For The Buffalo Bandits It’s Time to Panic
The Buffalo Bandits did the unthinkable and lost to the last place Philadelphia Wings by a score of 13 to 11. No game is a guaranteed victory in the NLL. However, entering this game the Wings had won only one once all season and had scored just 7 goals in three straight games. The Bandits entered the game under .500, on a three-game losing streak, and playing at home. There was simply no way the former champions would drop this game...but they did.
The Bandits started hot on offense scoring three goals in the first five minutes to take a 3-0 lead. That is where the fun stopped for Buffalo. They would not score again in the first quarter and lost the lead headed into the second. The rest of the game was back and forth as Buffalo would only score eight more times in the final 55-minutes. Dhane Smith (2g, 5a) led the team in points and in shots on goal with a career high of 22. Ian MacKay (3g, 2a), Tehoka Nanticoke (1g, 0a) and Josh Byrne (0g, 4a) tied for second on the team with 7 shots on goal each. Byrne started the season with 9 goals in his first 4 games. In the last 4 games, he only has 3 goals, and none have come in the first half. I am not sure if it’s an injury that is bothering him or teams are focusing all their attention to shutting him down, but whatever it is the Bandits need him to find his scoring touch again and fast. The secondary scoring has not been consistent either. Last game, despite the massive loss, Nanticoke had his best game of the season finishing with two goals and three assists while looking confident. In this game, he had one goal and no assists. On the other hand, MacKay had his second hattrick of the season and added two assists to go with it. Secondary scoring isn’t expected to perform at elite levels every game, but the highs and lows are too much without enough consistent scoring across the board, especially with Byrne struggling. The 11 goals they scored was better than their last three games and 4 of their 7 games. It is a step in the right direction, but that’s easy to say against a team that has one win on the year.
As unimpressive as the offense has been recently, the defense has joined them in the last two games. As I mentioned earlier, the Wings had scored just 7 goals in three straight games. Their offense was averaging under 10 goals a game having scored over 10 goals just three times, and only once reaching 13 goals. The Bandits have a talented defense, and Matt Vinc is still one of the best goalies in the league. There was simply no excuse for them to allow the number of goals they did. The Wings were able to get inside on the Bandits with ease. Most of the goals allowed were from the inside or mid-range. The “Buffalo Bandits Rule” may not be affecting their shot blocking abilities, but it does look like it is affecting how the defense plays. The Bandits used to stand in the crease, block shots, and when a player tried getting inside, they would step out and meet them. Now, the opposing forwards can step around the Bandits' defenders, and the backside help is not there. A great example of this was the Wings 12th goal when Kyle Jackson started on one side of the field, ran all the way around the entire defense, got inside and beat Vinc with a diving goal. If this was last year's defense, I simply don’t see them allowing that to happen. I’m not sure if the defense is a touch to slow or the system is taking time to adapt to the new rule. Hopefully when Mitch De Snoo makes his triumphant return, everything will go back to normal, and the defense will dominate once again!
The Buffalo Bandits have lost four straight games, have a record of 3 and 5, and sit in the 11th place with a brutal rest of season schedule. That is the bad news. The good news, the team in 6th place has only a .500 record, and the Bandits still have one of the best rosters, on paper, in the NLL. I fully believe the Bandits need to be in panic mode at this point in the season with everything that has happened. However, if they turned it around and went on a run, I wouldn’t be shocked. This team has gone to five straight championships. They know what it takes to win. I thought this would be the game that would get them on the right path, but maybe it’s next week. Lose to Halifax though and you’re in serious trouble.
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.
Nick Damude
Inside – 7
Mid-Range - 3
Outside – 1
Transition - 0
*1 of the goals was on the penalty kill
*0 empty net goals
Matt Vinc
Inside – 5
Mid-Range - 6
Outside – 2
Transition - 0
*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill
Goal 1 – An outside laser from O’Neill with a screen from Dawson. O’Neill pulls a little fake shot to get Vinc to move just enough before unleashing the shot
Goal 2 – SHG – Great team play shorthanded by Philly who finds Buffalo Joe streaking to the net and buries it with a sneaky shot.
Goal 3 – SHG/Transition - Dominey appears to switch hands on this shot, but one Vinc should be able to have from a tough angle (V)
Goal 4 – PPG – O'Neill whips another hard shot between the blocks of Dawson and Wyers. It looks like Dawson screens Vinc again
Goal 5 – Dhane caught on defense, no one picks up O’Neill as he comes on the floor and he throws a heavy twister for the goal (D)
Goal 6 – Sowers finds a way to get around Wyers and Weiss, drive to the net and beat Vinc inside (D)
Goal 7 – The defense allows Jackson to sneak behind them as he gets a wide-open look on top of the crease and beats Vinc (D)
Goal 8 – Belter gets beat to the inside by Sowers who beats Vinc (D)
Goal 9 – LeClair beats Dawson who slides late, gets a lane to the net and scores a fade away interesting shot (D)
Goal 10 – PPG – O'Neill with another great powerplay shot and goal that just gets past Vinc, or does it
Goal 11 – Dawson attempt to block the shot instead of challenging the shooter and Sowers get an outside shot past Vinc (V)
Goal 12 – Jackson runs around Weiss, gets inside and scores (D)
Goal 13 – Robinson gets beat 1 on 1 and Sowers once again scores inside (D)
2/13 on Vinc
7/13 on the defense
Challenges by the Bandits – 0/1
The Bandits challenged the no-goal call against MacKay’s behind the back shot in the fourth quarter. After watching the replays on the broadcast, the referees were correct, the ball never crosses the line – good call
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 – 2-5 on the PP
I. MacKay – Delay of Game – MacKay was in the crease and did look like he was attempting to make a save on the shot by Philly – good call
Z. Belter – Holding – Belter wraps his arm around the Wing’s player’s head and drags him down to the turf – good call
T. Nanticoke – Roughing – I can see what Nanticoke was doing and what the referees saw, but Nanticoke was pushed in the back and fell into the Philly player. This was a very weak roughing call – bad call
T. Nanticoke – Goaltender Interference – Bad penalty by Nanticoke in a close must win game. He clearly hit Damude while Damude was in the crease and trying to grab the ball – good call
S. Priolo – Illegal Crosscheck – Player going for the ball jumped in the air and Priolo cross checked him in the back – good call
4/5 – good calls
The referees did a pretty good job in this game. However, the official review on MacKay’s first no goal I felt they got wrong. It is tough to see exactly when the ball crosses the line and when Ian’s foot hits the crease, but from the angles I saw it looked like a good goal. Outside of that, I had minimal complaints about the calls. The referees were not the reason Buffalo lost the game.