The Buffalo Bandits Extinguish the Albany Firewolves
The Buffalo Bandits stayed undefeated after taking down the Albany Firewolves by a score of 16-10, extending their strong season start to 6-0. The Bandits used a big first half to weather the comeback put on by Albany in the third quarter, before clamping it down in the fourth. The Bandits used a similar “strategy” in their victory against the Philadelphia Wings in their last game.
We’re right back to another typical Bandits victory. It is getting monotonous seeing this team perform so well, in the best way of course! The dynamic duo was at it again, as if anything else is new. Josh Byrne (5g, 5a) has found his scoring touch in the last three games. In the first three games of the season, he scored a combined 6 goals. In the last three games he has scored 15 goals on 35 shots, shooting at an incredible 42.8 shooting percentage. Byrne is now 3 goals behind the league lead despite playing at least two less games than the players in front of him. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Dhane Smith (3g, 7a) continued his hot start as well. Smith now leads the league in assists, in a similar fashion to Byrne, playing in at least two less games than the players around him on the leader board. One thing I did notice in this game was the offense doing a nice job with pick and rolls. It is a move that works well for a team like the Bandits who have the perfect complement of players. Dhane and Josh have great shots from the outside and both draw a lot of attention. This leaves the inside open for players like Tehoka Nanticoke (2g, 1a) and Chase Fraser (2g, 3a), who both scored on pick and rolls in this game.
The defense overall had a great bounce back game in comparison to their last two. Whenever a team goes on the penalty kill nine times in one game it is exhausting for the defenders who are consistently part of that unit. At the same time, the Firewolves were only able to score 6 even strength goals with the other 4 coming on the powerplay. The biggest issue with the defense the last two games, and essentially the entire season, has been the third quarter. In this game, the Bandits were outscored 1-4 in the third with two of the goals coming on the power play. In the Bandits game against Philly, the Bandits were outscored 3-5 in the third with one coming on the power play. As a team, the Bandits are negative 4 in the third quarter, the only quarter they have a negative goal differential. Obviously, when the team is 6-0 and have won their last two games by a combined 11 goals, it is tough to complain about one bad quarter, but maybe it is something they can work on. I do think Matt Spanger deserves some love from this game. He scored his first goal of the season, scooped up 3 loose balls and had multiple forechecks that resulted in a possession change. The last two games, prior to this one, I though Matt Vinc looked a bit off. I was not concerned about him, and it was not that he was playing bad, but he wasn’t playing as good as the first few games. In this game against Albany, I thought he looked as good as he did to start the season, making plenty of big saves.
The Bandits have played the fewest games of any team in the league and guess what, they are headed to another bye week. This will be their final bye of the year. After this, the Bandits play 12 games in 10 weeks before starting playoffs. The 6-0 start to the season was crucial before going on the exhausting run to finish the season. The Bandits coaches and players often comment on wanting to play more games in a row and they are about to get their wish. When the Bandits return, they have a double header weekend starting with a game against the surging Toronto Rock on Valentine’s Day. I have a feeling there will be no love in the building that night.
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 – 2
Mid-Range - 2
Outside – 2
Transition - 1
*1 goal was on the penalty kill
*0 empty net goals
Andrew Kidd
Inside – 7
Mid-Range - 2
Outside – 1
Transition - 0
*1 goal was on the penalty kill
*0 empty net goals
Matt Vinc
Inside – 5
Mid-Range - 4
Outside – 1
Transition - 0
*4 of the goals were on the penalty kill
(D-Defense, V-Vinc)
Goal 1 – PP goal – Nice little twister shot, the Bandits need to figure out when the guy on the crease needs to attack the incoming offensive player
Goal 2 – Pretty good defense by La Roue, a very tough angle shot sneaks past Vinc, one Vinc should have at that angle (V)
Goal 3 – Little bit of confusion between Belter and MacKay leaving the crease open for Simmons
Goal 4 – Great offensive play, Belter lost his man a bit leaving him open right on the crease, but it was a good play
Goal 5 – PP goal – 4 on 3 is always tough to defend
Goal 6 – PP goal – great shot that stings the corner
Goal 7 – The defensive switch was good enough to give little room for Longboat, but Vinc guessed the wrong way on the shot
Goal 8 – Some good ball movement from the Albany offense gets a man open for the shot
Goal 9 – PP goal – little bit of a scramble drill on this play giving Walker a good look on net
Goal 10 – Awkward quick shot around a defender from the outside that finds the upper 90 of the net
1/10 on Vinc
1/10 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 – 2-5 on the PP
Albany – 4-9 on the PP
T. Witty – Holding Stick – Witty did have the opponents stick in his hand and dropped it with two referees looking right at him. The league is cracking down on this call – good call
I. MacKay –Dead Ball Foul – MacKay clearly punches Simmons, it was not necessary. However, if you are going to call MacKay for embellishment later in the game, Simmons did quite a good sell job himself – good call and missed call
C. Fraser – Holding - Fraser knew what he did, turns out you cannot tackle players to the ground – good call
C. Fraser – Holding - I did not see a hold on this play. From the referee angle I can maybe see why he called it, but it was the wrong call – bad call
P. Dawson – Slashing – This play happened off-screen so it is tough to judge. Dawson was not thrilled with it, but he usually is not. Steve Bermel had the breakdown and did not think it was the correct call. We will go with that – bad call
C. Cloutier – Illegal Equipment – After seeing this penalty two weeks in a row go against the Bandits, I agree with Priolo, this rule needs to go away. A change of possession and stopping the play is fine, maybe a warning penalty first, if it happens again then it’s a penalty, but calling a foul on this type of play is ridiculous. Both times this was called the opposing team dislodged the Bandits player’s helmet with no call, but the Bandits are called for not playing with one – good call
I. MacKay – Unsportsmanlike Conduct/Diving - Another call that needs to go away. It is one or the other, it cannot be both. MacKay was hit just under the chin and the embellishment was not there – bad call
D. Robinson – Cross Checking – This was a horrible call on a play that happens every single shift – bad call
S. La Roue – Cross Checking – Not a great play by La Roue, he must make sure your stick does not hit the player in the head, if it misses the head, it is a legal play – good call
C. Wyers – Holding – Wyers got his stick up high and wrapped around Simmons head – good call
6/9 – good calls
I thought the referees were a bit inconsistent in this game calling some things while allowing others to go. Even if you want to say that most of the calls against the Bandits were correct, there seemed to be calls against Albany that were missed. Three of the five calls against Albany were with under 3 minutes in the game. I can’t see how one team can be called nine times, and the other team only twice. I didn’t see the Bandits playing that much different of a game than Albany. There are games when the Bandits are over aggressive and too physical, this did not seem like one of them.