Buffalo, NY (KeyBank Center)
For the 1st time since December 2021, the Calgary Roughnecks take on the hometown Buffalo Bandits on Fan Appreciation Night at the KeyBank Center for the best fan base in the National Lacrosse League “Banditland”.
Some key player(s) too watch out for on Calgary, Tanner Cook, Jesse King, and goalie Christian Del Bianco, and for the hometown Bandits, Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Chase Fraser and goalie Matt Vinc. With a win tonight, the Bandits will clinch a playoff spot and remain in the hunt for the #4 seed in the NLL playoffs which means having a home playoff game at the KeyBank Center. The Roughnecks are 7-9 and currently 9th in the unified standings and just one game behind the New York Riptide for the 8th playoff spot.
One of the Buffalo Bandits best 1st quarter’s of the season leading Calgary 4-0 on 2 special teams goals (Shorthanded & Powerplay) by Chase Fraser & Nanticoke on the PP.
The Buffalo onslaught continued in the second quarter with the Buffalo Bandits outscoring Calgary 5-2 and leading 9-2 at half time and the Bandits have been strong on both sides of the rink this evening before a very loud sell out crowd at the KeyBank Center. Buffalo’s Josh Byrne tonight scored his 50th goal of the season along with 3 assists for 5 points in the 1st half.
Much better 3rd quarter for the visiting Calgary Roughnecks who outscored the Bandits 3-2 to cut Buffalo’s lead to 11-5 with 15 minutes to go in this important National Lacrosse League game for both teams in terms of the playoff picture.
The Bandits would go on and defeat the visiting Calgary Roughnecks (7-10) by a score of 14-7 before a sell out crowd of over 19,000 fans at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. The Bandits were led by Josh Byrne (who scored his 50th goal of the season) along with 5 assists for 7 points, and the Great Dhane Smith with 1 goal, 6 assists for 7 points along with the hardworking Chase Fraser with 4 goals and Bandits goalie Matt Vinc, perhaps played his best of the season with his 47 saves and only allowing 7 goals to Calgary.
The Buffalo Bandits have clinched a playoff spot in the upcoming National Lacrosse League playoffs at 10-7 and currently are the #5 seed so they would have to start the 1st round on the road unless Georgia loses this weekend to the Rochester Knighthawks at home and the Bandits needing a road win at the Las Vegas Dessert Dogs on Saturday, April 20th at 10 pm EST/7pm PST.
I attended the post game media call with Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares who was pleased with his team’s effort on both sides of the rink and with player’s Chase Fraser and Josh Byrne and you can view my interviews courtesy of my You Tube Channel.
Special thank you to Ryan Slabowski, Media Communications with the Buffalo Bandits for my media opportunities covering the Buffalo Bandits home games this season at the KeyBank Center.
For more information about the Buffalo Bandits you can visit their official website at: https://bandits.com/ and the National Lacrosse League’s official website at https://www.nll.com/ and of course my website https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay
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