The Buffalo Bandits Flip the Script
The Buffalo Bandits defeated the San Diego Seals by a score of 13 to 12 to split the season series between the two teams. Just like last week, the Seals had the last meaningful possession of the game with a chance to tie the score. This time however, the Bandits locked it down and held on for the win. The Bandits may have been lucky that Zach Currier missed the game, the Seals hero from last week, but we’ll never know.
The game on offense reminded me a lot of the game against Toronto last weekend. The dynamic duo was helpful, but not as electric as they usually are. Josh Byrne (1g, 5a) and Dhane Smith (2g, 2a) scored only 3 of the 13 Bandits goals. Kyle Buchanan (3g, 1a) led the team in shots and goals on the night, including the game winner. He has found a niche for himself on the offense sneaking around and getting lost by the defense, often finding himself wide open in front of the net. Besides that, the team did a great job spreading the offense around with six players having at least one goal, including Steve Priolo (1g, 1a) and Clay Scanlan (1g, 2a). Scanlan did a nice job when given the opportunity on offense, once again doing the dirty work, setting picks and clearing lanes for the left side. The biggest issue with the offense was the sloppy play at times. Slipping on the turf is one thing, but the missed passes and mis communication was uncharacteristic for the Bandits. To end on a positive note, the Bandits longest goal drought was only 8 minutes and 11 seconds, any time that number is under 10 minutes is a good thing. They also have yet to score under 13 goals in a game all season.
I had mixed feelings about the defense in this game. On one hand, they did a great job getting in shooting lanes and blocking shots all over the place. Paul Dawson had an incredible game and led the team in blocked shots with 5. As a team, the Bandits finished the game with 15 blocked shots. For comparison, last weekend the Bandits had 7 blocked shots against the Toronto Rock and 9 blocked shots against the Seals. They did a great job in general as I had only two goals credited against the defense. Steve Priolo had one of his best games of the year scoring 1 goal, 1 assist, to go along with 10 loose balls, 2 blocked shots, and 1 caused turnovers. Last game, Wes Berg beat the Bandits 5 times, this game, he only beat them twice. The problem I had with the defense was allowing Tre Leclaire (4g, 1a) and Dylan Watson (3g, 3a) to beat them for 7 goals. The Seals were without Ryan Benesch and Zach Currier, missing quite a bit of offensive fire power between them. Leclaire and Watson are both up and coming players in the league and are good for two goals each on a good night against a tough Bandits defense. Allowing secondary pieces like that to beat you for seven goals is not good enough. Matt Vinc allowed a few goals he would want back, especially the shot from far out at the beginning of the third quarter. However, he saved his best for last playing an incredible fourth quarter allowing only one goal, and only two goals during the final 28 minutes of the game. During the final two minutes, he made countless big saves to keep the Seals from tying the game. Credit to Zack Belter for making a save late in the game. There was a shot that snuck past Vinc after a rebound, but Zack was there to keep it out. The defense and Vinc have a few things they need to tighten up, but overall, they played a good game.
Either the power play has found its footing, or they simply have the Seals number. In the two games against the Seals the Bandits went 7-of-11 on the power play, which is a 63% conversion percentage. Heading into the game the Bandits were only converting 40% of their opportunities on the season. I believe they also scored on a 6-on-5 delayed power play opportunity as well. I mentioned this in my last article but, two stats I would love to see, which we never will, is goals scored with an extra man on a delayed penalty and power plays not converted when given less than one minute on the power play. Either way, hopefully this is a positive sign for things to come for the Bandits power play unit.
As the snow melts in Buffalo, the Bandits were able to stop their losing streak at one, before letting it snowball into more. However, if the Bandits play the same way they did against the Seals, against the Saskatchewan Rush next weekend, the game may end up with a different outcome. The dynamic duo needs to be in full force, the defense needs to tighten up, and Vinc cannot allow any weak goals. If the Bandits play a complete game to the best of their ability, I don’t think any team can touch them. Now, they need to go out and execute in their biggest game of the year.
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.
Chris Origlieri
Inside – 7
Mid-Range - 4
Outside – 2
Transition - 1
*3 of the goals were on the penalty kill
* empty net goals
Matt Vinc
Inside – 4
Mid-Range - 6
Outside – 2
Transition - 1
*3 of the goals were on the penalty kill
(D-Defense, V-Vinc)
Goal 1 – Vinc may have been a bit screened by a Seals player and the ball sneaks in
Goal 2 – Martin lost sight of Leclaire for a just a second and the Seals made a great play on a quick stick goal
Goal 3 – Belter gets beat in a 1v1 situation, Leclaire with a great physical finish (D)
Goal 4 – Long shot just sneaks through Vinc, looks like Vinc wanted it despite it being a good shot (V)
Goal 5 – Man up at the end of the first leads to some quick passing and a nice shot by Jackson
Goal 6 – PP goal – Watson snuck in close and put a lot of power on a nicely placed shot
Goal 7 – PP goal – An identical play as the last power play goal. Watson finds himself in a nice spot to step into a hard shot and beats Vinc
Goal 8 – Not the best defense by the offensive players sprinting on the back check, but a nice goal by Logan
Goal 9 – Obviously Vinc cannot allow a shot from that far out (V)
Goal 10 – PP goal – Berg given too much time and space and finds his spot
Goal 11 – Great run to the net and goal by Leclaire
Goal 12 – Not the best defense by LaRoue and Martin who were caught between two players allowing a clean shot by Leclaire, but a save Vinc should make (D, V)
3/12 on Vinc
2/12 on the defense
Challenges by the Bandits – 1/1
The Bandits challenged the no goal call against Scanlan due to Byrne still being in the crease as the ball crossed the line. Upon review, it was determined that Byrne was able to establish himself outside of the crease before the ball crossed the line. This was the correct call. Fun fact, after looking into the crease violation rule, if a player’s stick is laying in the crease, it does not appear to count as being in the crease, only if it's part of their body.
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 – 3/4 on the PP
Seals – 3/6 on the PP
Dhane Smith – Illegal Substitution – it was tough to see on video, but from what I can see it did look like Dhane was a bit quick on the substitution, the referee was looking right at it – good call
Chase Fraser – Body Checking – This was a blind side body check. Fraser did get pushed into the player, but it looked like he was already on his way for the hit, the push from behind simply made it a bit bigger. The referees made the correct call downgrading this from a 5-minute major to a 2-minute minor – good call
Clay Scanlan – Boarding - This was a tough play for Scanlan. Often when two players are headed into the boards, the player closest to the boards will brace for impact. The Seals player did not do that and with Scanlan going in hard, he launched him into the boards. It is the correct call, but I don’t think it was overly aggressive by Scanlan – good call
Sam LaRoue – Holding – It was hard to see on the video, but Sam does drag the player down as he gets past him – good call
Ian MacKay – Tripping – I can see why the referee called this a penalty, but it’s not the right call. Incredible stick check by MacKay and then tripped the player after – bad call
Bench – Illegal Substitution – The Bandits forced an error because of the bad tripping penalty. Whether it was a bad penalty or not, you can’t take another one because you’re upset, undisciplined penalty – good call
5/6 – good calls
I thought the referees did a nice job controlling what ended up being a physical contest. If it wasn’t for the missed penalty on MacKay there would have been no calls in the fourth quarter, which is nice to see in a close game. There were a few questionable calls against the Seals as well. Overall, I thought they had a good game.