The Buffalo Bandits came up short in their season opener, and following an early bye week, the Bandits aim to get their first win of the season against their division rivals, the Toronto Rock this weekend.

The Bandits will face off against the Rock at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario on Saturday at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+ and 1520 AM.

Buffalo dropped its first game of the year to the Albany FireWolves 11-10.

“We’re feeling recharged, refueled, refocused to make a good run here and make sure that we can bounce back against a very good Toronto team,” Bandits forward Josh Byrne said.

Byrne opened the season with five points (2+3).

Toronto will come into Saturday’s game with a 1-1 record after defeating the Vancouver Warriors in Week 1 and losing to the Rochester Knighthawks the following week.

“Whenever there’s a Buffalo-Toronto game, it’s always going to be intense, and a lot of fun for the players to play in,” Byrne said. “No matter what, it’s always going to be entertaining.”

Toronto’s statistical leaders are forward Tom Schreiber, who is first on the team in points (11), assists (7), and shots on goal (28), forward Stephen Keogh, who leads the club in goals (5), and goalie Nick Rose who has started both games for the Rock.

Rose has racked up 85 saves with an .830 save percentage and a 9.00 goals-against average.

Both sides of the chippy rivalry will be fired up on Saturday as the Bandits look for their first win of the season, while Toronto hopes to put their record above the .500 mark.

“I personally love playing in these games, they’re fun. Rivalry games are always a ton of fun” Byrne said. “It’s also always cool to see Banditland travel a little bit. Just going over the border to Hamilton into enemy territory and adding a little bit of backup. Bandits fans wearing their hearts on their sleeves, that’s always probably the most fun.”