The Buffalo Bandits Beat the House

The Buffalo Bandits went to Las Vegas to take on the Las Vegas Desert Dogs for the first time ever. After a slow start the Bandits scored nine of ten goals from the end of the second quarter through the third quarter to eventually cruise to a 14-5 victory. The Bandits went on an eight-game stretch allowing at least thirteen goals. They then allowed twelve goals for three straight games. Now, in their last three games they have allowed eleven, seven, and five. The defense and Matt Vinc continue to get better as this team is looking as complete as it has all season.

The offense looked terrible to start the game. They scored only one goal in the first 25 minutes of play. I believe a big portion of that had to do with the penalties the Bandits struggled with early in the game. Less than one minute into the game the Bandits were on the penalty kill. They would go on to commit three more penalties in the first quarter alone. This makes it tough for the offense to find their rhythm. Finally, with five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Bandits offense took off and did not look back. Josh Byrne (3g, 6a) and Dhane Smith (2g, 10a) were as electric as ever. However, they only accounted for 5 of the 14 goals scored by the Bandits. This is a good thing. The secondary scoring has been more consistent in these last few games as the team continues to become more complete. Dhane once again broke his own single season assist record with a massive 101 assists this season. Josh finished with a career high 135 points, which ties third all-time in the NLL for a single season. We mentioned it on our last episode of the podcast, this is one of those moments where you must enjoy the good times while you’re in them. Can Dhane and Josh have this kind of season again in their careers? I hope so and I believe so. However, until we see it again, we must enjoy the fact that we witnessed the greatest single season duo in NLL history. The fact that Josh finished with 135 points and Dhane finished with 134 points, in the same season, on the same team, is hard to comprehend. The fact that we not only follow the Bandits but analyze them closely and are fans of the team, makes it that much better.

The defese has continued to get better and better as the season has gone on. For the longest time we kept saying that one of these games was going to be the game that the defense finally clicks, and they look closer to the team we saw last year. I am not sure exactly which game it was, but the defense clicked. As I mentioned earlier, the goals against have remained even or gone down every week since game 13. In this game, the defense looked smothering. They did not allow Vegas many good scoring opportunities at all. Early in the game, as the team was dealing with the four penalties, I thought Vegas looked like the better offense. As they went into halftime, I was shocked to discover the Bandits had more shots on goal than Vegas did. This is a prime example of how impressive the defense was in not allowing Vegas to get good scoring opportunities. When they did have a good scoring chance, Matt Vinc was there to shut the door. As the defense has gotten healthy and better each game, Vinc has done the same. The last few weeks especially, Vinc has looked like the goalie we saw last year who only allow 4 goals in game three of the finals.

The Buffalo Bandits are heading into the playoffs as arguably the most dangerous team in the league. I think the Toronto Rock are still the team to beat. They were consistent the entire season. However, the Bandits are getting hot at the right time. They have finally gotten healthy and are winners of four straight games and six of their last seven. Their last two games were their most complete victories of the season. At one point this year the Bandits were 5-6 and searching for answers. Now, the Bandits have found the answer, finished fourth in the league and earned themselves a first-round home playoff game. We will see you in Banditland for the start of the playoffs!

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.         

Landon Kells

Inside – 9

Mid-Range - 5

Outside – 0

*4 of the goals were on the penalty kill

Matt Vinc          

Inside – 1

Mid-Range - 3

Outside – 1

*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill

1st goal – This goal was kind of in transition, but the defense was in good position and forced a mid-range shot that Vinc probably wants back

2nd goal – PP Goal – Quick shot on the power play, nice goal

3rd goal – This was a great shot by Hannah, but no one on the defense picked him up as he ran at the net

4th goal – PP Goal – A bit of a scramble on this play led to Hellyer getting a good inside look on Vinc

5th goal – An outside shot that just beat Vinc

1/5 on Vinc

1/5 on the defense

Challenges by the Bandits – None

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 – 4/4 on the PP

Vegas – 2/6 on the PP

Cam Wyers – Cross Checking – Wyers cross checked a player while he was on the ground during the opening face-off scramble – good call

Paul Dawson – Holding the Stick – It looked like Dawson ripped the stick out of the Vegas player’s hand – good call

Nick Weiss – Cross Checking – After taking an early shot in transition Weiss cross checked a player up high who did not have the ball – good call

 Adam Bomberry – Roughing – This was a weird situation. I could not tell who, but someone hit the Vegas player, that player was mad and started to go back and forth with Bomberry. Sadly, for Bomberry, I dont think the referee saw the initial fighting and caught Bomberry as the second man in – sad but good call

Steve Priolo – Cross Checking – From the start of the play Priolo was giving the Vegas player small cross checks and then took it too far. I am not sure what Steve had against this guy, but he really wanted to cross check him – good call

Chase Fraser – Cross Checking – This was a weaker call. It was a cross check, but it was not a hard on and it was low on the players back. Cross checks like this happen on almost every possession – bad call

Brandon Robinson – Fighting/Instigating/Game Misconduct – Gagliardi hit Byrne up high after a shot clock violation. Robinson saw Byrne’s head snap back and he went to the ground. Robinson ran over to defend his teammate. After a small tussle both players agreed to fight. I do not understand why Robinson had extra penalties tacked on to him – bad call

Overall, the referees called a good game. The Bandits need to do a better job learning not to illegally cross check all the time. I was not thrilled with how the call went towards Brandon Robinson at the end of the game, but other than that the rest of the calls were pretty good.

5/7 – good calls