Going into Game 2 without Tom Schreiber, who was placed back on injured reserve despite a 2-goal, 2 assists, 17 SOG performance the night before, the already long odds were only further stacked against the Rock as the best-of-three series shifted to Hamilton.

And while the left side of the Rock offense found their stride in the first 15 minutes in Game 2, the Bandits had themselves another field day in the final 45 minutes.

First Quarter: Familiar First

Josh Byrne opened the scoring early one once again 89 seconds in, back-cutting to the net and finishing off a pass from Brad McCulley off a reset. The Rock was able to counter as they did last night to tie it at 1, but this time it came much more quickly as Corey Small buried the first lefty goal of the series for Toronto – although he did cross over to the right side to bury it. Buffalo broke the tie once again with 8:11 to play in the quarter as Dhane Smith buried his first goal of the series after 8 assists in Game 1. Toronto, however, tied it back up right off the ensuing faceoff as Phil Mazzuca scored his first career playoff goal 7 seconds later.

The Rock nearly made it 3-2 off the next ensuing faceoff, but Brad Kri hit the post from point blank. Another post from Stephen Keogh came a minute later, and the posts continued to mark the middle third of the opening quarter as Corey Small rang iron on the Rock’s second powerplay early on. To add insult to post hits, the Bandits got a shorthanded marker from Tehoka Nanticoke to take the lead back. The Bandits killed off the rest of the penalty, but it was the Rock who scored next as Small got his second of the quarter, getting his own offensive rebound to tie the game at 3, and that would be the score after the first 15 minutes.

Second Quarter: The Bandalanche

The powerplay woes finally came to an end with 11:20 left in the second quarter, thanks to a shot from the wing from Dan Craig, but it wouldn’t be before the Bandits could get a second shorthanded goal earlier in the penalty time, as an Ethan O’Connor blocked shot led to a 3-on-2 look that Chris Cloutier finished off for his first of the night.

Buffalo got their first-man advantage with 8:55 left in the half, as Challen Rogers cross-checked Justin Martin behind the play in an act of frustration that Mark Gardonio’s crew ruled a major penalty. The Bandits hit a couple of posts on their first possession of the extended powerplay, but Chris Cloutier picked up an offensive rebound off of a Dhane Smith post hit and first from midrange to give the Bandits the 5-4 lead. Dhane Smith capitalized from the point to give Buffalo the first two-goal lead of the night and end the man advantage, with Rogers still needing to serve the full five minutes while his team looked to fight back now at 5-on-5.

Cloutier got the hat trick a minute later picking up the feed from Josh Byrne to extend the lead to 7-4 with 6:32 left in the half. And if you didn’t yet think that the Avalanche was on, a textbook pick from Dhane Smith opened up Tehoka Nanticoke to go uncontested to the net and not only make it 8-4, but also pull Nick Rose for the second straight night. Troy Holowchuk was serenaded with Chris Cloutier’s fourth goal of the game from one step within the restraining line with 4:50 left in the half, returning Rose to the crease.

Out of the under-five media timeout, Dhane Smith fed a cutting Nanticoke to make it 10-4. Chase Fraser extended the lead by going iso on TD Ierlan and picking the corner with 4:19 left in the quarter and Rogers still in the penalty box for at least another 30 seconds. Less than five minutes had ticked off the clock for the Bandits to score a touchdown.

And just as Rogers was able to leave the floor with 3:26 to play in the half, Josh Jubenville cross-checked Brad McCulley up high for five minutes of his own, sending the Bandits back to the powerplay as they had last been when it was 6-4. Toronto killed off that first 3:26, and it was that 11-4 score that took a stunned FirstOntario Centre into the half.

Third Quarter: Rock Get Rolling Again, but Bandits Have Answers

The Rock killed off the rest of the penalty as well, and it was Jubenville scoring in transition to open the third quarter, albeit with 11:32 left in the quarter. However, Justin Robinson erased that with a transition goal of his own on a 4-on-1 Bandits break.

Dan Craig got a powerplay on a quick stick from Challen Rogers to make it 12-6, but the Bandits were able to erase that as well with Dhane Smith scoring on the 6-on-5 from a resulting delayed Rock penalty. Craig made it 13-7 on another powerplay marker with Dan Dawson feeding him as he cut to the middle of the Bandits zone with 3:43 left.

Toronto took a couple of 6-on-5 chances in a final couple of possessions of the quarter, but they were unable to capitalize, only for Air Byrne to fly in and counter the Rock’s last tally once again, and a 14-7 Bandits lead is how the third came to a close.

Fourth Quarter: Formalities

The quick hit 6-on-5s continued to open the fourth for the Rock, but it took until just before the 5-minute mark for them to get back on the board courtesy of Brandon Slade.

A penalty to TD Ierlan on the ensuing faceoff slowed the game down as the Bandits took advantage of their time with the man advantage to kill some more clock taking, the game to 8:24 left in the game. As Toronto went back to the empty net runs, the Bandits’ defense remained aggressive to keep the Rock off the scoreboard, and once again had a counter for the last Rock goal with another snipe from Chris Cloutier. Buffalo finally was able to get an empty net attempt with 7:08 left courtesy of an outlet pass from Matt Vinc to Steve Priolo, allowing the Bandits to go back to doubling up the Rock at 16-8. Cloutier finished off the sock trick in transition on a break to the net as Dhane Smith made it look like the Bandits’ offense was going to slow it out to kill more clock.

Buffalo got their second “Timeout To Pull The Goalie in a Blowout” of the playoffs with 4:02 to play, as Devlin Shanahan entered in relief after Vinc stopped 33 of the 41 shots he faced. He would stand tall and keep the Rock off the scoreboard with 6 saves, and the offense stalled out the rest of the way for a 17-8 final score, a 2-0 series win, and the first of two punched tickets to the 2023 NLL Finals.

As he did in Game 2 last year against Toronto, Josh Byrne put up double-digit points with 2 goals and 8 assists to lead the Bandits in scoring. Chris Cloutier added 2 assists to his sock trick, and Dhane Smith had 3 goals and 5 assists to match his 8 points. Tehoka Nanticoke finished with 3 goals and an assist and Kyle Buchanan had 4 assists.

For Toronto, a trio of forwards had three points to lead the way in another disappointing showing. Dan Craig had 3 goals, and Corey Small had 2 goals and an assist on the left side. Dan Dawson had 3 assists leading a righty unit that was held out of the goal column. While not certain, the broadcast closed with what sounded like uncertainty for Dawson’s future and suggested that this may have been the final game for the 41-year-old in the NLL (which we’ll probably find out more on soon enough). The Bandits’ defense limited Challen Rogers to 2 assists and Stephen Keogh and Zach Manns without a point. In another disappointing performance, Nick Rose gave up 14 goals on 48 shots on goal faced.

All Even Out West

With the Bandits clinching their 4th finals appearance in the last 6 (Non-COVID) seasons, they now wait to see which former Finals opponent they will be facing in the NLL Finals, which are slated to start Memorial Day Weekend.

And we’ll have to wait another week to learn, as the series is all even at 1.

Game 1: Colorado Mammoth 8 – Calgary Roughnecks 7

The draw coming into the West Finals was the intrigue of the matchup between two of the best defensive units in the league, anchored by Dillon Ward and Christian Del Bianco. And regardless of if it was defensive lacrosse that you wanted, it was defensive lacrosse that you got.

Calgary got out to a 2-0 lead after 1 to set the low-scoring tone, thanks to two goals from Tanner Cook. In the second, the teams alternated goals for three apiece with transition markers from Zach Currier, Jeff Cornwall, and Seth Van Schepen for Calgary, and Mammoth goals from Zed Williams, Connor Robinson, and Jordan Gilles.

The Mammoth came out of the half hot with three goals in the first five minutes with two powerplay markers from Chris Wardle and an even-strength marker from Eli McLaughlin. However, the quarter wrapped up with back-to-back goals from Dan Taylor to give the Roughnecks the 7-6 lead after three.

Things only got tighter in the fourth quarter, as over 13 minutes of gameplay was scoreless. Calgary killed off a penalty in the middle of the quarter, but after Liam LeClair took a cross-checking penalty with 7:23 to play, the PK unit could only hold on so long as Connor Robinson buried his second of the game to tie the game with 5:54 left. Shane Simpson took a holding the stick penalty that was called as the goal was called, meaning a penalty would still be served, and again, Calgary killed it off but Tanner Cook was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty outside of the play to put the Mammoth back on the powerplay, where Robinson completed the hat trick and the comeback to go ahead 8-7. And from there, both goalies did their job, meaning the Mammoth held onto their home-floor advantage before the series shifted back to Calgary for the rest of the best-of-three.

Dillon Ward’s 36 saves outdueled Christian Del Bianco’s 42, as the Mammoth outshot the Roughnecks 50-43. Connor Robinson’s 3 goals and 2 assists led the Mammoth in scoring, with 4 assists from Ryan Lee and 1 goal 2 assist performances from Zed Williams and Eli McLaughlin helping a balanced effort from the Mammoth. For Calgary, who had Tyler Pace missing from the lineup, Tanner Cook had 2 goals and an assist to share the points lead with three assists from Josh Currier.

Game 2: Calgary Roughnecks 13 – Colorado Mammoth 12

The first half of the opening quarter looked like more of the same as the series shifted back to the Saddledome for Game 2, with a scoreless first half of the first quarter broken by Connor Robinson, and Calgary got a transition goal from Shane Simpson and a powerplay goal from Jesse King before Warren Jeffrey added a transition marker of his own to tie the game at 2 after the first.

Calgary was able to take the first two-goal lead of the game with Dan Taylor’s first goal on the night and a powerplay goal from Tyler Pace in his return to the lineup, but the Mammoth got their own goal on the man advantage from Zed Williams got the Mammoth back within one, but Calgary would go into the locker room riding the wave of a transition marker from Tanner Cook about 15 seconds before the end of the half.

A back-and-forth affair broke out in the third quarter as Calgary continued to pull ahead up 3 but Colorado countered each time. After three goals apiece from each side, the Roughnecks wrapped up the third quarter scoring to go up as Zach Currier scored on a crease dive with 42 seconds left. Fireworks ensured afterward as Garrett McIntosh went after Currier for landing on Dillon Ward, resulting in ensuing offsetting penalties.

Jesse King scored to put the Roughnecks up four for the largest lead of the series 1:18 into the final frame, but then the Mammoth made their run with a string of goals over the next four minutes. Connor Robinson stung the corner on the run, only to be countered 30 seconds later by another highlight reel goal from Tanner Cook in this playoffs. Robinson got back on the board during Colorado’s next possession. Then Chris Wardle joined in on the highlight submissions, setting up behind the net and finishing off a dunk after a laser feed from Ryan Lee on the fifth shot attempt of the possession for the Mammoth.

Colorado got back within one a minute later as Wardle fed Eli McLaughlin in traffic who scored on his way to the net. The Mammoth ran came to an end after Anthony Joaquim took a cross-checking penalty with 6:58 left, which Tanner Cook capitalized on with a sweeper to beat Dillon Ward with 5:25 left. Tyler Pace added insurance with 3:21 left to put Calgary back up by 3. The Mammoth got back within 2 on their first empty net possession attempt with Brett McIntyre beating Christian Del Bianco after a series of fake passes and shots with 1:51 to play. They got the game back within 1 on their next possession thanks to Zed Williams, but that was as close as they were able to get. Del Bianco stopped the final two shots he faced and then the Roughnecks defense forced a turnover in the closing seconds to force the third game.

Jesse King led the Roughnecks with 2 goals and 6 assists, while Tyler Pace was right behind him with 3 goals and 4 assists. Tanner Cook had 3 goals as well and added an assist, and Haiden Dickson had 4 assists of his own. Meanwhile, for the Mammoth, Connor Robinson led the team with 3 goals and 4 assists, Eli McLaughlin had 2 goals and 3 assists, and Zed Williams added 3 goals and an assist. While held out of the goal column, Ryan Lee had 6 assists.

The win-or-take-all Game 3 will be Saturday Night at 9:30 pm once again from the Saddledome.

Photo Credit: NLL