The Oshawa FireWolves scored the first seven goals of the game and Alex Simmons had a game-high seven points to beat the Buffalo Bandits 12-8 at Tribute Communities Centre on Saturday. The Bandits’ seven-game winning streak ended with the loss.
Buffalo (11-7) would have clinched a home playoff game with a win. Instead, the Bandits will need the Georgia Swarm to lose to the Rochester Knighthawks on Sunday to secure an opening-round game at KeyBank Center.
The Bandits went scoreless for the first 25:17 of the game. Dhane Smith finished with a team-high six points (2+4), Josh Byrne had five points (2+3) and Joe Resetarits had a hat trick.
The Bandits went 3-for-6 on the power play. Oshawa went 4-for-6 with the extra man despite Buffalo entering with the second-best penalty kill in the NLL. Dawson Theede had a hat trick and Tye Kurtz had five points for the FireWolves.
Buffalo’s first goal came with 4:43 remaining in the second quarter as Resetarits scored on the power play to make it 7-1. The Bandits’ offense stalled as they were without Tehoka Nanticoke for the second straight game as well as Clay Scanlan, who was injured in the fourth quarter last game against Rochester and placed on injured reserve on Saturday.
The Bandits were also silenced by Oshawa goaltender Doug Jamieson, who made 44 saves. Jamieson held the Bandits to just one goal in the third quarter despite Buffalo having a seven-minute power play. Smith had two goals on 17 shots while Ian MacKay was held without a point for the first time this season.
The FireWolves held a 1-0 lead after the first quarter before expanding their lead to 7-0 with six goals in a span of 7:24. Simmons, Ryan Benesch and Kurtz – who scored back-to-back goals – were part of the goal-scoring flurry for the FireWolves.
The Bandits responded in the latter stages of the first half with four straight goals to cut the halftime deficit to 7-4. Resetarits’ tally was followed by consecutive goals from Byrne and a power-play goal from Smith, who surpassed Mark Steenhuis for second all-time in Bandits history with 449 goals.
Oshawa scored the first two goals of the third quarter and led 9-4 until the Bandits had a seven-minute power play as Emerson Clark had a two-minute penalty for slashing and a five-minute major for roughing after punching Thomas Whitty. Kyle Buchanan scored the lone goal during the extended man-up as the Bandits trailed 9-5.
Dylan Robinson was issued three penalties in the fourth quarter. Smith scored shorthanded on Robinson’s slashing penalty but Dyson Williams scored 15 seconds later to make it 11-7. Robinson was then assessed a two-minute illegal cross-check and another two for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving Oshawa a four-minute power play with 7:10 remaining.
The Bandits had a two-minute power play with just over three minutes left but a holding penalty to Cam Wyers with 1:38 left hampered the comeback chance.
Nick Weiss – who didn’t play against Rochester – returned to the lineup. Weiss had two assists and a team-high 11 loose ball recoveries. Steve Priolo tied Mark Steenhuis for second all-time in Bandits history with 254 games played.
Connor Farrell dominated in the faceoff dot with an 18-for-25 mark and had 10 loose ball recoveries.
Up next
The Bandits await their opponent for the opening round of the NLL Playoffs. Stay tuned to Bandits.com and team social channels for updates.