Flipped the Script

Last weekend the Buffalo Bandits took on the Rochester Knighthawks and found themselves up 8-5 at halftime. The Bandits ended up losing that game 12-15 after being outscored in the second half 4-10. On Friday night, the Bandits faced off against the struggling Philadelphia Wings. This time the game was the exact opposite. The Bandits were trailing 3-6 after the first half (despite how many articles and announcers try to claim they were trailing 2-6 at half). This time they would outscore their opponent 10-3 in the second half to take a decisive 13-9 victory over the Wings.

In the first half, the Bandits ran into a hot goaltender and a lot of penalty trouble. Former Buffalo Bandits backup goalie Zach Higgins wanted to make a statement against his former team. Higgins faced 28 shots in the first half making multiple highlight reel saves to keep his team ahead. On the other side, the Bandits allowed 28 shots with Vinc allowing 6 goals compared to only 3 by Higgins. On paper, it would appear Higgins was the better goalie in the first half. However, the Bandits were on the penalty kill six times in the first half allowing 2 goals in those six opportunities. It is not easy as a team to find any kind of rhythm when you play almost an entire quarter down a man.

In the second half, the Bandits turned it on and turned it on quick. The Bandits were able to go on a 6-goal run, 7 if you include the end of the first half, before the Wings could find another goal. Starting at the 11:44 mark in the third quarter Buffalo scored 4 goals in 2 minutes and 28 seconds to take the lead and not look back. One of the keys to their big second half performance was cleaning up their act. The Bandits, and the Wings for the matter, combined for one penalty in the entire second half of the game. It turns out it is a little easier to score when you have five players on the field instead of four.

For once in many games, Josh Byrne was able to take a back seat on the offense. This is a positive note for the Bandits as a team. This team is in desperate need of consistent depth scoring. The Bandits finding a way to score 13 goals, even against a struggling Wings team, when Byrne only scores once is important. Tehoka Nanticoke led the team with three goals while Kyle Buchanan, Dalton Sulver and Dhane Smith were each able to add two of their own. Dhane and Josh still made a monster impact on the game combining for 3 goals and 11 assists. If the Bandits can find a way to get consistent production from the offensive players not named Dhane and Josh they should be able to ride this wave until (hopefully) Chris Cloutier and Chase Fraser are able to return later in the year.

I can’t believe at this point we continue to have this conversation but once again it needs to be stated that Matt Vinc is not going anywhere, nor do we want him to. As a former goalie in soccer and pitcher in baseball, I know what it feels like to shoulder the blame for every wrongdoing on the defensive side of the game. Just because the Bandits were losing 3-6 after the first half does not mean we have to fire Vinc. Fans need to take a few deep breathes before blaming everything on the goalie. Matt Vinc is still one of the best goalies in the league. He went on a stretch in this game of not allowing a goal for just over fifteen minutes, an entire quarter if you are doing the math. Vinc allowed only two goals in the second half giving his offense a chance to figure it out and come away with the win. Part of the success of Vinc also came from the defense. The Bandits defense finished the game with a very impressive fifteen caused turnovers. In the Toronto Rock’s win over the Wings, they finished with twelve caused turnovers. The Bandits were able to top that number in comparison to one of the best defenses in the league.

Kevin Finneran had his jersey retired for the Philadelphia Wings at the start of this game. It is an incredible honor and one that is well deserved. However, when he was being interviewed during the game he mentioned the Wings beating the Bandits multiple times because he knew it was going to happen. I am not sorry that the Bandits were able to disappoint Kevin. The Bandits had an incredible second half to spoil the fun for the Wings, just how we expected the game to end.

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.

Zach Higgins

Inside – 6

Outside – 6

*1 goal was on the penalty kill

*1 goal was an empty net

Matt Vinc

Inside – 5

Outside – 4

*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill

Goal 1 – tough angle to give up a goal

Goal 2 – wants it back

Goal 3 – bad defense

Goal 4 – good shot

Goal 5 – penalty kill

Goal 6 – penalty kill

Goal 7 – good shot

Goal 8 – good shot

Goal 9 – bad defense

Vinc finished the game with 45 saves and played incredibly. Anytime you are letting in less than two or three goals that you want back that is a great game. Vinc was able to hold the Wings to only seven even strength goals.

The offense once again had a great blend of inside and outside shots.

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 - 1-2 on the PP

Wings – 2-7 on the PP

Nick Weiss – Slashing – Not shown on video – good call?

Ian MacKay – holding the stick – Anytime you grab a players stick, right in front of the ref, it is going to be called – good call

Carter McKenzie – cross checking – I thought this was a weak call. The player went down easily and it was not much of a true crosscheck – bad call

Steve Priolo – roughing – This was a little hard to see on the video, looked like a good call, Priolo did not argue it – good call

Steve Priolo – body checking – Unnecessary play by Priolo. The play was over with, Vinc had the ball and the player Priolo hit was not near anything. It was an easy call for the refs – good call

Bryce Sweeting – slashing – Another weak call; it is a play that happens all the time, a player running off the field takes a swipe at the player running on the field. The Wings player went down very easily and the slash was not aggressive – bad call

Dylan Robinson – holding stick – Yes…and no. Robinson was crosschecked in the back but it was not called an illegal pick or a penalty. On his way down, he did grab a player’s stick and drag that player to the ground with him. The penalty on Robinson is technically correct but there should have been another call with it – bad call

Four of the seven calls against the Bandits were the correct call in my opinion. I also have a hard time believing the Wings only committed two penalties but they were less aggressive than the Bandits were so it is possible.