By: Brayden Peters
BUFFALO, N.Y. - For the fifth consecutive season, the Buffalo Bandits clinched a spot in the playoffs after beating the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 13-10. Buffalo's eight unanswered goals in the first quarter was enough to help them maintain the lead, even when Las Vegas went on a six unanswered goal run in the last quarter to cut the deficit.
"It's great that we're going to be back in the playoffs," Buffalo head coach John Tavares said. "That was our first goal, our second goal is to get to first place and obviously, it's everyone's goal to win the championship. In any sport, it's hard to make the playoffs year in and year out. It takes a lot of work and effort and commitment from the guys...I'm happy I'm in Buffalo. I'm sure a lot of guys are happy to be in Buffalo. It's the best place to play and it's hard to not give it your all."
Buffalo kickstarted the scoring thanks to rookie forward Lukas Nielsen, who made his NLL debut. Nielsen, the seventh overall pick of the 2024 NLL Draft, buried a right-handed shot into the top right corner of the cage after forward Josh Byrne created a turnover with 13:53 left in the first quarter. Byrne was credited with the assist.
"I thought he did okay," Tavares said. "He's a good player, he's young...I was really happy to go up to him this morning and tell him that he's dressing because he's getting tired of the old song and dance of me telling him he's not playing. He's very understanding, very patient. He went in there, got us his feet wet a little bit, got a goal, that was nice. I thought he got through the middle and set some big picks for us, so it's nice to get him some minutes."
Nielsen's goal would be the start of the eight unanswered goal streak as the Bandits took advantage of the multiple holes and openings in the Desert Dogs' defense. Las Vegas' starting goalie Landon Kells was pulled after the eighth goal and replaced by Justin Geddie. Kells ended the night with six saves and a 42.9 save percentage while Geddie went on to record 33 saves, allowed five goals and posted a 86.8 save percentage.
Matt Vinc started in between the pipes for Buffalo as he recorded 36 saves while allowing eight goals for a 81.8 save percentage.
Byrne led the Bandits in points with eight (two + six) and his six assists were a game-high. Forward Chris Cloutier led the team in goals after posting a hat trick while adding on two assists to end the night with five points. Transition player Connor Farrell won 19 out of the 27 face-offs taken in the game for Buffalo.
A few Bandits reached personal and historic milestones in the victory. Forward Dhane Smith moved into sixth all-time in NLL assists with 782 in his career after recording five assists. He also tied former Bandits defenseman and cousin Billy Dee Smith for fifth all-time in games played for Buffalo with 192 games. Forward Kyle Buchanan's three point (two + one) night pushed him over the 200 mark for points as a Bandit. Also, transition player Nick Weiss hit the 100 mark for career assists with Buffalo after posting two in the win.
The Bandits also walked out of Key Bank Center with the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup in its inaugral season. Buffalo, the Albany FireWolves and Desert Dogs competed for the cup with the Bandits beating both squads to win it. The series honored the life of the Tucker Williams, the son of Las Vegas head coach, general manager and former Bandits forward Shawn Williams and younger brother of Albany forward Dyson Williams. Tucker Williams battled and passed away from Burkitt's Lymphoma on Dec. 17, 2014 at eight years old and the series was made to help raise awareness for lymphoma research along with pediatric oncology.
"When I was a kid, coming to this team, I didn't really understand it all too much because I was a young kid, there wasn't that much death in my family or my friends," Smith said. "I couldn't imagine growing up like now, understanding it a lot more and losing a kid, losing anybody with that being said...every game I know for myself, I write Tucker's name on my stick just to kind of remember because he fought until the end and Shawn Williams and his family are close to me..."
After Buffalo started off with eight consecutive goals to open the first quarter, the Desert Dogs ended the possibility of the Bandits getting a shutout win with 1:43 left in the frame. Forward Casey Jackson dove from behind the net and dunked the ball into the top right corner of the cage.
Jackson's goal would be the last one of the quarter. Even with the Bandits having a large lead, they were outshot 18-to-15 by Las Vegas.
The Desert Dogs started to develop a rhythm on offense slowly as they cut Buffalo's lead again with 8:14 left in the second quarter. Forward Holden Cattoni ripped a right-handed shot into the bottom right corner of the cage while Las Vegas was on a five-on-three power play.
Buffalo would steal the Desert Dogs' momentum and score three unanswered goals the rest of the way in the frame to have a 11-2 lead by halftime. Once again, Las Vegas outshot the Bandits with a 10-to-eight advantage.
The Bandits would open up the third quarter with another goal with 12:15 left in the frame. Transition player Ian MacKay dove across the crease and buried a left-handed shot into the top left corner of the cage while Buffalo was on the power play. Forward Tehoka Nanticoke and Smith were given assists on the goal.
It would be Buffalo's last goal of the quarter as the Desert Dogs made defensive adjustments. They kept the Bandits out towards the perimeter as they packed their defensemen into the middle to avoid cutters getting through to the net.
"We kind of start to slow things down, we are more of a fast paced offense," Cloutier said. "You look around, we're standing on the perimeter a little bit, just trying to find those soft spots. Whereas when we're buzzing and scoring and guys are cutting through the middle, somtimes taking two with them, leaving a guy open. It's just about movement."
Las Vegas would take advantage of their success on defense as they scored two unanswered goals before the end of the third frame to cut the lead to 12-4. Buffalo outshot the Desert Dogs 15-to-10 in the quarter.
The Desert Dogs would add onto their unanswered goal streak to start the fourth frame thanks to forward Jonathan Donville. While shorthanded on a five-on-three power play, Donville would beat his defender one-on-one to the cage and score on a right-handed shot that found the bottom left corner of the net.
Buffalo would respond as MacKay scored a power play goal less than a minute after Donville's goal. MacKay sniped a left-handed shot into the top left corner of the net with Cloutier and Nielsen picking up assists.
This would be the Bandits last goal of the game as Las Vegas went on their six unanswered goal run as the team thrived from the perimeter. The Desert Dogs' ninth goal came from former Canisius midfielder, current forward and volunteer assistant coach for the Golden Griffins Jackson Webster. He was drafted in the third round of the 2024 NLL Draft and is one of 17 Golden Griffins since 2003 to be selected in the draft.
The Desert Dogs' run wasn't enough to pull off the comeback as Buffalo hung on to win. The Bandits outshot Las Vegas 13-to-12 in the final frame.
Buffalo improved to 11-2 with the win and remains in first place in the NLL. The Desert Dogs dropped to 3-12 and sit in last place in the league.
The Bandits will be on the road today for a rematch against the FireWolves. Both teams took on each other at Key Bank Center on Feb. 1 where Buffalo came out on top 16-10. The Bandits also split their first back-to-back set of the season as they beat the Toronto Rock 13-12 on Feb. 14 and fell to the San Diego Seals 14-13 the next day. Face-off for today is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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