After a sluggish first half, the Buffalo Bandits came into the second on a mission against the Philadelphia Wings. Buffalo scored six goals in a row to open third quarter to erase a two-goal deficit and propel them to a 13-9 win over Philadelphia on Friday at Wells Fargo Center.
The Bandits’ comeback was led by Dhane Smith (2+7), Josh Byrne (1+4), Kyle Buchanan (2+2), Brad McCulley (1+3), Dalton Sulver (2+1) and Tehoka Nanticoke (3+0).
The Wings’ effort was spearheaded by Joe Resetarits (1+5), Ben McIntosh (3+2), Matt Rambo (2+2) and Blaze Riorden (2+1).
Bandits goaltender Matt Vinc made 45 saves on 54 shots while Philadelphia netminders Zach Higgins and Angus Goodleaf made 44 saves on 56 shots, and 3 saves on 3 shots, respectively.
The Bandits are now 5-2 on the year and will look to get wins on back-to-back nights when they play again on Saturday against the New York Riptide at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Buchanan was the first to go on the scoreboard Friday night, scoring his 200th career goal at 14:11. The Wings would score three in a row shortly after with tallies from Sam LeClair and two from Riorden.
With just one minute and seven seconds left in the first quarter, Nanticoke would cut the Wings’ lead to one. The Bandits trailed Philadelphia 3-2 going into the second quarter.
Higgins stood on his head in the first, stopping 16 of 18 shots in the first 15 minutes of action.
The Wings then went on a 3-0 run to go up 6-2 until Brandon Robinson scored with 0.4 seconds remaining. He received a precise pass off the boards from Josh Byrne and tallied on a wrap-around.
The Bandits trailed 6-3 going into the second half, with the shots on goal tied 28-28.
In the second half, the floodgates opened. Buffalo outscored Philadelphia 10-3 in the final two quarters, starting with six straight to open the third.
Byrne, who led the NLL in goals heading into the night, didn’t score until there was 7:40 left in the third, but he still ended up with five points on the night.
McIntosh finally ended the Bandits 7-0 run with his second of the game with just 1:50 left in the quarter. The Bandits would lead the Wings 9-7 heading into the final frame.
Rambo’s second of the game would bring the Wings closer to a tie, but contributions from Brad McCulley and Nanticoke would further the Bandits lead. Nanticoke’s tally came after a ferocious drive to the net, earning himself a hat trick.
The spin. 👀 The dive. 😲 The goal. 🤯@Tehoka1 | #LetsGoBandits pic.twitter.com/dR8hIwTdj2
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) January 28, 2023
The Wings bookended the scoring in the fourth quarter, first getting within a goal thanks to a goal by Rambo to make it 9-8.
However, a run of goals from McCulley, Smith, Nanticoke and Nick Weiss sealed the victory. McIntosh closed out the scoring with a goal with 25 seconds left.
The Bandits have a short turnaround before their next game. Faceoff against the Riptide to wrap up their back-to-back set is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and 1520 AM.