Buffalo meets the second-place Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday in a battle for the top spot in the NLL at SaskTel Centre at 8:00 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on CW23 and ESPN+ while Canadian viewers can watch the game live on either TSN+ or the new NLL+ streaming platform. You can listen to the game on the radio locally on 1520 AM.

Here’s everything you need to know before the No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup.

Last Time Out

The Bandits beat the San Diego Seals 13-12 on Feb. 22 just a week after the Seals beat Buffalo 14-13, giving the Bandits their first loss of the season.

It was a back-and-forth game, just like the first matchup.

With two goals in the final minute of the first quarter, the Seals took a 5-4 lead into the second frame. Then, Buffalo had two different instances of back-to-back goals in the second, but San Diego kept it close, scoring thrice to make it 8-8 going into halftime.

San Diego opened up the second half with back-to-back goals, but Buffalo scored three consecutive times to take an 11-10 lead. The Seals answered again to tie it going into the fourth quarter.

Neither Buffalo nor San Diego could get much offensive traction with Matt Vinc and Chris Origlieri standing tall in both nets. Clay Scanlan scored for the third time this season to make it 12-11 before the Seals answered back with 4:49 left in the game. However, Kyle Buchanan came through with his third goal of the game to give the Bandits the game-winning goal.

Vinc held it down for the rest of the game, making five saves in the final two minutes to ensure the victory and avoid the Seals scoring in the final seconds as they had one week prior.

MacKay Magic

Since making the move from transition to forward this season, Ian MacKay has become one of the top goal scorers in the NLL, already surpassing his previous career-high of 19 goals from the 2022-23 season with 22 so far this year.

He’s averaging 2.44 goals per game and is tied for 19th in the league in goals this season even with the Bandits playing a game less than most NLL teams.

Players to Watch: Matt Vinc vs. Frank Scigliano

Between two of the top-scoring teams in the NLL, and with Buffalo lighter than usual on defense, the matchup to watch in this game will be the two goalies.

Scigliano is coming off a month of February in which he allowed single-digit goals in three of the four games he played and helped the Rush to win every game by three goals or more. He’s third among starting goalies in goals-against average (9.60) – a place in front of Vinc, who has a 10.50 GAA. He’s also tied for second in save percentage (79 percent).

After three straight games holding opponents to single digits to start the season, teams have started to see through Vinc’s magic. In the six games since, he’s allowed 75 goals but has come up clutch when needed to.

In the past two weeks against San Diego, he’s come up clutch. In the home game, he held off the Seals for multiple possessions in overtime, before ultimately allowing the game winner. Then, in San Diego, he got his revenge on the Seals with a 38-save performance, including five in the final two minutes. 

Rush Hour

Expect a close game when the Bandits and Rush meet at SaskTel Centre. In four trips to Saskatchewan, the Bandits are 3-1 with every game being decided by one goal.

In 2016, the Bandits and Rush had a barnburner in the Rush’s inaugural season in Saskatchewan, with the Bandits coming out on top 19-18. Later that season, the Rush beat the Bandits in Game 2 of the NLL Finals, 11-10.

Two years later in 2018, the Bandits won another high-scoring game, 16-15. In 2019, the Bandits won again in the lowest-scoring game of the series, 12-11.

Scouting Saskatchewan

The Rush has three 20-plus goal scorers, including Zach Manns (25), Robert Church (20) and Austin Shanks (20), all of whom have 40 or more points, as well as Ryan Keenan being second on the team in points with 48 (14+34).

Saskatchewan also has a quartet of players who cause chaos on ball handlers with four players with 10-plus caused turnovers this season. Additionally, their defenders lay their bodies on the line for their goalkeeper, with three players with 10-plus blocked shots.

Overall, the team is fifth in goals per game (12.636) and third in goals allowed per game (10.09). Meanwhile, Buffalo leads the league in goals per game (15) and is fourth in goals allowed per game (10.55).