The Buffalo Bandits entered the fourth quarter last Saturday trailing the San Diego Seals 7-3 without a five-on-five goal. The Bandits’ backs were against the wall down by four with 5:26 to play.
What happened next was a collection of events that led to one of the most improbable comebacks in any NLL game this season as the Bandits surged with five straight goals to beat the Seals 9-8 in overtime.
Dhane Smith had the game-tying goal with 44 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the overtime clincher, Josh Byrne had a game-high seven points and Kyle Buchanan had three loose balls, one of which changed the complexity of the game.
The previous largest deficit the Bandits faced in a win this season was one. The Bandits led for only 43 seconds compared to the Seals’ total time in front of 44:50.
Byrne said it reminded him of Game 2 of the 2024 NLL Semifinal series against the Toronto Rock in which the Bandits erased another four-goal, fourth-quarter lead to win.
“It’s a combination of trust and belief,” Byrne said. “At the end of the day we know what we’re capable of. We know that realistically we probably shouldn’t have been down by that much but also understanding we have the players and the firepower on the offensive end to go on a run like that and just score in bunches and score quickly. But also on the back end to lock it down as well, they give us the ability to go on a run.”
Here’s the plays and perspectives from the Bandits’ craziest win of the season.
Q4, 2:46 left: San Diego 8, Buffalo 6
Clay Scanlan was left alone after rolling off a pick and caught a pass from Byrne before going airborne to cut the deficit to 8-6. That style of goal has become a staple of Scanlan’s offensive repertoire as he often dives across the crease to score.
After Scanlan scored, Kyle Buchanan trotted back to the restraining line to help corral any loose ball generated by Connor Farrell off the faceoff.
Buchanan took a glance at the scoreboard inside Pechanga Arena and realized the Bandits were alive.
“I do remember just a certain point in the game of looking up and seeing 8-6 and seeing the time on the clock,” Buchanan said. “I thought to myself, ‘Alright, we have enough possessions here to at least get a couple of chances at both making it a one-goal game and tying it up.’… That’s sort of the time for me when I looked at the clock and said, ‘Alright, we got a good chance now.’ Our defense was doing a great job at that point so I knew we’d be getting the ball back.”
Q4, 1:02 left: San Diego 8, Buffalo 7
Buchanan was right, the Bandits’ defense was in large part the catalyst for their late-game surge as San Diego didn’t score for the final 10:46.
Matt Vinc made a stop with just over a minute to play and he made the long run to the Bandits’ bench to go 6-on-5.
The Bandits buzzed the ball around and Tehoka Nanticoke was unmarked as he cut to the middle of the floor right in front of Seals goaltender Christopher Origlieri. Ian MacKay dished it to him and Nanticoke rattled it off the crossbar but across the goal line before the ball jetted back out onto the floor, creating conflicting calls from the officials and initiating an automatic review.
The call stood and the Bandits were down by a goal with a minute left. Buchanan said the Bandits were better in the waning minutes getting players through the middle and noted that they were able to wear San Diego down defensively.
Nanticoke’s second goal of the game came 1:44 after Scanlan’s. Nanticoke – who head coach John Tavares called the Bandits’ “most consistent offensive player” – maximized his chance with Byrne and Smith drawing the attention of the San Diego defense.
“He does a lot of the little things very well,” Byrne said. “On a lot of those six-on-fives, we normally draw up some type of play for either Dhane or I to get a shot, so I think it was a pretty good call for JT to call that play to have him just sneak into the middle there and get a dunk.”
Q4, 59.7 seconds left: San Diego 8, Buffalo 7
Farrell leaned over the ball at the faceoff dot going up against San Diego’s Trevor Baptiste, who leads the NLL in faceoff percentage (74.8 percent) and faceoff wins (258).
Farrell jumped on the ball quicker after the officials whistle, and he excavated the ball off the floor. He ran away from Baptiste after winning the faceoff clean and Tavares called timeout with 59.7 seconds left.
Farrell bumped chests with defenseman Thomas Whitty, who was first off the bench to celebrate, and he shared fist bumps with his teammates who recognized the impressive win.
Smith said Farrell’s win “changed the momentum for us” and Buchanan echoed his long-time teammate, saying Farrell has come up clutch throughout the season.
“He’s been huge for us lately in pretty big games,” Buchanan said. “In Vancouver, he did a good job, a game against [Jake] Withers, and Halifax he did a good job. … He’s been great for us and some big wins when we needed it. That’s why you have a guy like Connor to try and get those possessions when they matter most. He’s done that for us recently.”
Farrell’s faceoff win was when Byrne knew the comeback was taking even greater shape for the Bandits, who slowly drained the energy from Pechanga Arena.
“There’s such limited time and you’re just trying to score as quickly as possible,” Byrne said. “All of a sudden, we were down by one, and you look up and you’re like, ‘Oh, we got some time here, we’re down by one, we can make this happen.’ You feel they’re like, ‘Oh no,’ so they’re playing a little timid and we’re playing confident, a little cocky. It’s just one of those things where you’re like, ‘Hey, if we get a good look here, I bet you money it’s gonna go in.’”
Q4, 44 seconds left: San Diego 8, Buffalo 8
What Tavares drew up in that huddle however, didn’t go to plan.
Smith’s pass intended for Buchanan was deflected and the loose ball rattled around in the corner as two San Diego players converged on Buchanan including Zach Currier, a two-time NLL Transition Player of the Year who’s second in the NLL with 162 loose ball recoveries.
“I knew he was out there and I knew that it was a possession that we had to get,” Buchanan said. “… When that was a broken play, I was trying to do everything I could to get over there and get that. That’s part of my job. It’s nothing like a crazy pat on the back. It’s what you should be doing in those situations and what I pride myself on. Was fortunate to come up with that, and when I scooped it, Dhane had space so I was able to flip to him.”
Smith and Byrne both raved about the 13-year NLL veteran Buchanan, who’s spent the last five seasons in Banditland. The latter said that if Buchanan didn’t come up with that loose ball, the game is likely over.
“It’s the game,” Byrne said. “They get it and they’re calling timeout. If not, the ball is in the hands of a really athletic and well-versed player in Currier and we’re just trying to put on a full out press without a goalie. All it takes is one guy to break coverage, and the ball is in our net and we’re going home pissed off. In my eyes it was the biggest play of the game. … I truly believe he’s going to go down as one of the best off-ball players of all time. His IQ is just on another level. To see him have the motor that he has and be buzzing around as much as he has, I can’t even tell if he’s 35 or if he’s 42. He’s an integral piece to who we are.”
“He’s so good at picking those loose balls up that it gets unnoticed,” Smith added. “On that play, people are starting to notice how big of a part he is on our team, not just picking up loose balls, but bringing the energy, bringing great leadership, and putting the ball in the back of the net. He’s done such great things for my career and I can’t thank him enough. That was a huge loose ball for our team. We needed it more than anything.”
Buchanan plucked the loose ball chest high and took a check as he dished it off to Smith to save the possession. Smith fired it to Byrne and the two played catch as Smith caught the pass and got a clean look on net before releasing a bouncing shot past Origlieri to tie the game with 43.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
It was the second consecutive 6-on-5 goal the Bandits scored as Smith – who was held scoreless until the third quarter – said the ball didn’t end up in his intended target, but it found its way into the net.
“I had three guys in front of me so I was trying to shoot around them and I was trying to shoot the bottom corner,” Smith said. “I think the goalie thought I was shooting the bottom corner and for some reason my stick might’ve hooked a little bit and went five hole, which he’s very good at stopping in the middle of his feet. It squeaked through.”
OT, 11:01: Buffalo 9, San Diego 8
Byrne and Smith have been the catalysts for late-game heroics and the duo has combined for seven of the eight game-winning goals this season. Heading into overtime, Smith and Byrne joked to each other amid their shared look knowing the game rests on their shoulders.
“It was like, ‘Alright we got here, let’s finish it,’” Byrne said. “There’s no reason of doing all that work to get back and not finish it off. Dhane was going out the D door in the first and third and then pushing transition. I made a joke to Dhane like, ‘Gey, you gonna go out the D door this overtime?’ We were both laughing and he was like ‘God, no,’ and I was like, ‘Let’s go finish this man, enough is enough.’”
The Bandits had multiple opportunities in overtime including outside shots from Smith and a wide-open look from Byrne who was one-on-one with Origlieri before losing the ball.
The Bandits’ defense continued to stand tall as Steve Priolo blocked a shot and rifled the ball up the floor to Buchanan who once again danced around a chasing Currier.
“I came off the bench and caught the ball and Currier was there trying to pressure and chase me around a bit, so I was able to weasel out of that,” Buchanan said. “I looked up and I saw a matchup that I liked for Dhane so I flipped him the ball. I knew he was tired, but I yelled at him, ‘Let’s go!’ … I just tried to give space for him and create a one-on-one with him and the defender.”
Smith buried the winner off Buchanan’s feed.
“I thought he was going to pass it to me because two plays before that, he tried to pass to me and it got tipped,” Buchanan said. “When I saw him set his feet, I knew he was shooting the ball. He was right in the middle of the floor, and I know he missed a couple five hole so I thought he’s gonna go far side and he did and buried it. I got all the confidence in the world in 92 shooting the ball.”
Smith said he wanted to slow the pace down but Buchanan continued to cut through the middle and drifted to the far post to pull his defender with him. The subtle move won’t go in the box score but it opened up the middle of the floor for Smith.
“If it wasn’t for [Buchanan], I wouldn’t have been able to put that ball in,” Smith said.
Smith added he passes the ball on that play 60 percent of the time and Byrne said he was surprised Smith held onto it. Smith was matched up against Seals defenseman Graydon Bradley and he jabbed with his left foot to create space, crossing up Bradley before rocketing a bounce shot to the bottom right corner.
“My jab step has been kind of patented for my career,” Smith said. “It’s just natural. Sometimes I just try to not do it, and it just happens that way that I was able to do that.”
“Sure enough, he goes to the 1, 2 signature step and finished it off,” Byrne added. “I feel bad for their D guy because he got put on a poster.”
Nanticoke and Buchanan were the first two on the floor to greet their overtime hero while Byrne was still on the bench. After the ball went in, there was pandemonium on the Bandits’ end of the floor as the orange and black streamed off the bench to celebrate while Byrne took a second to breathe.
“I was huffing and puffing on the bench because I got stuck playing defense the shift before,” Byrne said. “I thought, ‘Oh no, this game is gonna end with me on defense.’ I was doing everything that I could to not be a liability out there and then just get to the bench. I took a seat as they were going on to the floor. … ‘I’m like, come on, please, please, boys, please.’ And then as I look up, Dhane’s shooting the ball, and it goes in and I’m like ‘Oh, thank God.’ … I think Dhane wanted to take it in his own hands and make sure that we were going to be able to ride off in the sunset, which I’m thankful he did.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that I want to have the ball in my stick in those moments,” Smith said. “Whether I’m the one shooting the ball or making a play, I definitely want those moments to fall on my shoulders.”