The Calgary Roughnecks faced off against the Buffalo Bandits at Key Bank Centre Saturday night in the first of a home-and-home series. Calgary came in on a two-game losing streak, looking to get back above the .500 mark. However, they would have to do it without the services of forward Dane Dobbie, who was put on Injured Reserve prior to the game. Buffalo entered the game at the top of the Unified Standings at 9-1, having won two of their last three.
Calgary got a sock trick from Curtis Dickson and hat tricks from three other players, outscoring Buffalo 7-2 in the fourth quarter for a dominant 17-11 win. The Bandits suffer their second straight home loss and fall to 9-2, but remain ahead of second-place Saskatchewan (10-3) on percentage points and the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Rush. The Roughnecks improve to 7-6 and jump to sixth place in the standings.
Calgary takes slim halftime lead behind hat trick from Cook
Dhane Smith opened the scoring with his 400th career goal (3:16). Ian MacKay followed (6:43) for a 2-0 Bandits lead. Calgary responded with Tanner Cook going back-to-back (12:33; 13:58) to level the game a 2-2 after one quarter of play. Buffalo pushed the lead back to two in the second quarter on goals from Josh Byrne (1:09) and Tehoka Nanticoke (4:23). Cook netted his hat trick goal (9:28), but Byrne’s second (10:25) put Buffalo back up two, 5-3.
Calgary then took the lead with a three-goal run. Tyler Hendrycks, acquired in the trade for Nick Rose, scored his first goal in a Roughnecks uniform in transition (10:57). Curtis Dickson (12:17) tied the game, and Brayden Mayea (12:32) put Calgary up 6-5. Dhane Smith scored with 33 seconds left to tie the game, but Dickson scored his second with just three ticks left on the clock to put the Roughnecks up 7-6 at halftime.
Calgary second half
Kyle Buchanan (5:34 third quarter) tied the game at 7-7. A power play goal from Jesse King (8:37) and Dickson’s hat trick goal (9:32) then put Calgary up two. However, a botched pass on the ensuing faceoff allowed Buchanan to score unassisted eight seconds later. Nanticoke (11:53) then used a brilliant spin move to evade an oncoming defender and tie the game, 9-9. Dickson tacked on his fourth goal of the night with just under a minute remaining to put Calgary up 10-9 going into the fourth quarter.
King pushed the lead to 11-9 with his second goal (0:58 fourth quarter), but Chase Fraser quick-sticked a feed from Byrne (2:05) to cut the deficit to one. The Roughnecks responded as Dickson netted his fifth goal just 31 seconds later, and King tallied his hat trick (4:43 power play) for a 13-10 lead. Clay Scanlan (5:33) tip-toed the crease to score for Buffalo and close the gap to two.
Unfortunately for the Bandits, their offense would go silent the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Roughnecks went on a four-goal run to close the game. Dickson scored his sock-trick goal (6:41), Mayea netted two more (7:57; 12:04), and King scored his third power play goal of the evening (11:29). Bandits goaltender Matt Vinc was pulled after Mayea’s last goal in favor of Steven Orleman. These teams will go at it again next weekend in Calgary.
Other Stats of Note
Calgary: C. Dickson (6g, 2a), King (4g, 6a), Mayea (3g, 3a), Cook (3g, 2a), Hendrycks (1g, 2a), Tyler Pace (7a)
Buffalo: Byrne (2g, 3a); Smith (2g, 2a); Buchanan (2g, 2a); Nanticoke (2g, 1a); Fraser (1g, 2a); Scanlan (1g, 1a)
Nick Rose (CGY): 43 saves
Faceoffs: CGY 22; BUF 10
Power Play: CGY 3 for 6; BUF 0 for 2
