The Buffalo Bandits return home for their second game of the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup against the Las Vegas Desert Dogs on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center.
The game will be broadcast locally on CW23 and streaming on ESPN+, and it’s available in Canada on either TSN+ or the new NLL+ streaming platform. The local radio broadcast is available on 1520 AM.
Here’s everything you need to know before the game:
Last time out
Matt Vinc’s 44-save performance carried the Bandits to an 11-6 win over the Calgary Roughnecks at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday, as they got revenge for their 17-11 loss the previous week in Buffalo.
Buffalo and Calgary traded goals to begin the game before the Roughnecks scored back-to-back in a 1:06 span to take a 3-1 lead. Chase Fraser scored before the end of the quarter to bring the Bandits back within one.
Buffalo scored four more goals in the second quarter, creating a 5-0 scoring run dating back to Fraser’s goal, to take a 6-3 lead while Vinc shut down the Roughnecks, making 12 saves in the quarter to give the Bandits control of the game.
The Bandits and Roughnecks scored two goals apiece in the third, making it 8-5 going into the final quarter. There, Vinc again shut down Calgary with eight saves on nine shots while the Bandits scored three times to make it 11-6.
Josh Byrne (3+3) and Kyle Buchanan (3+2) both had hat-tricks and finished with five-plus points on the night.
Playoff Potential
The Bandits can clinch a playoff spot for the fifth consecutive season with a win against Las Vegas on Friday.
Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup
This season, a tournament aspect was added in which Albany, Buffalo and Las Vegas will each play three games to determine the inaugural winner of the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup in honor of Tucker Williams, the son of former Bandit and Las Vegas head coach Shawn Williams and younger brother of Albany FireWolves forward Dyson Williams. Tucker passed away from Burkitt’s Lymphoma on Dec. 17, 2014, at just 8 years old.
Buffalo enters its second tournament game with a chance to clinch the cup; with a win Friday versus Las Vegas, the Bandits would take the trophy home. A Bandits win would leave Las Vegas with two points (1-2 record) and no cup games remaining. Albany, meanwhile, would have one point – three behind Buffalo – with one cup game to play.
Back-to-back
For the second time this season, the Bandits are playing games on back-to-back days, as they’ll visit Albany on Saturday. Buffalo beat the Toronto Rock 13-12 on Feb. 14 on the road before losing 14-13 to the San Diego Seals at home on Feb. 15.
The Bandits will be playing Las Vegas for the first time this season. Buffalo previously played Albany on Feb. 1, earning a 16-10 win to open the Tucker Out Lymphoma Cup.
Vinc-torious
Vinc’s 44-save performance against Calgary last Saturday was his fifth game – of 12 this season – in which he’s recorded 40 or more saves. It was also his fifth game with a save percentage of 80 or better (44/50, 88 percent).
It marked his third-highest save total this season, trailing his 53-save game in the season opener at Rochester and his career-high 62 saves in the home opener versus Rochester.
Among qualified NLL goalies, he’s tied for second in save percentage (79 percent) and ranks third in goals allowed per game (10.46).
Pelting Paul
Paul Dawson has been pelted by balls this season, setting an NLL single-season record with 35 blocked shots. James Barclay previously held the record with 29 blocks in 2022-23. Dawson blocked a league-high seven shots in the Bandits’ win at Calgary on March 15.
He’s averaged 2.92 blocked shots per game as a valuable safeguard in front of Vinc’s net.
Dawson discussed the art of shot blocking earlier this season in a Q&A with bandits.com.
Scouting the Desert Dogs
The Bandits and Desert Dogs have played once in Las Vegas’ three-year history, a 14-5 win for the Bandits at Las Vegas last season on April 20.
Dhane Smith had 12 points (2+10) in the win, factoring into all but two of Buffalo’s goals. Byrne had nine points, collecting a hat-trick of goals (3) and a sock-trick of assists (6).
Las Vegas is currently last in the league with a 3-11 record, and it was eliminated from playoff contention with a 20-11 loss March 16 against San Diego.
Jack Hannah leads the Desert Dogs in both goals (32) and points (70), while Jonathan Donville leads with 47 assists.