Buffalo Bandits 13 – Colorado Mammoth 10

Clay Scanlan was the game’s initial catalyst, forcing a transition turnover to give Buffalo possession which led to Dhane Smith opening the scoring on the run before doing it again two possessions later from nearly the same spot. After another faceoff win for the Bandits, Josh Byrne got space off a screen to pop a midrange behind the back look over the near shoulder of Dillon Ward. Tehoka Nanticoke welcomed Nathan Whittom to the game with a midrange goal of his own before Ward re-entered the game on the next possession. Colorado got the ball back off the next draw and got their first of the night courtesy of Andrew Kew, but Byrne erased that falling back from outside. 9 of the first 12 shots later, Buffalo went into the first commercial break with a 5-1 lead, and then that was followed up by a powerplay goal from Dhane Smith 1:09 after Byrne’s.

After Colorado scored two in a row to end the first, Nanticoke and Smith scored the first two goals on the first two shots of the second to bring the lead back up to 5, ending Dillon Ward’s night officially. While Colorado would score 5 of the next 6 goals to cut the deficit to 9-8 halfway through the third quarter, Buffalo would get back to back goals from Nanticoke and Byrne would get back-to-back goals right after to pad their lead a little more and added two more to go up 13-8. Two more goals was all Colorado could muster before the horn expired, as the Bandits are back above .500 following the win.

When the dust settled, each of Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne had 4 goals and 5 assists to lead them way in a truly on-brand Dhane and Josh performance (they’re still too young to call it vintage). Tehoka Nanticoke picked up a hat trick while Kyle Buchanan had a goal and 3 assists. Matt Vinc got the win with 45 saves on 55 shots faced for an .818 save percentage. Defensively, Mitch de Snoo continued to show he has back to form following his injury with 11 loose ball recoveries, 3 caused turnovers, and 4 blocked shots.

For Colorado, who is now 9-5, Braedon Saris led with 2 goals and 4 assists, while Jack Hannah had 3 goals and 2 assists and each of Andrew Kew and Will Malcom had 2 goals and 2 assists. Nathan Whittom finished with 24 saves on 30 shots faced after Dillon Ward surrendered 7 goals on 20 shots.

Las Vegas Desert Dogs 17 – Rochester Knighthawks 10

The story was the same for the Knighthawks this week as it was the week before. Deficits of 5-1 and 8-2 put them behind the 8 ball before being unable to pull themselves back closer than 4. They were able to reach that mark twice in the second half, even winning the third quarter 5-3, but the first instance was followed by a three goal run and then the second was erased by a 4-0 run in the fourth that put the game away for good. Vegas got very balanced results up from, led by 3 goals and 6 assists from Mitch Jones and 3 and 5 from Johnathan Donville. Kyle Killen had 4 goals and 2 assists, while Chris Cloutier had 3 goals and 3 assists. Alex Buque got the start and the win with 44 saves.

While each of Connor Fields, Ryan Lanchbury, Ryan Smith, and Thomas McConvey scored and combined for 18 assists, those were their only goals of the game. Zed Williams had the hot stick with 4 goals and an assist. Blaze Riorden added 2 goals in his Knighthawks debut. In net, Rylan Hartley was pulled for the third time in his last 4 starts and the fifth time this season. He gave up 5 goals on 12 shots in 13:29 of play. Riley Hutchcraft had 26 saves on 38 shots faced.

Both teams are now 5-7 and will finish their home-and-home on Saturday night in Rochester (March 21 at 7:00 pm) in what’s probably now the biggest game of the season for both clubs. It’s the last home game before a 4 game road trip that features a Buffalo rematch and a trip to Georgia. Buffalo’s win streak is pacing them towards potential comfort in the Top 8, making the race for the 8th spot a three man race between Rochester, Vegas, and San Diego unless Halifax goes on a run or one of Ottawa, Toronto, or Georgia fall off. And every week that goes by with a loss for any of those teams makes the quest for 9 wins feel less surmountable.

Toronto Rock 14 – Halifax Thunderbirds 13 F/OT

After staying in the race with a win against the Desert Dogs last week, the Thunderbirds momentum balloon was popped by an overtime winner from Toronto’s Josh Dawick, who along with Owen Hiltz led the Rock with 3 goals and an assist in the road win. Challen Rogers, Mark Matthews, and Latrell Harris all had 4 point nights as well. Despite the loss, Clarke Petterson had 3 goals and 7 assists to lead the Thunderbirds. Mike Robinson had 3 goals and an assist, while Brendan Bomberry had 2 goals and 2 assists, including the game-tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation. Both Nick Rose and Warren Hill eclipsed 40 saves.

Oshawa FireWolves 11 – Philadelphia Wings 6

Oshawa got themselves a similar game script to the week before by chasing Nick Damude after getting out to a 4-0 lead. This time, however, their defense was able to prevent any form of getting back in the game from the Wings new-look offense and completed the home-and-home sweep. Doug Jamieson got the win with 39 saves. Ryan Benesch picked right up with his new team to the tune of 2 goals and 4 assists, only passed in points by a 4 goal 3 assist performance from Alex Simmons. Tye Kurtz also had 6 points with a goal and 5 assists. Brennan O’Neill was the lone Wing with 3 points, scoring once. Dalton Young and Lukas Nielsen each had 2 goals. Deacon Knott had 39 saves on 46 shots in 52:05 in relief.

Vancouver Warriors 14 – Georgia Swarm 7

After relinquishing the first goal of the game, the Warriors controlled the game the rest of the way, extending a lead as far as 13-3 on the way to a big road in in Duluth, led by 4 goals and 5 assists from Keegan Bal and 43 saves from Christian Del Bianco, including 16 in the second quarter. Curtis Dickson’s 3 goals and 4 assists and Jesse King’s 2 goals and 2 assists also helped Vancouver’s offense chase Brett Dobson in a rare stinker from him this season. Jordan MacIntosh led the Swarm’s offense with a goal and 3 assists.

Calgary Roughnecks 13 – Ottawa Black Bears 10

Calgary returned home and picked up where they left off on Sunday to the tune of a 7-1 start and then holding on for a wire-to-wire win led by a quartet of 6 point scorers (4G 2A from Haiden Dickson, 3G 3A from Brayden Mayea and Tanner Cook, 1G 5A from Tyler Pace). Aden Walsh had 38 saves in the win, including 14 in the fourth to hold off Ottawa’s usually lethal fourth quarter offense. Jeff Teat’s 2 goals and 4 assists and Rob Hellyer’s 6 assists led Ottawa’s offense.

Saskatchewan Rush 10 – San Diego Seals 9

The Rush slowly but surely overcame an early 3-0 deficit on their way to a win in their return from a road trip, clinching a playoff berth along the way to improve to 11-3. 13 members of the Rush recorded a point, led by 3 goals and 2 assists from Robert Church. Frank Scigliano made 40 saves in the win against his former team. Former Rush forward Ben McIntosh led the Seals with 4 goals and an assist.

Week 17 Preview

7 through 10 get to play each other and either make things more clear or muck them up even more. Just another week in the March to May as far as we’re concerned.

Buffalo Bandits (7-6) @ San Diego Seals (6-7) – Saturday March 21, 10:00 pm

The Bandits and Seals played a trio of one goal games last season, with the road team winning each of the regular season matchups before Buffalo’s first round 5-4 defensive slugfest win in the rubber match.

Saskatchewan Rush (11-3) @ Toronto Rock (8-5) – Friday March 20, 7:30 pm

The Rush play their final road game of the season in a trip to Hamilton for the first of two matchups with the Rock. The Rock have won the last four head-to-head matchups dating back to February 1, 2019.

Halifax Thunderbirds (5-8) @ Georgia Swarm (8-5) – Friday March 20, 7:30 pm

The Swarm will look to rebound from last week’s loss looking to complete a sweep of the Thunderbirds and a fourth straight win in the all-time series.

Ottawa Black Bears (8-6) @ Vancouver Warriors (10-4) – Friday March 20, 10:00 pm

The Friday night slate will finish with the Warriors hoping to complete a sweep of their own over the Black Bears, this time at home. A win would clinch a playoff spot for Vancouver.

Calgary Roughnecks (4-9) @ Colorado Mammoth (9-5) – Saturday March 21, 9:00 pm

Calgary’s win streak will be tested on a trip to Denver for the first of two meetings with the Mammoth, who they split last season’s series with. Colorado is looking to return to the win column, having dropped two straight and three of four since their 7 game win streak. They, too, would clinch a playoff berth with a win.

(Photo Credit: Buffalo Bandits)