Buffalo Bandits Find Their Rhythm
On a late Sunday night, the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Calgary Roughnecks 13 to 7 in their most complete game of the year. It took Buffalo over two and a half quarters to hit their stride as they outscored the Calgary Roughnecks 7 to 2 in the final 21 minutes to take the win. The defense and Vinc held the score close until the offense could get things going for a complete team victory.
This was the best offensive performance the Bandits have had this season. It may have taken most of the game for them to truly get going, but once they did, they didn’t look back. The Calgary Roughnecks defense did faulter down the stretch. However, the way the Bandits were scoring impressed me. The tick tack toe style goals showed the chemistry that the offense is beginning to build. The offense accounted for 11 of the 13 goals scored by Buffalo. Josh Byrne (1g, 7a) and Dhane Smith (3g, 6a) contributed 4 of the 11 goals. That isn’t nothing, but it shows how well the rest of the offense performed. Kyle Buchanan (2g, 3a), Clay Scanlan (2g, 0a), Tehoka Nanticoke (1g, 3a), Ian MacKay (1g, 3a) and Ryan Benesch (1g, 1) all got in on the scoring. The only negative I had, other than the long goal drought, was the amount of shots Nanticoke took. He is still stuck in his role from last year. He is playing well to start the season. However, as the season goes on, I have to imagine he is going to be relied on to shoot more than 3 shots on goal a game. I would like to see him in the 5-7 shots per game range. He has a good outside shot, but he doesn’t often take advantage of it or find himself in a good place to use it. Maybe the Bandits need to find a way to get him more open looks. Chase Fraser finished last season with 110 shots on goal, with an average of about six per game. Those are the numbers Tehoka is going to have to take over as the number two righty with the departure of Fraser. It may take time to figure that out. Either way, as well as he is playing to start the season, I’d like to see him shoot more often.
In a good way, there isn’t much to say about the Bandits defense. They played about as solid a game as you could ask for. The Roughnecks were able to score 13 goals against the Saskatchewan Rush and 10 goals against the Toronto Rock before being shut down by the Bandits only scoring 7, in their home opener, nonetheless. The defense played as one unit switching off picks and passing off players flawlessly. There were only a few times all game where an offensive player was able to find some space on the floor. Mitch DeSnoo (1 CTO, 17 LB) put on a master class in the loose ball department leading the team with 17. The next closest was Kiel Matisz who had 7 loose balls and led the team in caused turnovers with 2. Matisz played much better in this game than he did in his own season opener coming off injury. He will continue to grow as he gets into game shape and learns to play with some of his newer teammates. Nick Weiss continued his hot start to the season by scoring his first two goals of the year in transition. Weiss has six points already in the first three games. That puts him on pace to beat his 26-point performance from last season by 10 points. It seems like the entire defense has found a bit more pep in their step since DeSnoo arrived. DeSnoo has never been a transition point monster, but he is also not shy about pushing the pace and getting the ball up the floor quickly. Steve Priolo and even Paul Dawson have had multiple chances in transition to start the year with a few crease dives among both. Like the defense, Matt Vinc had a solid performance. He wasn’t asked to do too much, but when they needed him to come up with a save, he did. He made the 40-save performance look easy.
The Bandits special teams had a quietly great night. The referees kept their whistles in their pocket for the most part as only five penalties were called all game. The Bandits power play went 2-for-2 with some great set up plays. It was nice to see them have a few different looks. Even when they didn’t score, they had some incredible opportunities. They have now scored on 5 of their last 7 power play chances. Hopefully they can continue this momentum throughout the season. As for the penalty kill, the Roughnecks were able to score one goal on their 5-minute power play. After that, the Bandits shut down their final two chances. Even though it only counts as killing off 2 of the 3 power play chances, it is closer to 3 of 4. The Bandits used a few different looks with their new personnel, and the changes worked well to keep the Roughnecks off balance. Even without being able to stand in the crease and block shots, the Bandits penalty kill has been lethal. In fact, the Bandits are currently on pace to block more shots this season than they did last season.
The Calgary Roughnecks did not play a great second half. Even still, the Bandits made the most of the opportunity with a dominant second half performance for their second win of the year. I don’t think the Bandits have found their ideal lineup yet, with some starters like Zach Belter still injured, and I don’t think they have hit their stride. However, this game was a great step forward to building team chemistry while getting a much-needed early victory.
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.
Aden Walsh
Inside – 10
Mid-Range - 2
Outside – 1
Transition - 2
*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill
*0 empty net goals
Matt Vinc
Inside – 2
Mid-Range - 4
Outside – 1
Transition - 2
*1 of the goals was on the penalty kill
Goal 1 – Transition – Matisz and Wyers missed an easy loose ball leading to a 3 on 1 for Calgary giving them a wide-open look right in front of the net (D)
Goal 2 – PP Goal – Priolo got picked giving Pace a lane on his off-side as he picks a corner over Vinc right shoulder
Goal 3 – Transition - This goal that appeared to go off Wyers and past Vinc during a great transition opportunity for Calgary
Goal 4 – Vinc was screened a bit on the shot, but it looked like one he should have had (V)
Goal 5 – Dickson slips past Whitty, receives a pass and buries on in tight
Goal 6 – Pace finds an open spot in the middle of the floor, gets the ball and buries a heavy shot
Goal 7 – Outside shot from Cook but a well-placed bounce shot, hard to stop
1/7 on Vinc (V)
1/7 on the defense (D)
Challenges by the Bandits – 0/1
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 – 0-5 on the PP
Calgary – 0-4 on the PP
T. Nanticoke – Elbowing – Nanticoke ran on the field and immediately hit the Calgary player in the head with his elbow. It wasn’t brutal but it was enough for a major – good call
C. Wyers – Holding Stick – Wyers rips the stick out of Pace’s hands – good call
2/2 – good calls
The only questionable call was the 5-minute major that was called on Nanticoke. I thought this could have been reduced to a 2-minute elbowing penalty after it was reviewed. However, the league is trying to eliminate these types of hits to the head, so I understand the call. Otherwise, the referees did a nice job in an otherwise calm game.