The Buffalo Bandits return to Buffalo fresh off a two-game road trip to San Diego and Saskatchewan, having won both games and maintaining a one-game lead over the Rush. Next up for the league-leading Bandits is a bout with the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center.
The game will be broadcast on CW23 and TSN and streaming on ESPN+. The local radio broadcast can be found on 1520 AM. In Canada, watch the game live on either TSN+ or the new NLL+ streaming platform.
Here’s everything you need to know before the cross-border matchup:
Last Time Out
The Bandits beat Saskatchewan 9-7 on Saturday in a matchup between the top two teams in the NLL.
The Rush opened the scoring before the Bandits scored back-to-back goals. Saskatchewan responded with four consecutive goals to take a 5-2 lead in the second quarter.
Chase Fraser answered before halftime to make it 5-3 and give the Bandits momentum. Buffalo capitalized on this, scoring three goals in the quarter to take its second lead of the game at 6-5.
The Rush tied it 6-6, but three Bandits goals in five minutes gave Buffalo a 9-6 lead that proved insurmountable for Saskatchewan, even with a last-minute goal and a late comeback push.
The Great Dhane
Dhane Smith has been tearing up the passing lanes with an NLL-high 63 assists this season. His 83 points trail only Rochester’s Connor Fields (84) for the league lead.
In every game but one this season, Smith has recorded five or more assists, and before the last two games against the Seals and Rush, he had notched eight or more points in every game this season.
At Smith’s current assist (6.3/game) and point (8.3/game) pace, he would eclipse both of his single-season records set in 2024 (101) and 2016 (137), respectively, with 113 assists and 149 points.
Saturday Night Shootout?
Saturday’s matchup between Buffalo and Calgary has the potential to be a high-scoring affair.
Despite their modest nine-goal output in the win at Saskatchewan on Saturday, the Bandits still top the league in scoring with 14.4 goals per game. The Roughnecks rank fourth with 12.58 goals per game, just .14 goals per game behind Halifax and Philadelphia, who are tied for second.
Calgary, 6-6 this season, has grown accustomed to high-scoring games. They haven’t scored fewer than eight goals this season and only have scored single-digit goals in two of their 12 games. They’ve also demolished opponents at times; on Feb. 16, the Roughnecks beat the Las Vegas Desert Dogs 21-8 in their highest scoring game of the season.
Before Saturday’s game against the Rush, the Bandits’ season-low goal output had been 13 in the Dec. 28 home opener against Rochester.
Home Sweet Home
Three weeks removed from their most recent home game, the Bandits finally return to KeyBank Center.
They’ve enjoyed great success at their home arena, scoring 15.2 goals per game and allowing just 11.4 en route to a 4-1 record – the only loss came in overtime Feb. 15 versus San Diego.
Scouting Calgary
Calgary has three of the top offensive players in the league in Curtis Dickson, Dane Dobbie and Jesse King.
Dickson and Dobbie are first and third in the NLL in goals with 33 and 31, respectively, while King is tied with Josh Byrne for sixth in assists (50). Dickson and King are seventh and eighth in points in the league with 76 and 69, respectively.
Calgary is suspiciously even in both record (6-6) and goal differential (151 scored, 151 allowed). However, its 12.58 goals allowed per game are third most in the league, which could bode well for Buffalo’s potent offense.