Snap...The Buffalo Bandits Are Back in the Playoffs

It was Marvel Super Hero Night in Banditland, but the Bandits decided to play the villain as they defeated the Vancouver Warriors 15 to 5. This game had everything a fan could hope for between two heavyweight fighters, including multiple fights. It was a close one early, as the teams went back and forth exchanging goals. The Warriors tied the score 4-4 with 12:44 remaining in the second quarter. That was as close as the score would get, as the Bandits went on to score the next five straight and never looked back.  

This was the best the offense has looked since the fourth game of the season. For a long time, it was missing a piece after the departure of Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier. That piece seems to have been found as Joe Resetarits (3g, 1a) had his best game as a Bandit. It has taken him a few games to settle in, but it looks like he is starting to find his rhythm. Ian MacKay (2g, 4a) had one of his best games as well as he shifted back to being a full time forward. With those two players cemented in the offense, it is the most complete the offense has looked all season. Josh Byrne (4g, 6a) had a season high in points as he remains red hot. Byrne has at least 7 points in every game during the six-game win streak. Before that, he had no more than 5 points in a 6-game span as the Bandits lost 5 of 6 games. It simply goes to show how much Josh Byrne means to this team. Sure, that’s a bit of an obvious take, but with the offense reeling a bit he is needed this year more than ever. Dhane Smith (2g, 7a) had quite the game himself recovering from a two-point game, his lowest point total time since 2022. Tehoka Nanticoke (0g, 3a) has gone goalless in the past two games, but he has continued to play his role well. He was able to draw a holding penalty that led to a goal and created a brush pick to give Resetarits the time and space he needed to score. Clay Scanlan (1g, 0a) and Byrne continue to work the pick and roll game which seems to be good for multiple opportunities and at least one goal a game. The league’s best power play went up against the league’s best penalty kill and the Bandits came out on top scoring on 3-of-5 chances. I don’t know if the Bandits will be able to replicate quite this level of success, especially against such an incredible opponent, but hopefully this is a sign of what’s to come for the Bandits offense. 

Matt Vinc only allowed five goals in this game and had an 81.5 save percentage. Thos are both incredible numbers. However, he was only asked to make 22 saves. A lot of that credit goes to the defense. It is not often that I feel the defense outplayed Vinc, but that is exactly what happened. Vinc still had a great game, the defense had a better one. Keegan Bal (1g, 1a), Curtis Dickson (0g, 2a) and Jesse King (0g, 0a) combined for only one goal. The Bandits ability to limit Vancouver’s shooting, especially from those three, was impressive. The defense also had 13 blocked shots and 12 caused turnovers. Some of those turnovers did come on the faceoff, but the Bandits were able to pressure the Vancouver offense into tough situations. The Warriors were able to get very few inside looks on Vinc. To add to the great game the penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5. Evan Constantopoulos came into this game with 4 minutes remaining and was able to make 4 saves on 4 shots. At that point the game was over, but Evan looked much more comfortable seeing NLL action for the second time in his career. The defense has been on a heater holding teams to 10 goals or less during the win streak and has allowed 8 goals, 7 goals and 5 goals in the last three games. Similar to the offense, if the defense can continue this hot run, the Bandits will be tough to beat.  

Going up against the league’s best team, the Buffalo Bandits showed that they are all the way back. This was the best the Bandits have looked all year. The Vancouver Warriors had an off night which tipped the scales a bit more in Buffalo’s favor than I would expect from these two teams. However, the Bandits outmatched the Warriors in every aspect of the game. The Bandits now have two games remaining against teams that are likely out of the playoffs while Buffalo fights for a home playoff game. They cannot take their foot of the gas as they continue to ramp up to 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.          

Christian Del Bianco 

Inside – 6 

Mid-Range - 0 

Outside – 7 

Transition - 1 

*3 goals were on the penalty kill      

*0 empty net goals  

*2 goals against Connor O’Toole - 1 outside, 1 inside 

Matt Vinc           

Inside – 2 

Mid-Range - 0 

Outside – 3 

Transition - 0 

*0 of the goals were on the penalty kill        

Goal 1 – Weiss was up picked on the play and instead of switching off Dawson stayed on his man and Weiss lost his. Charalambides finds himself open on the back side of the net for an easy quick stick (D) 

Goal 2 – Another player Weiss loses on a switch off, nice pick and go move by Vancouver 

Goal 3 – De Snoo gives Bal too much time and space as he finds his spot over Vinc’s shoulder (D) 

Goal 4 – Hard outside shot by Klarich, fools Vinc just a bit and he looked like he wasn’t quite ready, needs to be saved (V) 

Goal 5 – Klarich runs on the field full sprint, no one picks him up and he shoots a wicked shot as he streaks across the top  

1/7 on Vinc      

2/7 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 – 3-5 on the PP         

Warriors – 0-5 on the PP              

T. Whitty – Holding the Stick – Whitty loses his stick while defending and decides to try and steal the other player’s stick to use instead – good call 

Not Sure – Illegal Substitution – Isn’t shown on the broadcast but from the quick replay I remember seeing, the Bandits player had one foot on the field and one in the transition box, he was the 6th player at that time with no other player in the transition zone. If the play does not result in a goal, I am not sure it is called, but given that it did, it was the correct call – good call 

S. Priolo – Illegal Body Check – The Vancouver player sold this well as it was initially called a 5-minute major, reduced to a 2-minute minor. Would have loved to see the 2-minute minor on Priolo and a dive by Vancouver added. I don’t blame the refs for sticking with at least the 2-minute minor – good call 

I. MacKay – Illegal Body Check – It was a hard shoulder to shoulder hit but with everything happening in the game it needed to be called – good call 

4/4 – good calls     

The referees did a great job in a very heated contest between two great teams.