You are here
Home > Buffalo Bandits >

NLL Finals Game 3 Recap: How The Mammoth Stole Christmas

by Eddy Tabone - 0

Here we are a handful of days removed from the Colorado Mammoth, for the second time in their franchise’s history, snatching away a championship trophy from a heavily-favored Buffalo Bandits squad in the third and decisive game of their NLL Finals series.

I wasn’t able to watch live, so the first place I had to look was the game sheet. Buffalo had two dominant shot quarters to start and end the game and the middle quarters were fairly even. 96 total shots for the Bandits only resulted in 8 goals, and seeing that initially was almost deflating from a Bandits perspective. After getting goalie-d in 2019 by Christian Del Bianco and the Calgary Roughnecks in Game 1 before losing in OT in Game 2, a 55-save performance from Dillon Ward sealing the series almost felt a tad familiar.

Ward won series MVP, and that feels right especially when considering the Mammoth’s second half in Game 2 on top of the Game 3 stat line, so this feels like we’re going down a road to once again conclude that the Bandits offense got goalie-d again when all was said and done, but since we have time on our hands now and I can watch the game at whatever speed is necessary, let’s look closely to see how we got here.

Quarter 1

[Time to plug my lacrosse tweets again while I’m here because I threaded my reactions while watching the game back]

Colorado was able to score first for the third time in the series thanks to Zed Williams for the second straight game in the first minute. With it being the Mammoth’s first possession, it put the Bandits behind before their offense had a touch. The first quarter has been opportune for the Bandits all season to go out and put their opponents in a hole, but that initial goal from the Mammoth in each game.  

Outside of a pair of bouncers 19 seconds apart from Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne (In what ended up being each of their only goals of the game), the Bandits set offense wasn’t able to generate too many quality looks in their 12 shots on goal for the quarter. The third goal came in transition around the halfway point of the quarter thanks to Ian MacKay burying a rebound off an initial shot from Ethan O’Connor. The game plan in the first 15 appeared to be to set up outside shots off of pick-and-rolls on the other side of the floor, but when that wasn’t available, they appeared to settle on a handful of first-quarter possessions with self-created outside looks. 

After that, the first quarter story was the Bandits’ defense, which throttled the Mammoth and held them to only 5 shots on goal. But once again, Zed Williams was able to add a pair of goals to metaphorically say “Not so fast” to counter the Bandits 3 goals in the first, which in the end was their highest-scoring quarter of the game. 

Quarter 2

Colorado finishes the quarter out-scoring the Bandits 5-2, starting with two really quick punches from Brett McIntyre and the first career goal for Sam Firth in the first minute. The Bandits were able to get their best scoring chance of the game to that point as Dhane Smith drove the net, but it was called off for a crease violation. Fortunately, they were able to tie the game back up at 4 on the ensuing possession.

There was nothing flukey about this Mammoth-dominated quarter; they were getting to the net with ease throughout and the Bandits, while able to keep pace in the shot column, couldn’t manage to generate the same consistency of shot quality, although their best opportunity of the quarter was called back (undeservedly?) after the Mammoth had a successful challenge of a Nick Weiss transition goal with 10:51 left in the quarter. Kyle Buchanan was able to bury each of the Bandits’ goals in the quarter, not surprisingly on two net-front opportunities.

As tough as it is to be emphatic about it in a quarter with 5 goals allowed, I don’t think Matt Vinc had a bad quarter. After a very good first quarter, the defense was exposed in the second.

Quarter 3

The scoring matched the play in the third: Both goalies showed why they are finalists for Goaltender of the Year this season. The Bandits’ offense finally was getting some consistent good looks, but Ward continued to make save after save. Chris Cloutier was able to score the lone goal of the quarter on a powerplay opportunity around the 10-minute mark of the quarter.

Quarter 4

It didn’t start poorly, as Connor Fields was able to score on a quick stick pass from Dhane Smith to tie the game, but as was the theme of the series, Zed Williams continued to ensure that no strings of good Bandits offense would go unanswered, netting his third of the game to give the Mammoth the lead back.

And then it only took a couple more minutes for Chris Wardle to take an open lane to the net to give the Mammoth another two-goal lead, with only 9:29 to go.

Buffalo got themselves plenty of good looks on the powerplay that started about a minute later with extended possession time for the majority of the two minutes, but Ward continued to be a wall and the looks went to the wayside, and as the clock wound down, it was more of the same: Ward made 5 more saves to get his total to 55, and outside of Kyle Buchanan picking up the hat trick with 7 seconds to play, the run was over: Colorado was going to be lifting the NLL Finals trophy, with a fourth goal from Zed Williams after taking the Bandits 5 on 6 defense solo for the empty netter with 25.7 to play. 10-8 is the final score. A 63-47 shot on goal margin and 96-72 on total shot attempts was not enough for the Bandits was all said and done. 

Now way past the 24-hour rule, it doesn’t necessarily feel like any clichés played out in the loss. They didn’t take the Mammoth lightly or anything like that, nor were they overconfident in themselves from what it seemed from afar. They simply got lost 2 games before they could win 2 games, and that’s sports sometimes.

Now What?

Especially with the NLL’s place in the sports landscape, there isn’t much margin for error for franchise success without having championships to show for it. Buffalo has now played in 3 of the last 5 championship games and lost all three, each in their own devastating flavor. When you’re that dominant for a whole winter and spring only for it to not lead to raising a trophy in June, it’s as empty a feeling as any. But at the same time, when you’re that dominant for a whole winter and spring, all you can do is run it back, and that’s exactly what they’ll be able to do. Outside of a likely forward casualty to the Vegas Desert Dogs in the July 7 expansion draft, the core is going to be back next year – a year better. Dhane Smith has only just entered his 30s this year in a league where elite players can consistently finish more than half the decade on the top of their game. Josh Byrne, Chris Cloutier, and Connor Fields are all still in their mid-to-late 20s. Tehoka Nanticoke doesn’t turn 25 until January and may still be nowhere near his NLL potential. A team led by its offense will still be able to come in next year and be atop the league on that side of the ball.

Defensively is where it gets trickier, but even then, while Kevin Brownell and Steve Priolo find themselves getting older, the rest of their core is still under 30 as well. Steve Dietrich will have the 13th and 15th picks in the draft to play with to either draft some more D/T depth or possibly package them for a separate stud on that side of the floor. It’s a lot easier to hunt for talent near the top of the mountain. Of course, Matt Vinc turned 40 amidst this series. While he’s near the hundredth percentile for fitness amongst 40-year-olds and still was dominant in his age 39 season during which he was a finalist for both Goaltender of the Year (Frontrunner to win it) and MVP (May finish only behind his own teammate for this award in Dhane Smith), the championship-or-bust years of this core will only last as long as his extended prime lasts. That’s less about Vinc himself and more about how each upcoming season, while he’s still at the top of his game, becomes more crucial for a championship or, well, bust. 

It won’t be easy, just as it wasn’t this year, but even with Toronto still being neck and neck with them at the top of the East, Halifax likely to make some more contender moves in the offseason, the logjam of Albany, Philadelphia, and Georgia right behind them, and New York and Rochester with another draft year to add to their young cores reaching closer to their potential, the job will never get easier, only different. And that doesn’t consider whoever comes out of the West in these hypothetical seasons where they would make it back to the finals. 

So as an outlook, one more time, this week sucks. The rest of the offseason will probably suck too. The regular season may be stressful in its own way with pressure to ensure that the team is in contention for another Championship appearance, but the fact of the matter is, all they can do now is run it back.

Photo Credit: NLL
Top