Buffalo Bandits Back in the Win Column
The Buffalo Bandits faced off against the Saskatchewan Rush for the first time in over 2000 days. It took the Bandits until overtime in one of the tightest games in NLL history to earn the victory. Neither team had a lead of more than one goal and there ended up being fourteen ties before the Bandits finished the game in extra time. It was a big game for the Bandits to win and it was a great game of lacrosse for both teams.
The offense had its ups and downs in this game. The highlight reel goals by Josh Byrne (4g, 7a, 10sog), Chris Cloutier (3g, 0a, 11sog), and Tehoka Nanticoke (4g, 2a, 7sog) were incredible goals and a lot of fun to watch. However, it is not something that is sustainable for an offense. They have their place in most games that the Bandits play but the offense needs to be better at playing simple and scoring goals in the usual fashion as well. To both of their credits, Byrne and Nanticoke set each other up at least three times with great offensive plays and finishes. The two goals that stand out to me the most were the 12th goal and the 15th goal scored by the Bandits. On both occasions, Byrne set Nanticoke up nicely for a relatively simple goal. Dhane Smith also had a great game, finishing with 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points. The Bandits still had a tough time with passing and shooting the ball on target. The offense will need to be more consistent, especially against a tough Toronto Rock team coming to town for the next game.
The defense played well. With Matt Vinc (14g, 47sv) back between the pipes the defense was able to settle in a little bit more than the last few weeks. From what I could tell, the defense only allowed a handful of tight goals, both of which were allowed by Frank Brown. I think he is still trying to work his way back from injury, but he was burned twice on good moves by the Rush forwards. Vinc was also helpful in keeping the Rush off the board with great saves in tight. However, he did allow a few squeakers to sneak past him. I also kept track of how many goals he allowed over his left shoulder in this game. It was only three. That seems to be one of his main weaknesses, but it still takes a near perfect shot from the offense to score against him in that position. Zach Belter continued to impress once again. Smith ended up playing more defense than I would have liked while Ian MacKay played more offense than I would have liked. I do not mind either taking extra shifts on both ends of the floor. However, to see one of your best defenders only play offense and one of your best forwards play too much defense, seemed counterproductive to winning the game.
Both special teams' units performed well. There were only six total power play opportunities combined for both teams in this game. The Bandits power play went a perfect 3-for-3 on their opportunities. The penalty kill matched them by killing a 5-on-3 power play opportunity for the Rush, including one other chance, to force the Rush to go scoreless on their three opportunities. To me, this was the difference in the game. The Bandits outscored their opponent 3-0 on special teams and still needed overtime to win the game. Plain and simple, if the Bandits don’t score on one of their opportunities or the Rush do score on one of theirs, this game could have ended differently.
Finally, it is hard to not talk about the impressive play of Bandits newcomer Connor Farrell. This was a perfect game to illustrate exactly how PK and I feel about faceoffs. Farrell is new to the team so I will talk about the positives of having a faceoff specialist first. There are a handful of times every game, some more than others, where the faceoff is important to win. In this game, it happened three times. Once just before halftime, once just before the game ended and the first faceoff in overtime. Farrell won all three of those faceoffs. Now, the Bandits did not end up scoring on any of these opportunities, but that is not his fault. He did what he needed to do in those crucial situations. As for the rest of the game, I could care less. Farrell and the Bandits won the faceoff battle 27-6. In theory, this would mean the Bandits had approximately 21 extra possessions based on faceoffs alone. The Bandits ended the game by being outshot by the Rush 61 to 54 and needed overtime to win the game. If these extra possessions from faceoff wins were so important, the Bandits would have had more shots on goal and more goals because of it. Especially when they also dominated the loose ball battle 91 to 70 and the power play opportunities were dead even at three a piece. To me, this simply continues to help illustrate that there is no direct correlation between winning the faceoff, or loose balls for that matter, and truly having more opportunities to score. Like we have said time and time again, faceoffs don’t matter, until they do. This game was a perfect example of faceoffs not mattering, by winning the overall battle 27 to 6, but matter when they do, needing to win the last faceoff of the first half, last faceoff of the game and first faceoff of overtime. Sure, the Bandits did not score with those opportunities, but neither did the Rush.
The Bandits finally got a much-needed win. It wasn’t until I looked at this weekend's opponent that I realized just how important beating the Rush really was. If the Bandits lost this game, they would have found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture while having a daunting task of defeating the league's best Toronto Rock this weekend. If they cannot beat the Rock, they would have found themselves with a big hole to climb out of and not much time to do it in. Luckily, the Bandits put together a solid team effort and were able to defeat the Rush in one of this year’s best and closest matchups yet.
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.
Frank Scigliano
Inside – 8
Mid-Range - 5
Outside – 2
*3 of the goals were on the penalty kill
Matt Vinc
Inside – 4
Mid-Range - 6
Outside – 4
Over the left shoulder - 3
*0 of the goals were on the penalty kill
Against Brown - 2
1st goal – Brown got beat on a switch off with Highfield that allowed an in tight opportunity
2nd goal – The ball trickled in on a long shot, one Vinc would want back
3rd goal – An outside shot moving right to left over Vinc left shoulder
4th goal – Brown was beat on a hard jab step allowing another in tight shot
5th goal – Pretty behind the back goal
6th goal – Nice diving goal by Manns from behind the net
7th goal – An outside shot moving right to left over Vinc left shoulder
8th goal – The defense missed a switch off and allowed Church an open look right in front of the net
9th goal – The shot just squeaked through, and I am not sure how
10th goal – Five-hole shot that Vinc likely wants back
11th goal – Outside shot by our buddy Nate K. over the left shoulder of Vinc
12th goal – Nice quick stick shot by Church to the low near side of Vinc
13th goal – Another goal between the legs but another nice play by Church
14th goal – Coming out of the time out, 6-on-5, Church has another great play, how he was not watched extremely closely I am not sure
3/14 on Vinc
3/14 on the defense
Challenges by the Bandits – 0
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 – 3/3 on the PP
Rush – 0/3 on the PP
Josh Byrne – Cross Checking – Right before this foul Byrne looked like he may have been held as he was thrown to the ground. Byrne was upset with the no call and went right after Adam Jay with a cross check. I do not think Byrne meant for it to hit him in the head but it did – good call
Chase Fraser – Dead Ball Foul – This was a frustration play by Fraser that luckily resulted in the Bandits getting a power play – good call
Tehoka Nanticoke – Cross Checking – This was one of the lightest cross-checking penalties I have ever witnessed. The Rush player sold this as well as Josh Allen sells roughing the passer. At worst this was an illegal pick but even that is questionable. John Tavares was looking for a diving penalty and I think he was correct – bad call
Nick Weiss – Body Checking – This was an undisciplined play by Nick Weiss. Zach Belter had the player pinned against the boards and Weiss jumped into the players head with his shoulder, he is better than that – good call
3/4 – good calls
This game was a complete 180 from what we saw from the referees in the last game. These refs called very little and personally I prefer it that way. I did think one of their calls was not great but overall, they called a good game. This included giving the Bandits the power play on the Fraser scrum, despite the fans booing the refs.