Joe Resetarits scored the game-winning goal with 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Josh Byrne recorded a game-high seven points as the Buffalo Bandits beat the Saskatchewan Rush 8-7 at SaskTel Centre on Saturday.  

It was the second straight comeback performance by the Bandits. Buffalo erased a four-goal deficit last weekend to beat the San Diego Seals 9-8 in overtime and this time, the Bandits scored four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to win their fifth straight game.  

The Bandits (9-6) swept the regular-season series against the Rush with another game filled with heroics. Kyle Buchanan – who moved into ninth all-time in Bandits history with 121 goals – Dhane Smith, Byrne and Resetarits registered four goals in 7:57 as the Bandits erased a 7-4 deficit with just under nine minutes to play.  

The Bandits have won six of the last seven games against the Rush and the last five on the road as Byrne continued his dominant stretch. Byrne has 38 points in his last five games with at least seven points in each contest.

Byrne tied it at 7-7 with 2:41 remaining and Resetarits’ first goal of the game came in the final minute. The Bandits had seven different goal scorers including Ian MacKay, who had three points, and Smith, who was held to just two points. Smith was held pointless until he scored to make it 7-6 in the fourth quarter.

BUFFALO JOE WITH THE GAME WINNER! 🥵#LetsGoBandits | @NLL pic.twitter.com/F2r8VsvSCR

— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) March 29, 2026

The Bandits trailed 5-3 at the half and 5-4 entering the final quarter. They allowed just two second-half goals and the Rush matched their fewest number of goals in any game this season despite entering with the highest-scoring offense in the NLL. 

It was vintage Matt Vinc for Buffalo as he made 44 saves including 16 in the fourth quarter. Vinc fended off multiple late-game power-play opportunities from the Rush including a penalty to Paul Dawson with 26 seconds left for illegal equipment after the officials confiscated his stick.  

Dawson led the Bandits with 10 loose ball recoveries, Cam Wyers had five blocked shots and silenced a Rush team that had just one player record a multi-goal game.  

Robert Church had a pair of tallies and Zach Manns had a team-high four points for Saskatchewan who were unable to support their goaltender Frank Scigliano in a 35-save performance.  

Notably, the Bandits were without Connor Farrell who had taken every faceoff this season. In his place, Mitch de Snoo (0-for-11), MacKay (0-for-2) and Dylan Robinson (3-for-6) combined to go 3-for-19 against Jake Naso.  

The Bandits opened the scoring 3:58 into the contest on Priolo’s fifth goal of the season off a rebound as MacKay pushed the pace in transition. The Rush led 2-1 after the first quarter on goals from Church and Manns.  

The Rush rattled off four straight goals, including two in 24 seconds amid a Bandits scoring drought of 16:33 that was finally snapped by Clay Scanlan. Byrne’s goal with 2:13 left in the half cut the Bandits deficit to 5-3 but the Rush had five different goal scorers and 12 players recorded at least one point.  

It took until 13:37 into the third quarter for a team to solve the Vinc and Scigliano riddle but MacKay scored his 20th of the season to make it 5-4. The two aforementioned goaltenders went save for save as MacKay’s goal was the lone tally in the third stanza despite a breakaway from Scanlan and a one-on-one opportunity by Resetarits being denied by Scigliano.  

Dawson was given four minutes worth of penalties 1:28 into the fourth quarter. Two minutes for delay of game – blocking a shot in the crease – and two more for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after he said something to the official on his way to the box. 

The Rush scored twice on the power play with the first goal from Shanks that ended a scoring drought of 21:21. The Rush hadn’t scored since the 11:08 mark of the second quarter before taking a 7-4 lead with the pair of power-play tallies.  

Buchanan brought the Bandits back within two with a highlight-reel dunk goal that he tucked behind Scigliano to make it 7-5 with 8:43 to play. Smith’s first of the game came 47 seconds later and the Bandits scored twice in the final 2:41 to win.  

Nick Weiss returned to the lineup after missing the last two games due to injury and he recorded six loose ball recoveries. Tyler Hendrycks made his Bandits debut after being acquired at the trade deadline from Calgary.  

Up next  

The Bandits return to KeyBank Center for a rematch with the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday, April 4. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.