Buffalo Bandits Raise the Banner and a Win
The Buffalo Bandits defeated the San Diego Seals on a night they raised the 2022-2023 championship banner to the rafters. The game was back and forth in the first half before the Bandits took over in the third quarter on their way to a 12-9 victory. There was a lot of emotion early on after an incredible banner raising ceremony by the Buffalo Bandits organization. The Bandits defense and Matt Vinc had a great bounce back performance to calm some nerves after a tough first game.
The offense looked eerily similar to game one. That is not necessarily a bad thing while they are averaging 12.5 goals per game. Let us start with the positives. Josh Byrne is picking up right where he left off from the playoffs last season. Byrne has increased his points per game every year he has been in the NLL and he looks poised to do it once again. Byrne already has 16 points in the first two games. Dhane Smith ended the game with no goals but seven assists. Outside of the dynamic duo, the offense has been nicely spread out across the team. Chris Cloutier is second on the team in goals with five. The rest of the team is evenly spread between goals and points. My biggest complaint about the offense is there willingness to take long shots with plenty of time left on the shot clock. By my estimation, they scored four inside goals compared to eight middle or outside goals. As long as the outside goals are flowing this style of play works. However, this team has too many talented offensive players not to get inside on a more consistent basis.
I mentioned in the last article that I expected Matt Vinc to have a big bounce back game and that is exactly what happened. Vinc looked much better in this game, against an even more talented offense, than he did in game one. The biggest difference I could see was the lack of outside goals he allowed. In the first game against Albany, Vinc allowed about nine outside goals. In this game, he only allowed one outside goal and two mid-range goals. The defense also had a great bounce back game. It was interesting to see Brandon Robinson seem to take over Justin Robinson’s spot, who missed the game due to injury. I am not sure if this is what we will see moving forward with the injuries to the defense but it appeared to be rather successful. Brandon was even able to score a nice goal in transition. The defense still has a few issues they will need to address but it may take time with the amount of new faces they have on the back end.
The special teams is off to a decent start to the year. The power play is rolling scoring on 66 percent of their opportunities. The penalty kill on the other hand could use a little help. They are currently allowing goals on 50 percent of their penalty kill opportunities. I think this will get better over time as the defense continues to tighten up. I hope that the defense can also begin to get healthier as well. Last year we had to endure offensive injuries throughout the year. So far this season, it has been the defense struggling with injuries.
The banner raising ceremony and video presentation were both incredible. It was great to see the players, coaches, bandettes and fans all get an opportunity to share in the 2022-2023 title going up to the rafters forever. I was worried the emotions may be running a bit too high after enjoying such an incredible moment. However, after a first half spent feeling out San Diego and keeping the game close, the Bandits exploded in the third quarter and never looked back. Now that the yearly season opener loss to Albany is behind us, the Bandits season has officially begun. This was an early statement win to get their season right back on track.
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.
Doug Jamieson
Inside – 4
Middle - 6
Outside – 2
*4 of the goals were on the power play
Matt Vinc
Inside – 6
Middle - 2
Outside – 1
*3 of the goals were on the penalty kill
Goal 1 – In tight goal on a great pass
Goal 2 – Behind the back pass led to a nice inside finish
Goal 3 – PP goal, Dickson was in close but from a tough angle and beat Vinc between the legs
Goal 4 – PP goal, bad goal by the defense, they allowed Berg to walk right in on Vinc after a pick by Dobbie
Goal 5 – Long shot, only one Vinc allowed all game and you could tell he wanted it back
Goal 6 – Shorthanded goal, it a quick behind the back shot, I don’t think Vinc had a good look at it coming out of the stick
Goal 7 – Another behind the back pass led to another nice goal in tight
Goal 8 – PP goal, ANOTHER behind the back pass that led to a nice shot and goal
Goal 9 – Mid-range shot, Vinc almost had it saved but it just trickled over the line
Three behind the back passes and one behind the back goal.
1/9 on Vinc
1/9 on the defense
Vinc finished the game with 39 saves. I mentioned in the previous article that Vinc often bounces back after a tough loss and he did just that. The defense still has a few things to work out but they performed much better in this game, despite continuing to struggle with injuries.
In my opinion, the offense still needs to find consistent ways to get inside on defenses. However, they had a great second half and Josh Byrne looks electric early in the season.
Challenges by the Bandits –
1/1
The Bandits had one challenge throughout the game and it was successful. The San Diego player touched down in the crease just before the ball crossed the line.
San Diego wanted to challenge the Chris Cloutier goal but did not get the challenge out quick enough. I reviewed the goal myself and it would have been a close call. I think the ball crossed the line before the shot clock hit zero.
As for when challenges can be thrown or not I went to the rulebook to get the official breakdown.
17.85 ALL GAME STOPPAGES - Clubs shall have a maximum of thirty-five (35) seconds to challenge a play should the play in question occur at the expiry of a period, any called timeout, injury stoppage, or equipment repair, or any other stoppage permitted by the officials. The thirty-five seconds will begin once play is stopped, e.g., a whistle indicating a goal scored. Officials shall use the extended replay mechanic to determine the consistency and quality of replays being shown after awarded goals per the League Casebook.
17.86 PLAY-ON SITUATIONS - During play-on game situations when a challenge flag has been thrown, the officials shall stop play once the challenging team gains possession, or any stoppage of play, or when the non-challenging team is in possession and has no immediate scoring opportunity, whichever occurs first. The challenging club must throw the flag within twenty five seconds of the play being challenged.
Long story short, if there is a stoppage of play, the teams have thirty-five seconds to throw the challenge flag. If the play is live, teams have twenty-five seconds to throw the challenge flag. I hope that this helps fans understand when a challenge flag can or cannot be thrown. I was not one hundred percent sure on this rule either.
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 – 4-6 on the PP
Halifax – 3-5 on the PP
Tehoka Nanticoke – Goalie Interference – This call was a little debatable. Nanticoke appeared to be pushed into the goalie by a defender. However, any time a ref sees a goalie hit that hard, the call is going to be made. I thought the call later in the game against San Diego when Curtis Dickson ran into Vinc was actually not a penalty, but we’ll take it – good call
Brandon Robinson – Holding the Stick – This was not a good call. While the San Diego player was setting a pick on Robinson his stick got wedged between Robinsons body and arm but only for a brief second and it did not look intentional by Brandon – bad call
Nick Weiss – Roughing – There were three San Diego Seal players that drove Weiss into the boards. Weiss was roughed up pretty badly and from the little bit you can see on the video, it appears Weiss hits one of the players up high trying to defend himself and that is what the ref called. The referees often call the second man in – goodish call
No One Specifically – Illegal Substitution – This one was hard to see on video and I remember it being confusing while watching it live. It did not appear to be an illegal substitution and if it was it was close. These calls are not often made when the action is not near the bench or results in a true advantage – good call?
Brad McCulley – Cross Checking – This was a result of where the referee was standing. McCulley set a bit of a hard pick with a cross checking motion that appeared to get the San Diego player up high. The Seals player went down quickly but did not dive. Both McCulley and the player immediately got up and ran off the field. From the vantage point of the referee, I could see why it was called but that is a tough one for Brad – good call
3.5/5 – good calls
The refs again had a couple of tough calls but overall they did a nice job in this game. Both teams got a bit chippy but the refs allowed the teams to play without policing the game too much. Despite calling a combined eleven calls, I do not believe they were all that noticeable, which is a good thing for refs.