This is the End, no safety or surprise
On Tuesday morning, Steve Dietrich summed up a part of the Bandits 16-10 defeat to the Mammoth with an analogy relating to the 42 minutes in penalties called against his team.
“It’s like getting a paper cut on your arm, and then another one, and another, and another. Pretty soon, you’re going to say ouch.”
Admittedly, the number of power plays awarded to the Mammoth (11) created a snowball effect. Still, other facets of the team’s performance led to their downfall.
I have a conspiracy theory, but I’m keeping it in my mind, never to translate.
Everything that stands
Let’s face it. The Mammoth were the better team Monday in Ball Arena. They beat the Bandits underneath instead of challenging them to an old western town central street duo.
There were no places to be taken with a quick turnaround, shooting. No, they just stormed to the net, crashing the feet of Vinc, sometimes scoring at will.
Wait, let me rephrase from the two graphs above: The Mammoth are an excellent team with prolific goal scorers, unrelenting defense, and MVP goaltending in Dillon Ward.
No way does their 9-9 regular season record reflect what kind of talent this team has. Monday’s convincing victory was their best game of the season.
And they smirked all game long with those paper cuts.
“We need to step back and reset,” said Bandits head coach John Tavares. Period, new paragraph.
Game three, Saturday night, 7:30 PM, in front of the greatest fans on earth: Banditland!
Can you picture what will be?
Again, this club rallied 11 times from behind during the regular season, which proves the club’s character. They have played through injuries and won.
After the embarrassing Toronto loss on April 1, the team rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win the San Diego game in overtime with a classic Steve Priolo steal and winner.
They have their trusted captain in Priolo and the assisted leadership of Dhane Smith and Nick Weiss. They are, as a group, one of the best Bandits teams ever.
Smith, the playoff leading scorer (13+27=40), is averaging seven points a game and is on the way to setting a new NLL record for most points during a playoff season. All while shooting 20 percent from the floor.
Cloutier and Buchanan are averaging 4.5 points per game, and Nanticoke is averaging 3.5 goals per game and shooting 30 percent. Ian MacKay recorded a career-high 1+6 Saturday night, and Fraser has thrown his body for four.
Priolo has 22 loose balls in the series with two assists. In five playoff games, the 13-year Bandit has two goals and four assists for six points.
And Matt Vinc leads the way with a .810 save percentage and a stellar 4-1 record. Vinc was busy Monday, making 42 saves, including 24 in the first half.
Oh, and kudos to backup goaltender Devlin Shanahan with his .870 save percentage in 13 minutes of work during the playoffs.
Too, Shanahan holds the NLL record for facing three penalty shots during his 52 minutes of the regular season and playoffs service.
Having just won seven in a row, including the last three of the regular season, is quite an accomplishment. Furthermore, the Bandit’s power play is eight for nine at 89 percent. And despite the 11 Colorado power-play opportunities on Monday, the penalty kill unit went 55 percent.
The Bandits are shooting a robust 23 percent in the series. Max Adler won 70 percent of his draws Monday and now totals 147 wins in his short playoff career, just 27 shy of equaling Jay Thorimbert.
Tavares is one win away from tying Darris Kilgour for the club’s all-time playoff wins.
The end of our elaborate plans
From my perspective of game three: Exploit Colorado’s weakness with intelligence and focus. Shape the shots in the higher percentage areas with mechanics and mentality.
And, as the old saying goes: Have the skin of an elephant and the memory of a flea.
Paraphrasing from the Doors’ late Jim Morrison: “This is the end, beautiful friend. The end of everything that stands.”
If you can’t make it, watch and listen
Television coverage of Game 3 on Saturday night will be provided by the CW 23 in Buffalo, TSN, ESPN+, and TSN+. The broadcast time is set for 7:30 p.m.
Radio coverage will be WGR Sports Radio 550, and online at audacy.com by searching “WGR” and clicking the “Listen for Free” icon.
The pregame radio show will start at 7 p.m. and features a talk with Bandits head coach John Tavares and player Justin Martin.
We will have interviews and updates throughout the play-by-play broadcast with Dave Buchanan on the field level. Steve Bermel will join me in the booth from the Ted Darling Memorial Press Box.