John Tavares held a team meeting following the Buffalo Bandits’ 11-9 loss to the Vancouver Warriors on Feb. 20. The Bandits were 4-6 with a looming contest against the Saskatchewan Rush, one of the NLL’s top teams.
The message from Tavares was simple: be comfortable winning the close ones. The Bandits responded to beat the Rush 11-10 in overtime the following weekend, a recipe they’ll look to replicate Tavares’ message when they meet the Rush again on Saturday at SaskTel Centre. Faceoff is set for 9 p.m. EDT.
“I told the guys that we’re scoring eight, nine goals a game, we have a big, strong defense, we have a great goalie, we’re gonna have to be a team that wins games where we don’t score over 10 goals,” Tavares said. “Any goal that teams are gonna get on us, we’re gonna have to make them work. Maybe the offense shows up and scores 15 goals, 14 goals one game but right now, our strategy is tight, checking games. We’re okay with low-scoring games. We need to win the 7-6, the 8-7s, 9-8s, and now we’re finding ways to do that. That’s playing a little bit more conservative, taking less chances and making them earn whatever they get.”
The win over the Rush on Feb. 27 ignited a four-game winning streak for the Bandits that continued last Saturday in improbable fashion. The Bandits erased a four-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the San Diego Seals 9-8 in overtime.
The Bandits trailed 8-4 with less than six minutes to play before scoring four goals in 5:25 to force overtime. Dhane Smith scored the game-tying goal with 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the overtime winner.
Buffalo’s defense was a catalyst for the late-game surge offensively as the Bandits didn’t allow a goal for the final 10:46. Defenseman Mitch de Snoo shined with 20 loose ball recoveries, one shy of matching the Bandits’ single-game record according to NLLstats.com.
The Bandits played to their identity prescribed by Tavares and won their third game decided by one goal this year. Tavares said his veteran-led group never quit and praised their positive approach even though a five-on-five goal didn’t come until the fourth quarter.
“That’s the benefit of having a veteran group is the guys know that game’s not over until that final sound goes, and we definitely showed it in that game,” Tavares said. “Not once on the bench were guys being negative. Guys were being positive, cheering each other on, patting each other on the back and (saying), ‘This thing’s not over, we got this.’ When you get guys that start being negative on the bench and start complaining, you don’t have a comeback like that.”
The Bandits stormed out to a 5-2 lead on the Rush in their first meeting at KeyBank Center and a first-half hat trick from Ian MacKay – who suffered an injury in the third quarter –helped Buffalo to an 8-4 halftime lead.
The Rush never led while the Bandits were ahead for 58:16. It was the only game Smith was held scoreless this season while Josh Byrne had eight points.
The Rush scored six of the final eight goals to the tie game 10-10 in the final minute before Byrne scored the game winner in overtime. It’s another rematch of the 2025 NLL Finals and Tavares said special teams will be critical against a Rush team that leads the NLL with 35 power-play goals.
“We beat him last year in the championship; they don’t need a reminder,” Tavares said. “We beat them in Buffalo this year; they don’t need a reminder. They’re going to be pumped to play against us. We need to show up there with a full team. Everybody needs to do their job. We need scoring from everybody on offense, we need to find ways to score in transition, we need to find ways to score on the power play. Prevent them from scoring a transition, prevent them from scoring on their power play. We’re gonna have to win the special team battles.”
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Smith and Byrne showing up in the clutch
Smith and Byrne were called “the best one-two punch in NLL history” by fellow forward Joe Resetarits after their 18 combined points against the Colorado Mammoth.
Smith and Byrne have lived up to that assessment as the duo have scored seven of the eight Bandits’ game-winning goals this season including each of the last seven.
Smith’s overtime winner was the 29th game-winning goal in his career according to NLLstats.com. Byrne had a game-high seven points against San Diego and continued his dominant stretch. He has a minimum of seven points in each of his last four games with 31 points (9+22) in that span.
“Those are the guys that are gonna be in position to score the winning goals and the big goals,” Tavares said. “The supporting cast has been doing a great job as well. I think Bucky [Kyle Buchanan], Tehoka [Nanticoke], they’ve been doing an amazing job themselves. When you look at our offense, there’s no hiding it, Dhane and Josh have the ball a lot, and both of them are great players, great passers. Both of them are triple threats. They can pass, they can score from the outside, they can score from the inside. Not many players have that ability.”
Where the Bandits stand
The Bandits at 8-6 moved into sole possession of sixth place in the NLL standings with their win over the Seals and are just a game and a half back of the Colorado Mammoth for third. Additionally, the Bandits are a game back of the Georgia Swarm and Toronto Rock who are tied for fourth at 9-5.
The Rush and Warriors are tied for first. If Banditland is seeking a first-round home playoff game, you’ll want to root for Ottawa against Georgia on Saturday and the Philadelphia Wings over the Toronto Rock on Sunday.
Full NLL standings:
1. Saskatchewan Rush (11-4)
2. Vancouver Warriors (11-4)
3. Colorado Mammoth (10-5)
4. Georgia Swarm (9-5)
5. Toronto Rock (9-5)
6. Buffalo Bandits (8-6)
7. Ottawa Black Bears (8-7)
8. Las Vegas Desert Dogs (6-7)
9. San Diego Seals (6-8)
10. Rochester Knighthawks (5-8)
11. Halifax Thunderbirds (5-9)
12. Calgary Roughnecks (4-10)
13. Oshawa FireWolves (4-10)
14. Philadelphia Wings (3-11)
Scouting the Rush
The Bandits ended Saskatchewan’s nine-game winning streak back on Feb. 27 and the Rush are 1-3 in their last four, including back-to-back overtime losses to Buffalo and Rochester.
Three of the Rush’s last four games were decided by one goal, the exception being a 13-9 loss to Toronto Rock on March 20.
The Rush are the only undefeated team at home in the NLL this season with an unblemished 6-0 mark at SaskTel Centre.
The Rush are also the lone NLL team with three players having 30 or more goals with Ryan Keenan (33), Robert Church (31) and Zach Manns (31). Keenan had four goals against the Bandits and he is eighth in the league with 82 points. Austin Shanks also has 25 goals and 60 points.
“They’re really good 5-on-5,” Tavares said. “They have a potent offense with multiple threats and players. You try and cover Shanks and Keenan is gonna kill you. They’re very athletic, they’re young and every week we have our work cut out for us, the guys take it as a challenge and it’s gonna be a tough game for us. We’re just gonna go and have that attitude, make them earn every goal and see if we can chip away ourselves, stay in the game and hopefully by the end we have more goals than they do.”