportunities for baseball here, okay? It’s March now let me have this…) after Ryan Keenan beat his former teammate Jeremy Thompson for a drive to the net to make it 3-0 in the span of 49 seconds.

With Rylan Hartley on the bench to give the defense a wake up call, it was time for the Knighthawks offense to go to bat (again, I’m making lemonade here leave me alone). Rochester picked up the ensuing faceoff and got an open run to the net of their own, but Graydon Hogg’s look hit the post. Fortunately, Zed Williams was there for the rebound and the putback to get Rochester on the board. After Matt Gilray blocked a shot on one end, Chat Tutton picked up a loose ball and sent a pass up to Matt Gilray who swept a midrange shot through the wickets of Thomas Kiazyk to make it a one goal game. A wide Rush shot led to another Rochester possession that was finished off with a shot through a screen from Ryan Smith to tie the game at 3.

Back to the Rush, Zach Manns was the next to break through with his second goal of the night before Levi Anderson broke through himself from outside. Back to the plate after the under 5 timeout, a Knighthawks stop led gave the offense the ball back, and after Dan Coates dropped the ball off to Zed Williams who was met with a double team from Jake Boudreau and Adam Jay. Zedzilla vindicated his nickname once again breaking out of the double, spinning past Boudreau along the boards, and then bursting past Jay again and then getting to the net amidst all five defenders and scoring. On the next possession, Ryan Lanchbury fed Ryan Smith cutting to the net and he beat Kiazyk over the shoulder to once again tie the game.

Rochester had the first powerplay of the game, but the Rush once again let the small ball do the talking to the tune of a Jake Boudreau breakaway goal with 12 seconds left in the quarter, and then on the other side of the break, Matt Hossack picked up the ball off the opening faceoff and extended the lead back up to two with a pair of short handed goals. Back at 5-on-5, the Knighthawks at bats saw Kyle Waters step into an uncontested shot from deep followed by Ryan Lanchbury sending an East-West pass to a back-door cutting Thomas McConvey to, once again, even up the game. After another Rush penalty killed off in the middle of the frame and Brock Haley gave the Rush the lead back, another Knighthawks powerplay finished off in the fortune of Saskatchewan, with Ryan Barnable blocking a point shot from Ryan Smith directly into the head of his stick and holding a stick check from Smith off in transition to score another shorthanded goal. This powerplay, however, ended evened out, as Lanchbury set up Zed Williams behind the net for a dunk in the final seconds of the minor penalty, setting the score 9-8 Rush at the half.

Connor Fields ensured that the back-and-forth continued into the second half with the game-tying marker after a flurry of shots on their first possession including a loud post hit from Thomas McConvey, but the Rush also held up their end of the back part of the -and-forth. While it did take another 6+ minutes to get there, Levi Anderson scored on an iso drive off the post and in. With a minute left in the quarter, Robert Church scored on the powerplay, but a Rush penalty soon after led to another dunk from Zed Williams, this time over the crossbar to once again make it a one goal game that, after the seventh inning stretch (please don’t boo me they played Take Me Out To The Ballgame between quarters), turned back into a tie game off the stick of Fields.

Unfortunately for the Knighthawks, the Rush got back on the board in the Top of the 8th with a dunk from Brock Haley. But instead of a two run inning, Zed got it back in the bottom of the frame with 9:56 left on the clock. The back of the bullpen did their job in the 9th and forced the game into extra innings (it’s almost over I promise), with a Matt Hossack offering being blocked by Taylor Jensen to end regulation.

Jensen nearly went from hero to zero in the first sequence of the extra frame, being called for a major cross-check, but the automatic major penalty review revealed that he was stick-to-stick with Jake Boudreau and did not make head contact, rescinding the penalty. On both sides of the whistle, overtime started with two saves from Rylan Hartley on Mike Messenger in transition. After a close call that was revealed to have been a Robert Church shot well after the shot clock expired, the game continued on with the Rush’s defense picking up turnovers on each of the Knighthawks first three possessions. Outside of a big save in front on Thomas McConvey by his namesake Kiazyk, neither team was able to get much closer than midrange for any of their shots as overtime progressed. But after another forced turnover by the Rush, they were the victims of a transition turnover of their own, with a Bobby Kidd III outlet pass being contested by on ball defense from Connor Fields and extra pressure on the receiving end of the pass from Jake Piseno, followed by a loose ball pickup from Ryan Lanchbury. In Smith Family Basement fashion, Lanchbury crossed the middle of the floor and saw Ryan Smith uncontested, ripped him a pass, and the alternate captain did the rest, tucking one behind the shoulder of Kiazyk to secure the win.

It was Zed Williams’s career-high 5 goals making a major difference and providing the pacing to ensure that the game did not get away from them. On the distribution side, Ryan Lanchbury added another 8 assists, as he now has 47 on the season through 10 games. Connor Fields finished with 2 goals and 4 assists, while Ryan Smith’s final stat line read 3 goals and 2 assists. After the shaky first quarter, Rylan Hartley made 45 saves, including 6 in overtime.

Hartley’s opposition between the pipes, Thomas Kiazyk, was also great despite giving up 13 goals, as he finished with 52 saves, including 32 in the middle quarters. Zach Manns led the offense with 2 goals and 4 assists, while Levi Anderson, Ryan Barnable, and Brock Haley also had 2 goals.

Buffalo Bandits 14 – Toronto Rock 9

After a night of Dhane and Josh sharing the rock, it was time for them to take their turn putting the ball in the net. Smith’s goals came in the form of a second quarter natural hat trick to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead. The game maintained its back-and-forth into the third, when with the game tied at 7, Ryan Benesch scored his second goal of the game to give the Bandits the lead before Byrne picked up two straight goals, giving Buffalo the first three goal lead of the game. Mark Matthews scored to break up the run, but Matt Spanger scored in transition halfway through the quarter before Byrne finished the hat trick and Nick Weiss extended the lead to 5 32 seconds later. Weiss would also add an empty netter to push the score to 14-9, which would serve as the final score.

The hat tricks from Smith and Byrne were further boosted by 9 total assists. Matt Vinc got his second straight win on the weekend with another 46 saves, including 30 in the first half. On the other side, Toronto got 4 goals and 3 assists from Mark Matthews and 2 goals and 2 assists from Owen Hiltz.

Alright let’s move on to the other 7 games.

Georgia Swarm 11 – Philadelphia Wings 6

41 saves from Brett Dobson continued his tear between the pipes this season as the home-and-home started in the favor of the road team. Four Swarm forwards had 4 points – Nolan Byrne, Shayne Jackson, Kaleb Benedict, and Lyle Thompson. Brennan O’Neill had a goal and 3 assists while Eric Fannell was the lone Wing with multiple goals. Nick Damude also had 41 saves despite the loss.

Colorado Mammoth 14 – San Diego Seals 12

The Seals got out to a 5-0 lead through 8:37 of play, but it’s not a Colorado Mammoth season without at least one game where they storm back with the power of friendship and Baby Shark and treat the 10k at Ball Arena to a comeback win, put away with a go-ahead goal from Andrew Kew in the final 4 minutes. Kew was the high goal scorer for the Mammoth with 4 goals and 2 assists. Jack Hannah had 3 goals and 3 assists. In relief of Dillon Ward, Nate Whittom played the role formerly played by Tyler Carlson and got his first career win in the comeback, stopping 25 of 29 shots on goal. Wes Berg led the Seals with 2 goals and 5 assists, while each of Connor Robinson and Tre Leclaire each had 2 goals and 3 assists.

Vancouver Warriors 14 – Las Vegas Desert Dogs 10

The Warriors steadily got out in front of the Desert Dogs on their way to a 12-5 lead that they held onto despite a 4 goal run in the fourth from the home Dogs. Keegan Bal had another 4 goals and 5 assists to lead the Warriors, with Jesse King adding 2 goals and 4 assists and Christian Del Bianco making 41 saves in the win. Vegas was led by 3 goals and 3 assists from Adam Poitras and 2 goals and 4 assists from Jonathan Donville.

Ottawa Black Bears 14 – Oshawa FireWolves 13 F/OT

It was certainly looking rough for the home Black Bears after 3 quarters, where they trailed 10-5, but the best fourth quarter team in the NLL had their magnum opus. Trailing 13-9 with 4:30 to play, Sam Firth then scored with the net empty with 1:50 to play. 54 seconds later, Rob Hellyer did the same. 20 seconds later, Reilly O’Connor scored as well, and just like that it was a one goal game…for only 20 more seconds, as a sharp angle quick stick from Connor Kearnan forced overtime, where O’Connor scored after 1:55 to complete the comeback. 10 goals in the final 18:22 gave Ottawa their 7th win of the season in the most dramatic fashion of the season and third win in a row. Three of Jeff Teat’s 4 assists in the game came in that final extra attacking stretch. Kearnan matched Teat’s goal and 4 assists on the night. Leading the way in points were O’Connor with 4 goals and 2 assists and Hellyer with 2 goals and 4 assists. Dyson Williams had a goal and 4 assists as well to lead Oshawa, and Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz each had 3 goals and an assist.

Philadelphia Wings 9 – Georgia Swarm 5

40 saves from Brett Dobson continued his tear between the pipes this season as the home-and-home finished in the favor of the…road team…again? Yes, Nick Damude’d 48 saves on 53 shots face led the Wings to a 9-5 win that featured a second half shutout. With Joe Resetarits and Michael Sowers out, Dalton Young returned to the Wings lineup and led the way with 3 goals and 2 assists. Blaze Riorden and Eric Fannell each had 2 goals and 2 assists. Nolan Byrne had 3 of the 5 goals for Georgia.

Halifax Thunderbirds 14 – Calgary Roughnecks 10

A five goal third quarter run for the Thunderbirds pushed them ahead of the Roughnecks to keep their season alive with a road win in Calgary, led by 5 goals and 2 assists from Clarke Petterson. Randy Staats added 3 goals and 3 assists, while Cody Jamieson had 6 assists and Warren Hill made 48 saves in the win. Brayden Mayea had 2 goals and 3 assists, including a goal of the year candidate. Tanner Cook matched that leading slash line, while Noah Manning also scored twice.

Vancouver Warriors 9 – San Diego Seals 7

Vancouver locked things down the fourth quarter, led by Christian Del Bianco making 12 of his 44 saves on 13 shots faced in the final frame, as their offense scored five of the final 6 goals of the game to claw towards the lead and then hold on in the end. Keegan Bal led with 2 goals and 2 assists, while each of Curtis Dickson, Adam Charalambides, and Steph Charbonneau each had 2 goals and an assist. Wes Berg led the Seals offense with 2 goals and an assist.

Week 15 Preview

The Bandits are off this week, while the Knighthawks have a Super Sunday Funday ahead. The trade deadline is right around the corner.

Toronto Rock (6-5) @ Vancouver Warriors (9-3) – Friday March 6, 10:00 pm TSN

Last season, the Warriors won their first two games against Toronto since their move back downtown in 2018-19. Getting another win this week would all but clinch their spot in the playoffs with plenty of schedule left to play to establish their seeding.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (4-6) @ Halifax Thunderbirds (4-7) – Saturday March 7, 6:00 pm

While the loser of this game’s season won’t come to an end, it could be the final straw for whether or not the teams buy or sell this week. The Thunderbirds have won both all-time matchups.

Ottawa Black Bears (7-5) @ Colorado Mammoth (9-3) – Saturday March 7, 9:00 pm

Ottawa’s 3 game win streak has a big challenge ahead as the Mammoth stand in their way. The Black Bears are making their first trip to Denver after last season’s game took place in Ottawa. The lone Ottawa Rebel matchup with the Mammoth was also in Ottawa. Interestingly, the Riptide only played this matchup in Denver (across 2 games).

Calgary Roughnecks (2-9) @ Rochester Knighthawks (5-5) – Sunday March 8, 1:00 pm

The Knighthawks will be donning Spiderman-themed unis for their first theme jersey of the season (their last two games of the season will also be themed) and welcoming the Roughnecks to town looking to get back above .500. While they will be playing behind in games played until the final weekend with the schedule-closing back-to-back, they would jump the Bandits again in win percentage.

Oshawa FireWolves (2-10) @ Philadelphia Wings (3-9) – Sunday March 8, 3:00 pm

The Sunday slate’s second game sees the Wings take on the FireWolves, who defeated them in both matchups last season.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)