A raucous sellout crowd at KeyBank Center was treated to an instant classic as the Buffalo Bandits took down the Saskatchewan Rush 15-6 in a winner-take-all Game 3 to claim their third straight National Lacrosse League championship.
The win gives the franchise sole possession of the most all-time league championships with seven. They had previously been tied with the Toronto Rock and Philadelphia Wings with six. The Bandits have also become the second NLL team ever to complete a "three-peat," joining the Rochester Knighthawks, who won three straight championships from 2012-2014. Current Bandits goaltender Matt Vinc was part of the accomplishment during his tenure in Rochester.
FIRST QUARTER
Same as it ever was: Saskatchewan won the opening draw and scored the game’s opening goal, this came on their first possession of the game with a dunk from behind the net from Austin Shanks. That dampened the energy inside KeyBank Center after the pregame festivities had downtown Buffalo rocking.
Three minutes later, Josh Byrne snuck behind his defender, flew down the slot, and tossed in the equalizer as he crashed into Rush goalie Frank Scigliano. But the celebration was short lived, as Byrne was assessed a major penalty for goaltender interference after the ball crossed the line. Upon further review, the officials reduced the penalty to a minor penalty. On the proceeding powerplay, just sixteen seconds later, it was Shanks for Saskatchewan again with a long distance shot through the legs of the unaware Bandits’ goalie Matt Vinc.
Shanks’ second of the night gave the visitors the lead once again. Before the teams could line up for the following faceoff, one of the shot clocks broke down, leading to a six minute pause in the action, which killed all of the Rush’s momentum.
After the lengthy delay, Dhane Smith got the juices flowing again, knotting the game at two on the next possession for Buffalo. A media timeout and three minutes later, Zach Manns pulled off a nifty swim move to get around his defender and give Saskatchewan the 3-2 lead. You could feel the intensity picking up, with each player giving everything they had in the tank; there was not taking it easy and feeling each other out in the opening quarter.
With a nifty shot fake, Chris Cloutier got his defender to bite, leading to an easy runway directly to the net, and the Bandit forward got the crowd on its feet again, tying the score at 3-3.
The sellout crowd of over 19,000 began to clamor for the Bandits to take the lead for the first time, chanting, “one…two…three… We want four!!” However, the fans had to wait, as the opening fifteen minute quarter came to a close, tied at three.
SECOND QUARTER
Just under two minutes into the second quarter, the NLL Offensive Player of the Year, Byrne, ripped a shot from long range, off a no-look feed from Kyle Buchanan, sparking Buffalo to their first lead of the game, 4-3. Sixty-eight seconds later, Ian MacKay capitalized on a beautiful defense-to-offense transition tally to extend the Bandits’ lead up to 5-3. The avalanche of offense continued for Buffalo, with another goal eighteen seconds later, with Byrne’s hat trick tally giving the Bandits their largest lead in any game this series, 6-3, three minutes into the second period.
After a long minute and a half drought without a goal, Kyle Buchanan got crafty two possessions later, adding another marker from long range for Buffalo, to lead 7-3.
Frank Scigliano, the NLL’s goaltender of the year, was pulled by the Rush in favor of their backup goaltender. On the proceeding possession, Saskatchewan ended the Bandits’ run, with Robert Church scoring his first goal of the game. That cut the lead down to 7-4 for Buffalo.
Scigliano was put back between the pipes for the Rush.
Matt Vinc stole the spotlight for a couple Buffalo defensive possessions, but the Saskatchewan captain cut into the deficit again with a bouncer off the turf to beat Vinc from the left side, making it 7-5. After another media timeout, Church notched his second of the game, streaking down the middle of the floor, ripping a quick shot past Vinc. Just like that, the Buffalo lead was only one goal, 7-6, with four minutes left in the half.
With each Saskatchewan possession from there on out in the first half, the Rush were methodical, and earned themselves another power play, as Paul Dawson took a penalty with 3:30 left. The Bandits killed that off, with good defensive positioning leading to multiple forced turnovers on the Rush.
As the shot clock was off, the Rush had a chance with just seconds left in the half, but Matt Vinc denied Mike Messenger at the horn, sending Buffalo to the locker room on top 7-6
THIRD QUARTER
The third period began with Chase Fraser scoring yet another disgusting goal, going behind his back with one hand on a no-look, backhand goal, extending Buffalo’s lead up to 8-6 less than two minutes into the second half. On the Bandits’ next offensive trip down the floor, Byrne scored his fourth of the game, with a long distance shot ripped past the legs of Scigliano. Byrne came close to adding another on the next possession, but Scigliano robbed him going side-to-side to keep the score at 9-6 Buffalo.
Both defenses tightened up for the next five minutes, with Vinc shutting the door on every Rush chance, even with some impressive diving saves. Building on the momentum built from the defense, “The Great” Dhane Smith blasted a side-arm bouncer past Scigliano to match Buffalo’s largest lead on the night, up 10-6, with 6:28 left in the third.
Chris Cloutier made Buffalo’s 11th goal of the night, and his second, look easy. Through a screen, the southpaw unleashed a rocket from the restraining line and beat Scigliano. The crowd was having an all out party as the media timeout hit, with the Bandits in complete control, but 11-6. Saskatchewan hadn’t scored in fifteen minutes of playing time.
After the break, Buffalo doubled up on their opponent, when Dhane Smith turned the corner at the top of the key and looped another bouncer past Scigliano, from high to low, putting the Bandits on top 12-6. Buffalo was in complete control, with their faceoff specialist Connor Farrell winning an overwhelming majority of the draws in the third frame, keeping the momentum wearing orange and black.
With 2:05 left in the third, Cloutier scored again, his third of the game, and Buffalo’s 13th as a team, with his leg injury seeming to be a thing of the past. 13-6, Buffalo, led, with Vinc and the Buffalo defense standing strong to end the quarter, blanking the Rush out of halftime.
FOURTH QUARTER
Fifteen minutes of lacrosse separated Buffalo from the “three-peat” and their seventh NLL Championship in franchise history.
Similarly to game one, the Bandits went into a defensive mode, defending their seven goal advantage with poise as one would expect of the back-to-back champs. Unlike every other quarter this game, no goals were scored in the first five minutes of the final frame. Scigliano made some calm, collected saves on long distance shots, a major difference from the third quarter. However, Buffalo, as one of the best defensive teams in the National Lacrosse League all season, gave no room for the Rush to work in the offensive zone. Steve Priolo and Paul Dawson were seemingly everywhere for the Bandits on defense.
Seven minutes into the final quarter, Chase Fraser was called for a penalty, just the fifth infraction called all game. On the power play, Saskatchewan was still unable to solve Vinc and the Bandits defense. Two big saves from in tight in the first possession of the man advantage were daggers from Vinc.
After the penalty expired, Buffalo’s Buchanan scored his second of the night, with another high-low shot from far out, putting Buffalo up 14-6.
Time slowly ticked away, with the Bandits just fine with the clock clock getting down to the final few seconds each possession. The old adage “defense wins championships” certainly felt true at KeyBank Center, with the Rush scoreless since the four minute mark of the second quarter.
The under-four minute media timeout hit, sending Banditland into a fever. It felt reminiscent of when the Buffalo Bills beat New England in a playoff game, scoring a touchdown on every drive: nothing could go wrong for Buffalo, and the fans knew it, celebrating the Championship as the game was still going on.
Cam Wyers scored his first career playoff goal with just over three minutes left, the cherry on top of a perfectly executed second half for Buffalo. The defenseman added to Buffalo’s lead, up 15-6.
Buffalo’s defense proved elite, shutting out the high-scoring Rush in the second half, to win game three of the NLL Finals 15-6, claiming the Bandits’ third consecutive championship.
POSTGAME AWARDS
The Final Most Valuable Player award was given to Buffalo's Ian MacKay, who had one goal and two assists and game three, part of a seven-goal, twelve-point Final series.
