Buffalo Bandits 8 – Saskatchewan Rush 7

While Buffalo struck first courtesy of a transition marker from Steve Priolo, after rebounding a shot stopped on Ian MacKay, the Rush would get it back with Robert Church living up to his Bar Down Bobby nickname with stinger into the right corner of the net. Halfway through the quarter, Zach Manns finished off a partial transition goal to give the Rush the lead, with the 2-1 score holding into the quarter break. Goals in quick succession by Josh Zawada and Clark Walter extended the Rush’s lead to 4-1. After Clay Scanlan and Ryan Keenan exchanged goals in the middle of the quarter, Josh Byrne stepped into an outside shot to get on the board and shrink the deficit to 5-3 at the half. There were a total of 20 shots in the third quarters between the two teams. Matt Vinc made 9 saves, while Frank Scigliano made 10. However, Ian MacKay did prevent a 0-0 quarter with a goal with 1:23 left in the quarter to once again make it a one goal game, setting up another tight fourth quarter that was…unique.

Steve Priolo was called for a holding penalty in the closing seconds of the third, meaning the Rush would start the fourth on the powerplay. A pass from Ryan Keenan to Robert Church led to a quick stick blocked from Paul Dawson, but because his pivot back towards Church placed him in the crease, he would be headed to the box as well. While crew chief Mark Gardonio was announcing the penalty, Dawson muttered one too many opinions on the call, and he got T’d up for another 2 minute penalty. While the Rush didn’t score during the 5-on-3, it meant the Rush would have a double-minor length powerplay after Priolo was released from the box. Austin Shanks and Robert Church scored to increase the Saskatchewan lead back up to 7-4.

But like the week before, the Bandits would get a second wind in the fourth quarter, starting with a dunk from Kyle Buchanan on a delayed Rush penalty just before the expiration of the shot clock. After the under 10 timeout, Buffalo got the ball back and got a goal through traffic from Dhane Smith to cut the deficit to 1. With less than 3 to play, Josh Bryne would get his second of the game from nearly the same spot on the floor to tie the game. After a pair of turnovers on each side, the Bandits defense forced a shot that would sail wide and be rebounded by Mitch de Snoo. Back the other way, Smith would beat his man and flip a pass to Joe Resetarits who caught it on a backend and dove in to score five-hole and give the Bandits their first lead since 1-0 with 45.3 seconds to play.

The Rush won the ensuing faceoff and called timeout. With play resumed, a midrange offering from Ryan Keenan was stopped by Matt Vinc cleanly, leading to the Bandits to calling their own timeout with 25.4 to play. As the players were heading back to the bench, Derek Keenan got the attention of the officials and requested an equipment measurement. These aren’t totally out of the ordinary in the league but only happen a handful of times every few years, and the ones they do have are usually for goaltender equipment. This time however, it was the stick of Paul Dawson. While the refs initially didn’t see an issue with the stick, appearing to measure the depth of the pocket of the stick head before handing the stick back to Dawson and starting a lot of strongly worded backs and forths from the benches. But the Rush clarified they wanted a length measurement not pocket. The officials reconvened, measured, and determined the stick was indeed illegal. Dawson headed back to the box and the Rush would have a powerplay for their final possession instead of Buffalo getting the ball after the timeout.

Zach Manns shot wide with 13 seconds to play and Cam Wyers picked the rebound up. He would roll the ball down the floor as precious seconds ticked down. Nick Weiss picked the ball up off the far boards and (after the horn sounded) put the ball into the empty net and then ran down the floor to congratulate his goaltender but not without jawing the Rush bench the entire way to see if they wanted to check his stick too.

The words continued from multiple players towards the Rush coaching staff during the handshake line, but regardless, the Bandits had their fifth win in a row and a sweep of the Rush in the finals rematches to leap up to 9-6.

After the initial goal from Steve Priolo, Josh Byrne scored or assisted on each of the game’s remaining goals, finishing with 2 goals and 5 assists. Matt Vinc got the win with 43 saves. Dawson and his spotlighted stick picked up 10 loose balls and blocked 3 shots, and Cam Wyers added another 5 of Buffalo’s 12 soaks on the night. For the Rush, Robert Church scored twice and Zach Manns had a goal and 3 assists.

Rochester Knighthawks 18 – Oshawa FireWolves 11

A powerplay goal from Thomas McConvey with five seconds left in the first quarter gave Rochester a 6-5 lead at the half. After the FireWolves scored 4 of the next 5 goals to go up 9-7, the game shifted back in the favor of the Knighthawks, who never looked back from there. On the possession after the 9th Oshawa goal, McConvey finished off a pick-and-roll with Connor Fields to get the deficit back to one, and then two minutes later, Ryan Smith finished off a third quarter hat trick with goals in tight on back-to-back possessions. After forcing a transition shot to go wide off the faceoff, the Rochester offense got the ball back and got another goal, courtesy of Ryan Lanchbury.

In the fourth, Jackson Nishimura scored 36 seconds in to make it 11-10, but it was all Rochester the rest of the way. Kyle Waters scored after being left alone in front of the net to go back up 2, and then minutes later, the number one overall pick in the 2022 draft placed a dagger stamp on the game. Thomas McConvey rebounded a Connor Fields miss in tight with 8:46 to play. After another faceoff win, McConvey scored again from midrange, and then after Riley Hutchcraft made a pair of saves on the other end, it was another rebound putback from McConvey to finish off the natural hat trick and his fifth of the game before Ryan Smith extended the lead to 6 from outside for his fourth of the game. After Dawson Theede scored with the extra attacker with the game at 4-on-4, Lanchbury fed Smith in tight for his fifth, and then McConvey would finish off the sock trick on a crease dive with 1:45 left to give the Knighthawks an 18-11 win to start their 4 game road trip.

On the other end of McConvey’s 6 goals and 2 assists and Ryan Smith’s 5 goals and 3 assists, Connor Fields and Ryan Lanchbury each had 9 assists, with Fields scoring twice and Lanchbury once. Everything came together for Rochester’s offensive core for the first time in awhile. They have a lot of work to do on the aforementioned road trip to to get into the Top 8, only owning the tiebreaker against the teams currently in their grouping around the playoff bubble with the Seals, as current playoff teams Toronto, Ottawa, and Las Vegas have head-to-head advantages over them. Riley Hutchcraft got the win with 40 saves, including 16 in the fourth quarter.

For Oshawa, Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz each had 5 assists, while each of Dawson Theede, Taggart Clark, and Ryan Benesch scored twice.

Georgia Swarm 12 – Ottawa Black Bears 9

A 7-0 run from the Swarm to end the second quarter into the third proved to be the difference, as Georgia flexed their defensive muscles in the second half and got a balanced attack on offense to get a road win for their 10th of the season, led by 2 goals and 4 assists from Lyle Thompson. Brett Dobson made 28 of his 42 saves in the second half. Rob Hellyer had 3 goals and 3 assists despite the loss for Ottawa, who dropped to 8-8.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 10 – Calgary Roughnecks 9

The Roughnecks made a strong push in the final 3 minutes to turn a 9-5 deficit into a tie game with 4 6-on-5 goals in that span, but Jonathan Donville scored the overtime winner to ensure the Desert Dogs got the win and improved to .500 with a 10-9 win. Chris Cloutier led Vegas with 3 goals and 3 assists, while Mitch Jones had a goal and 4 assists. Tyler Pace scored once and distributed 6 assists to lead the Roughnecks, who also got 3 goals and 3 assists from Tanner Cook and 2 goals and 4 assists from Brayden Mayea.

Halifax Thunderbirds 8 – Philadelphia Wings 6

Goaltending was the story of Friday Night in Philadelphia, as Warren Hill’s 43 saves outdueled Deacon Knott’s 40 and the Thunderbirds got a crucial road win to avoid their 10th loss. Mike Robinson, Austin Blumbergs, and Brendan Bomberry each had 2 goals for Halifax; Sam LeClair and Lukas Nielsen had 2 each of the Wings.

Philadelphia Wings 12 – Toronto Rock 9

The homestand ended positively for the Wings as they bounced back on Sunday and got a 12-9 win over the Rock, led by 2 goals and 7 assists from Brennan O’Neill. Lukas Nielsen added a hat trick, while Nick Damude made 41 saves in the win. Owen Hiltz and Josh Dawick each had 3 goals and an assist, while Mark Matthews had 4 assists and CJ Kirst had a goal and 3 assists. Troy Holowchuk got the start and made 38 saves despite the loss. The result meant the Bandits jumped the Rock to the 5th seed with the head-to-head tiebreaker.

While the weekend ended with a plus, the next day saw a vibe shift.

On Monday, Comcast Spectacor announced that they will relinquish control of the Philadelphia Wings at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season.

The NLL will look for a new ownership group that will likely relocate the team outside of Philadelphia. If they are unable to do that, the organization will be at risk of folding.

We will revisit this in the offseason when either of those conclusions come to fruition, but for now, the Wings are off this weekend, have their final home game at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 11 against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs and then end the season on the 18th in Vancouver.

Edmonton and Laval once again find themselves as rumored relocation destinations. Closer to home, Trenton and Lehigh Valley were also mentioned.

Week 19 Preview

Vancouver Warriors (11-4) @ Buffalo Bandits (9-6) – Saturday April 4, 7:00 pm

Vancouver’s 11-9 win over Buffalo on February 20 was the last time the Bandits lost a game. A season split would not only mean the Bandits have all but clinched their spot in the playoffs, but also put them one game back of the currently first place Warriors.

Rochester Knighthawks (6-8) @ Halifax Thunderbirds (6-9) – Saturday April 4, 6:00 pm

Both teams are running out of opportunities for wins, meaning it’s a crucial game to win for both teams to have any shot in their remaining games. The road team won both matchups last season. This is the lone matchup between the Knighthawks and those who formerly bore their name.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs (7-7) @ Colorado Mammoth (10-5) – Friday April 3, 9:00 pm

The Desert Dogs have taken care of business in their last three, but they now face their toughest opponent since February in the Colorado Mammoth, who defeated them 13-12 on February 13.

San Diego Seals (6-8) @ Toronto Rock (9-6) – Saturday April 4, 7:00 pm

On the precipice of a playoff clinch, the Rock aim for the season sweep of the Seals back home for the second leg of their season series, the first matchup having been a 12-7 Toronto win on January 9.

Oshawa FireWolves (4-11) @ Calgary Roughnecks (4-11) – Saturday April 4, 9:00 pm

Certainly there are other stakes in the result of this one, but the teams on the turf certainly won’t care about those stakes and will be doing whatever they can to get back in the win column. Calgary won both all-time matchups with the FireWolves while they were in Albany.

(Photo Credits: National Lacrosse League)