(Title photo credit: National Lacrosse League)

Buffalo Bandits 14 – Calgary Roughnecks 7

The Bandits gave the sold out KeyBank Center crowd a show, and Banditland didn’t have to wait too long for said show to begin. Despite Connor Farrell taking a boarding penalty off the opening faceoff, Buffalo struck first with a Chase Fraser runner from outside while shorthanded. The penalty was killed off, as were another penalty to each side throughout the first 12 minutes of the first quarter. Some rough stuff sent Buffalo back to the powerplay with 2:41 left in the quarter, where Tehoka Nanticoke finished a quick stick from Josh Byrne. After another faceoff win, Dhane Smith got an open chance in front but rang the crossbar. Fortunately for them, however, Kyle Buchanan was able to capitalize after the reset to make it 3-0. Then with 42.6 seconds left, Josh Byrne scored from outside, and the Bandits took a 4-0 lead into the second quarter.

Quarter two opened up with another Bandits goal, this time with Dhane Smith feeding Kyle Buchanan for his second of the game. Two penalties gave Calgary controlled possession time for the chance to get on the board, and they did on the second of those two powerplays, with Tyler Pace going behind the back in front with 7:00 left in the opening half. A Jesse King holding the stick penalty put Buffalo back on the powerplay a minute later, where Chase Fraser scored his second of the game. Some unsettled play led to Chris Cloutier getting in on the scoring to make it 7-1, leading to Steve Fryer replacing Christian Del Bianco in net for Calgary. Fryer, who had only played 16 seconds to this point in the season, got to see his team score their second goal of the game on their next possession courtesy of Tanner Cook. But with Del Bianco back in right away, a faceoff win for the Bandits led to Connor Farrell feeding Steve Priolo for the transition tally. Once again in the final 45 seconds, Buffalo had room for one more goal in the frame, as Tehoka Nanticoke returned the favor for his quick stick goal earlier in the game, this time feeding Byrne for his second goal of the game and an 8-2 halftime lead for the Bandits.

The run continued into the third quarter for Buffalo with Chris Cloutier’s second 2:13 into the new half. And then Harrison Matsuoka draped all over him behind the net, Chase Fraser ran out in front and wrapped a one arm backhand shot around Matsuoka to finish off the hat trick and make it 11-2. Calgary picked up their first run of the game from there, with three straight goals from Haiden Dickson, Dan Taylor, and Tyler Pace, cutting the deficit to 11-5.

But Buffalo remained persistent, as Chris Cloutier swept his third goal of the game in the first minute of the final stanza to end the Calgary run. A powerplay goal from Jesse King put the Roughnecks back in the goal column, but Dhane Smith scored on the next Buffalo possession to get the 7 goal lead back. This exchange of goals would happen one more time, as Josh Currier put a jump shot over Matt Vinc’s shoulder with 5:21 left. Then on the next possession, Chase Fraser added another goal of the year nominee to the reel, playing a give and go with Josh Byrne, who sent a behind the back pass to Fraser in front, who went behind the back across his body to make it 14-7, which would finish as the final score. The 10th win assured the Bandits that they would return to the playoffs for the 4th straight season.

Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne once again led the way for the Bandits with 7 points each, a goal and 6 assists for Smith and 2 goals and 5 assists for Byrne. Chase Fraser’s 4 goals was his most since January, and 3 goals and an assist from Chris Cloutier and 2 goals and 2 assists from Kyle Buchanan joined Fraser with 4 points. Matt Vinc got the win with 43 saves. Two goals and 2 assists for Tyler Pace and a goal and 3 assists for Jesse King led Calgary, who after the rest of the week played out were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Toronto Rock 13 – Rochester Knighthawks 6

When it was announced that Thomas McConvey and Curtis Knight would miss the Saturday Night showdown with the Rock, there were certainly concerns about how the Knighthawks offense would be able respond against the Rock’s league leading defense. And Toronto was out to continue to assert that they are the favorites heading into the playoffs.

Off an early shot clock violation the Rock got the first scoring chance of the game, where Challen Rogers buried from midrange. A Chris Boushy roll and a feed from Rogers made it 2-0, and then Corey Small got on the board for the first time in the game off the ensuing faceoff to quickly continue to extend the lead with 6:40 left in the quarter. Rylan Hartley subbed in for Riley Hutchcraft for the quick breather but the Rock were still able to add to their lead as Rogers took advantage of an isolation look and took it to the net to make it 4-0. Rochester was able to get their first sustained possession time off of a powerplay late in the quarter where Connor Fields got in close for the goal. With the game at four-on-four in the closing seconds, Fields looked to the front of the net for a rolling Dan Lomas who was on the verge of a point blank look, but the play was called off with an illegal screen call on Lomas. Toronto got one final transition possession as a result, where Mitch de Snoo was stopped on an initial shot, but Justin Martin was left uncontested for the rebound in front to beat Hutchcraft to make it 5-1 Toronto, with shots on goal 20-7 in favor of the Rock.

Early fireworks in the second quarter put additional penalties on the board to continue the 4-on-4 play, and then with the Knighthawks getting the ball back, Tyler Biles went out for an O shift to challenge Billy Hostrowser to a fight to spark the bench, but Hostrowser stood his ground and drew not only a cross check on Biles but also an extra two for unsportsmanlike conduct. Mark Matthews joined in on the scoring on the second shot of the 4-on-3 and then after another faceoff win from TD Ierlan, Challen Rogers fed Corey Small on a cross-crease quick stick for another tally. Soon after 5-on-5 play resumed, Chris Boushy scored again to make it 8-1. Just as play began to settle back in, Brad Gilles went to the box for a five minute cross checking penalty, and more sustained offense for the Rock led to Small’s third of the half. An illegal body checking penalty on Austin Hasen with 7:03 to play in the half gave the Rock a two man advantage, and Boushy added a first half hat trick of his own. By the time even strength play resumed with about four and a half minutes to play in the half, the Rock’s shot differential had made its way to 33-10 to pair with their 10-1 lead. Shots finished the first half at 39-12 for Toronto.

Rylan Hartley played out the second half and helped the Knighthawks defense to settle in, but the offense continued to struggle even with sustained possession time early in the third quarter. The Knighthawks went up 5-on-3 but did not capitalize, and both penalties ended up wiped out with Knighthawk penalties, as Ryan Smith went to the box as his attempt to knock a rebound free from Nick Rose’s stick was ruled a check in the crease, and then Mitch Ogilvie too a slash. While all of the penalties expired without a goal on either side, half the quarter had gone by without five on five opportunities.

With a delayed penalty, Ryan Lanchbury set up Dan Lomas for a highlight real no look shovel shot to beat Nick Rose and make it 10-4 with 10:32 to play, and Ethan O’Connor scored in transition about a minute later, but Rochester would get no closer than 5 the rest of the way. Tom Schreiber and Brad Gillies traded goals in the middle of the quarter before Brad Kri put in an empty netter and Chris Boushy added one final tally in transition off the ensuing faceoff. Toronto picked up the 13-6 win and pushed their record up to 14-3.

Connor Fields’s goal and 2 assists and Ryan Lanchbury’s 3 assists were the lone 3 point getters for the Knighthawks. Ryan Smith and Kyle Waters both had a goal and an assist, and 5 Knighthawks finished with a point. Rylan Hartley finished with 23 saves on 26 shots faced after Riley Hutchcraft made 28 saves on 37 shots faced. The Knighthawks remain in the playoff race with the most head-to-head wins in the potential grouping of New York, Vancouver, and Saskatchewan, but the fourth loss in a row means that a lot is going to have to go right to get to a second straight postseason appearance. A Smith pass to a cutting Kyle Waters finally got the Knighthawks their first goal in just over 30 minutes of gameplay, and then it was Smith getting a powerplay goal. The Knighthawks ended up outshooting the Rock 18-6 in the third quarter, but the 2-0 difference on the scoreboard would not be enough to overcome the hole of the first two quarters.

A quartet of 5 point games paced the Rock in the win, with 3 goals and 2 assists from Corey Small, 2 goals and 3 assists from Challen Rogers, and a goal and 4 assists each from Mark Matthews and Tom Schreiber. Chris Boushy had 4 goals, and Nick Rose made 44 saves, including 31 in the second half.

NLL Week 20 Around The League

Panther City 11 – Albany FireWolves 7

A fifth straight loss for the FireWolves means that not only the fourth seed but also the three could be opened up to the Bandits if next week plays out optimally across the league. Panther City finished out their home schedule with a 6-0 start and held court on their way to an 11-7 win. Callum Crawford continued his lead over Father Time, as the 39 year old led Panther City with 4 goals and 2 assists and picked up his second career 40 goal season along the way. Will Malcom had 2 goals and 3 assists, and Jonathan Donville had 4 assists. Panther City also got production out of the back door with a hat trick from Brandon Goodwin and 2 goals from Josh Medeiros. Albany outshot Panther City 97-60, including 61-41 on goal, but Nick Damude made 54 saves. Ethan Walker and Sam Firth each had a goal and 2 assists, with Tye Kurtz adding 3 assists and John Piatelli notching 2 goals.

Vancouver Warriors 16 – New York Riptide 10

What else is there to say about this run for the Vancouver Warriors, who picked up their fifth straight win and ownership of the 8 seed headed into the final week of the season with a 16-10 win over the Riptide. Ryan Martel was the leading scorer this week for the Warriors with 4 goals and 5 assists, but Keegan Bal was right behind him with 3 goals and 5 assists. Adam Charalambides also had 8 points with 4 goals and 4 assists. The Warriors defense limited the Riptide to 33 shots on goal. Jeff Teat led the Riptide with 3 goals and 3 assists, and Reilly O’Connor had a goal and 5 assists, but outside of a quartet of 3 point nights, the offense was relatively stifled.

Saskatchewan Rush 13 – San Diego Seals 8

The Rush are also not done yet, as they protected their home floor with an upset of the Seals, who have locked themselves into the 2 seed. The 8-9 Rush, who currently own the 9 seed, were led by 5 goals and 2 assists. Frank Scigliano got his revenge game with 40 saves over his former team. Austin Staats led the Seals with a goal and 4 assists, and each of Wes Berg and Jacob Dunbar had 4 points.

Philadelphia Wings 16 – Colorado Mammoth 12

The Wings got the rare opportunity to improve their draft pick with a win, owning the Mammoth’s, who they defeated 16-12 on Friday night. They were sprung by a 5-0 first quarter with their game leaders leading the way. Mitch Jones and Ben McIntosh each had 4 goals and 4 assists with Joe Resetarits adding 3 goals and 4 assists. Philadelphia also got a goal and 3 assists from Chad Tutton and a goal and 2 assists from both Ryan Wagner and Holden Cattoni. Dillon Ward left the game with injury 9:55 in after giving up 4 goals on 5 shots. Eli McLaughlin led the Mammoth offense with 2 goals and 4 assists. Connor Kelly and Zed Williams each had hat tricks and Jalen Chaser had a goal and 3 assists.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 12 – Colorado Mammoth 11

And the weekend got better for the Wings on Saturday Night as the Desert Dogs erased a 10-7 deficit with a 5-0 run on their way to a win over the Mammoth, placing Colorado in 15th as they share a 5-12 record with Vegas having that head to head tiebreak. Casey Jackson’s 2 goals and 5 assists led the Desert Dogs, with Jack Hannah picking up 4 goals and an assist and Charlie Bertrand also getting to 5 points with 2 goals and 3 assists. Landon Kells got the win with 48 saves. Nate Faccin got his first NLL start with Ward inactive due to his injury and made 26 saves on 33 shots faced before Tyler Carlson played the second half with 19 saves on 24 shots faced. The right side of the Mammoth offense did the heaviest lifting as Connor Kelly had 5 goals and 2 assists and Tyson Gibson had 3 goals and 4 assists.

NLL Week 21 Preview

Buffalo Bandits (10-7) @ Las Vegas Desert Dogs (5-12) – Saturday April 20 – 10:00pm, ESPNU

If you haven’t read Evan Schemenauer’s primer on the playoff scenarios, please pause and go read it because he does the heavy lifting of every scenario for the 8 game slate of the final week. Simply put, a win for the Bandits would mean that they can finish anywhere from 3rd to 5th, and a loss would put them anywhere from 5th to 7th. It’s going to be the first time that the Bandits face Vegas, and the teams will be finishing their regular seasons with Tucker Out Lymphona Night, with the team Shawn Williams is the coach and GM of taking on the team he played for when the initiative to support his son Tucker’s battle with cancer started 10 years ago.

Rochester Knighthawks (6-10) @ Georgia Swarm (10-7) – Friday April 19 – 7:30pm, ESPN+

Rochester’s playoff aspirations are more simpler to evaluate but are going to be more difficult to fulfill. They will need to win Friday, get losses Vancouver, Saskatchewan, and New York on Saturday, and then finish the weekend with a win at home against Philadelphia. They did win both meetings in Georgia last season but lost their battle with the Swarm earlier in the season on one of many instances of Andrew Kew’s late game magic this year. The goaltending decision will remain up in the air for Friday. The day in between games could mean either goalie could play both games, but at the same time, is Rylan Hartley revved up enough on his return from his concussion enough to play both games after he finished the game last week in Hamilton. The Bandits will be rooting for their neighbors to get the job done to open up the possibility of a home playoff game in round 1.

Philadelphia Wings (6-11) @ Rochester Knighthawks (6-10) – Sunday April 21 – 3:00pm, ESPN+

If they do get the first four games to turn out in their favor, the Knighthawks will be the favorites for their matchup with the Wings, but the Wings won all three games last year against the Knighthawks, including two at Blue Cross Arena. What ifs will probably be the story for the season in Rochester, but if they can get back to the playoffs, the ability to overcome all of their adversity to punch their ticket would be a huge testament to this young team moving forward.

Vancouver Warriors (8-9) @ San Diego Seals (12-5) – Friday April 19 – 10:00pm

The first challenge for the Knighthawks on the out of town scoreboard will be immediately following their game Friday night where the Warriors ride their five game win streak into San Diego. The Seals are locked into the 2-seed. With the pressure to overcome last season’s first round loss, could they be resting some players and putting Mike Poulin in to start over Chris Origlieri? Would they prefer to keep their players in game shape headed into next week? We shall see.

Albany FireWolves (10-7) @ New York Riptide (8-9) – Saturday April 20 – 7:30pm

The Riptide will be closing down the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday Night in their Long Island swan song before packing up and heading north to Ottawa next season, unless of course they get a win and any of multiple possible assortments of help across the league and pull off a first round upset. With Albany reeling with 5 straight losses, they certainly have a good chance at greater control over their destiny, but the FireWolves did beat them 14-8 back on March 2. This is the other game to watch for the Bandits aspirations for a home game in the first round. One of Georgia or Albany losing with a Buffalo win assures the 4 seed. Both Georgia and Albany losing would get them the 3 seed if they take care of business in Vegas.

Toronto Rock (14-3) @ Saskatchewan Rush (8-9) – Saturday April 20 – 9:00pm

The final of the trio of Rochester’s scoreboard watching Saturday also comes with some contextual challenges as well, as Toronto is also locked into their spot at the one seed. Former Rush Mark Matthews, Chris Corbeil, and Dan Lintner will probably not be rested as they make their returns to Saskatchewan, but could Tom Schreiber who missed the beginning of the season with injury? Could Challen Rogers? Nick Rose doesn’t like giving up the net, but could Troy Holowchuk be giving the probable Goaltender of the Year some relief on Saturday night? Even with the Rock at full strength, the Rush’s win against San Diego this past week ensures that it’s not going to be a walk in the park for Toronto no matter who plays. This will be the first matchup between the Rock and Rush since February 29, 2020, where the Rock won 9-8.

Colorado Mammoth (5-12) @ Halifax Thunderbirds (9-8) – Saturday April 20 – 6:30pm, TSN Game of The Week

On the possible Bandits loss side of the playoff scenarios, Halifax matching their 10-8 record would mean that the Thunderbirds own the tiebreaker and move ahead of them in the standings. With Dillon Ward’s status still up in the air for the last place Mammoth, the Thunderbirds have some added hope towards controlling their destiny for The Nest’s first playoff game. The Thunderbirds beat the Mammoth on January 11, 2020 in the previous matchup between the two teams.

Panther City (9-8) @ Calgary Roughnecks (7-10) – Saturday April 20 – 9:00pm, TSN Game of The Week (yes it’s a double header)

Panther City has not yet clinched a playoff berth at the same 9-8 as Halifax, but they also could still leap all the way to 3rd in some instances. They clinch with a win, a Halifax win, or a Saskatchewan loss, or New York and Vancouver having the same result, so plenty of opportunities for them to make it with a good control of their tiebreaker landscape. It would take Albany, Georgia, Buffalo, and Halifax all losing to make the 3 seed, but it is certainly still alive. They head to Calgary, who has already been eliminated with a lack of tiebreaker advantages for an 8-10 berth to be possible, but the Roughnecks won all three matchups last season, including a 12-9 win in the first round of last year’s playoffs.