The Buffalo Bandits punched their ticket into the postseason in convincing fashion with a 15-5 win over the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday night at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo has now won six straight and has done a complete turnaround since early in the season, when there were questions about whether the Bandits would be sellers at the trade deadline. They now sit in fifth place in the standings, trailing the Georgia Swarm (11-6) for a chance to host a playoff game.
The loss was also a bit of a blow for the Warriors. Despite already clinching a playoff spot, they drop to 11-5 and into a three-way tie for first place with the Saskatchewan Rush and Colorado Mammoth.
The dynamic duo of Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith struck again. Byrne led the Bandits with four goals and six assists, while Smith finished with two goals and seven assists. Matt Vinc stopped 22 of 27 shots, while Evan Constantopoulos played the final 3:58 and stopped all four shots he faced.
Credit goes to Buffalo’s defence, which kept Vancouver’s high-powered offence in check. Adam Charalambides and Marcus Klarich combined for four of the Warriors’ five goals. Keegan Bal was held to one goal and one assist, while Curtis Dickson managed just two assists.
It was an off night for Christian Del Bianco, who stopped 32 of 45 shots before being pulled for Connor O’Toole. O’Toole stopped nine of 11 shots in relief.
First Quarter
It was a strong start for Vancouver, as Charalambides opened the scoring just 43 seconds into the game.
Buffalo responded quickly, with Joe Resetarits finding the back of the net at the 3:53 mark.
Charalambides added his second of the game at 4:20 to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
However, Buffalo closed the quarter on a two-goal run. Smith scored at 5:13, and Ian MacKay added a power-play goal with 1:59 remaining to give the Bandits a 3-2 lead at the first break.
Second Quarter
Buffalo struck immediately, as Dylan Robinson scored just eight seconds into the quarter to extend the lead.
Vancouver answered right back, with Bal scoring 34 seconds in to make it a one-goal game.
Klarich then beat Vinc at 2:16, tying the game 4-4.
But that’s when things unraveled for Vancouver. Resetarits scored 37 seconds later to spark a four-goal run for Buffalo.
Byrne capped off the quarter with a natural hat trick, scoring at 3:17 off a feed from Smith and adding goals at 5:59 and 1:45, giving Buffalo an 8-4 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
Things went from bad to worse for the Warriors in the second half, as they were outscored 7-1 and Buffalo pulled away.
Clay Scanlan, an unsung hero for Buffalo’s offence, scored 1:46 into the third quarter.
Klarich responded at 3:32 to make it 9-5.
Kyle Buchanan added another with 8:34 remaining in the quarter to give the Bandits a 10-5 lead.
Fourth Quarter
Byrne scored just 19 seconds into the fourth quarter off a feed from MacKay, but tempers quickly flared.
Ten seconds later, Zack Belter and Jackson Suboch exchanged punches and received roughing penalties, with Suboch also getting a misconduct. Thomas Whitty and Reid Bowering were also assessed dead-ball fouls following a tussle down on the turf.
On the power play, Buchanan scored at 2:50, and Smith added another at 3:18.
Resetarits made it 14-5 at 5:15, and the physical play continued. Off the ensuing draw, veterans Matt Beers and Steve Priolo dropped the gloves.
Later, with 3:58 remaining, Nick Weiss was called for an illegal cross-check and roughing. Owen Grant responded by fighting Weiss.
After things settled down, MacKay scored with 3:03 left to seal the win, as the Bandits prevailed in convincing fashion, 15-5.
Top Scorers
Buffalo Bandits
- Josh Byrne — 4g, 6a
- Dhane Smith — 2g, 7a
- Ian MacKay — 2g, 4a
Vancouver Warriors
- Adam Charalambides — 2g, 2a
- Marcus Klarich — 2g, 2a
- Curtis Dickson — 2a
- Keegan Bal — 1g, 1a
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