The Bandits Find a Way

The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Halifax Thunderbirds by a score of 10-9 on Friday night. The Bandits had to fight weather just to get to Halifax, on a Friday night, for a 6:30 PM start, while once again missing players from their roster. The Bandits had everything stacked against them in this game including going up against a desperate and strong Halifax team, yet they found a way once again to get another victory.

As much as we have praised the offense for finding depth in order to score goals, it was the defense and Matt Vinc that really shined in this game. The Thunderbirds have seven players inside of the top 55 for points in the league. By comparison, the Bandits have three active forwards inside the top 55. Halifax also sits second in the league in goals for. Long story short, it is not easy to stop them from scoring let alone holding them to under nine goals for an entire game. The Bandits defense only allowed two players to score multiple goals with Ryan Benesch getting a hat trick and Randy Staats scoring a pair. If you told me the Bandits were only going to be able to score 10 goals against Halifax, I would have assumed they lost the game. The only other time this season that the Thunderbirds were held to under 10 goals was against Toronto who only allowed eight. This was also the first time all season that Halifax was kept off the board in the first quarter. This is a great example of the Bandits finding ways to win the game.

The offense for the Bandits played as well as we could have hoped. Halifax has had a slightly leaky back end this year. Halifax is the second worst team in the league with goals allowed. However, the Bandits are working with a patchwork offense that is a shell of what the starting roster could look like. The Bandits threw everything they could at Halifax to score 10 goals. There were a few great opportunities saved by Hill as well as a few hit posts. Ian MacKay and Dhane Smith led the way with a hat trick each and at this point, neither came as a surprise. On the other hand, Nick Weiss scored two goals on two shots. One of the goals was right before half to stop a Halifax run and the other was a great transition goal. When you win a game by one goal, every goal counts and both of Weiss' goals were huge and another example of players stepping up.

The only real issue I had with this game was the decision making at times on transition. The Bandits needed to find ways to generate offense and taking shots is a great way to do that. However, taking poor angle shots on transition while a defender is chasing you down is not often a great way to score. The Bandits did this multiple times, including a few times on the penalty kill, allowing Halifax more opportunities to score. I think the Bandits simply need to be a little wiser in the future when taking transition shots. They need to make sure they are good opportunities and at the right time.

Tehoka Nanticoke has been an interesting case so far this season. He is one of the most talented forwards in the entire game. The different ways he finds to score often leave you in awe. A great example happened in this game when he scored an incredible behind the back goal at a critical time for the Bandits. What Nanticoke has not mastered yet is consistency. In his sophomore season, it seems as if he is still trying to determine what kind of forward he wants to be. At times he is a bulldozer, other times he is using his stick skills to make magic, whether it is scoring a goal or getting an assist. However, at times it seems like he holds on to the ball too long and sometimes forces the issue. I would love to see him play a little faster and a little looser to see if it opens him and the offense up a little more.

As great as this Bandits team has been this year, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous watching this game. As the fourth quarter crept on, I was waiting for Halifax to find a spark and go on a run. However, that never happened. The Bandits played an incredible second half on offense and defense, finding just enough of both to leave Halifax with a victory. I will be asking for the same thing we all have been since week two, find a way to get some healthy players back in the lineup, please.

P.S. Congratulations to Ryan Benesch on his 500th career goal. It was also great to see the retired David Brock on the floor (little sarcasm there). Also, Halifax needs to change their goal song or get each player their own goal song. Or just don’t score, that works too.

Goaltender Breakdown  

In this segment, I will breakdown how the goalies, offense and defense all performed on the goals in the game. How many were impressive goals, breakdowns in the defense or on the goalie.  

Warren Hill

Inside – 5

Outside – 5 

*1 of the goals was on the penalty kill   

Matt Vinc    

Inside – 2 

Outside – 7 

*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill

Goal 1 – Snuck in the only spot that was open, Vinc was not happy about it

Goal 2 – Penalty kill, nice skip shot by Benny

Goal 3 – Penalty kill, another nice shot by Benny

Goal 4 – Nice quick in tight shot

Goal 5 – Long shot, think Vinc would want it back  

Goal 6 – Longer shot, just snuck by Vinc

Goal 7 – Longer shot beat Vinc to the far post, don’t think he was expecting it, good shot

Goal 8 – Good skip shot by Jamieson

Goal 9 – Staats beat his defender and snuck it in past Vinc shoulder, good goal

3/9 on Vinc

Vinc finished the game with 43 saves and played great when it mattered most once again. As the stats show, the defense played incredibly, only allowing a few inside goals and high danger opportunities.

The offense was once again balanced in their attack with 5 inside and 5 outside goals. I am not sure how they continue to put up double-digit goals every game, but here we are.

Referee Corner   

Like many of the fans out there, I find myself often questioning what the refs are doing on the field. From no goals and players being ejected, to calls that simply do not make sense. In this segment, I will attempt to use the rulebook and my best judgement to understand some hot topics from the previous game.       

Bandits – 1-1 on the PP  

Halifax – 2-3 on the PP  

Carter McKenzie – elbowing – This call was not on video due to the stream cutting in and out so I have no idea – good call I guess

Tehoka Nanticoke – Holding – Nanticoke was behind the play trying to catch up to Pearson, took his one hand off of his stick and grabbed the player. It was a quick and slight hold but still a hold – good call 

Kyle Buchanan – slashing – Buchanan was slashed on the play and returned a slash of his own, both players went to the box – good call 

Brad McCulley – Body Checking – McCulley threw a heavy body check against a player that did not have the ball – good call

I thought all of the calls were correct in this game. The refs, for the most part, were pretty hands off in a tough division battle.