Tehoka Nanticoke scored the game-winning overtime goal while Matt Vinc made 47 saves in his return to the lineup to lead the Buffalo Bandits to a 15-14 overtime win over the Saskatchewan Rush on Friday.
The Bandits came out on top in the back-and-forth affair after Nanticoke got open on the crease and scored on a quick-stick finish in overtime as the Bandits improved to 6-6 in the 2023-24 campaign.
Vinc, who missed the last two games due to injury, posted six saves in the extra quarter to keep the score tied at 14-14 prior to Nanticoke’s game winner. With his 47 stops, Vinc became the Bandits’ all-time saves leader, passing his goalie coach Anthony Cosmo.
Coach John Tavares was impressed with his netminder’s performance in the win.
“I thought he was great in regulation, but I thought he was even better in overtime,” Tavares said. “And they had quality shots in regulation time. I thought he was a stud in net today.”
The Bandits and Rush exchanged goals throughout the game as neither team ever led by more than a goal. The game featured 14 ties, which accounted for the most in NLL history.
Faceoff specialist Connor Farrell made his debut for the Bandits, ending his night 27-of-33 at the faceoff dot to halt the Rush momentum each time they scored with a faceoff win.
Josh Byrne (4+7) and Dhane Smith (3+7) led Buffalo with double-digit nights while Nanticoke (4+2) notched a season-high six points, including his game winner. Ian MacKay, who played defense in the second half after Justin Martin went down with an injury, tallied a goal and four assists.
Chris Cloutier (3+0), Chase Fraser (0+3), and Kyle Buchanan (0+2) also posted multi-point performances.
The Rush were led in scoring by a Robert Church sock-trick as the forward tallied six goals and two assists to lead his team. Ryan Keenan (3+4) and Patrick Dodds (2+4) followed closely behind. Frank Scigliano backstopped the Rush with 40 saves.
A swift transition led to the first goal of the game when MacKay found Nanticoke streaking in from the box to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead, but Saskatchewan found the back of the net twice to take the lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bandits answered early in the second after Farrell won the faceoff and was held by Mike Messenger in the process, sending Buffalo on the power play. Smith scored 20 seconds into the man advantage for the Bandits’ first power-play goal of the game.
The offensive units continued to go back and forth from there, exchanging tallies in the second and third, including a handful of highlight-reel goals.
Buffalo’s first goal of the second half came from between the legs of Cloutier as he caught a pass from Smith and drove to the hole, bouncing off two defenders while switching hands to beat Scigliano five-hole.
CLOOCH BETWEEN THE LEGS. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/nbj0ZO5DAx
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) March 9, 2024
Josh Byrne scored the next two for Buffalo to put them up 8-7, which was the Bandits’ first lead since the opening minutes of the game. His second was a contortion act on the crease to both catch and shoot in one fell swoop.
This is just too smooth. 😮💨#LetsGoBandits | @Joshbyrne94 pic.twitter.com/O5GnsIxQiu
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) March 9, 2024
Vinc made 11 saves in the fourth quarter, but the Rush scored with 31 seconds remaining to force overtime. He stopped all six shots in overtime to earn his sixth win of the season.
“Vino was Vno tonight,” Smith said. “Obviously, he’d like a lot back but in overtime he shut the door and he’s ‘Matty Ice’ for a reason.”
Here’s more from the win.
Farrell’s first NLL game
In addition to his commanding win percentage at the faceoff dot, Farrell also registered 19 loose-ball recoveries in his debut. Tavares thought that adding the faceoff specialist made a difference in the game.
“It’s a huge difference,” Tavares said. “Whether you’re going to either try to stop a run when you get possession or you want to continue a run. Like for example if you’re down by one, you can get the ball to score. … He did a great job.”
Farrell was all smiles following his first game in Banditland.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen anything like that before, that was nuts and I’ve never seen a crowd go that crazy it was unreal,” Farrell said.
Next Time Out
The Bandits will get ready for another home matchup as they will host the league-leading Toronto Rock on Saturday, March 16.