Bandits move within a win of three-peat

By Budd Bailey

The better team doesn’t always win a competitive sporting event.

However, the best player often winds up on the winning side.

Exhibit A for all of that came on Friday night in the KeyBank Center, when the NLL Finals began before 16,761. The Saskatchewan Rush probably had an overall edge in play, jumping out right from the start and staying with the Buffalo Bandits, the two-time defending champions, throughout the game.

But the Bandits still had Dhane Smith, who took over the game when his team needed him to do so. The forward had three goals and two assists in the third period, when Buffalo took the lead for good. The Bandits went on to a 12-10 victory to take the first game of the best-of-three series.

Smith has been great in the postseason in the past. That’s why he passed his coach, John Tavares, as the NLL’s all-time leading scorer in the playoffs along the way Friday. But this might have been one of the great clutch performances in his career. He carried the Bandits on his shoulders at a crucial time.

“Talking about Dhane, he’s the one of the best because he’s very determined to be the best,” Tavares said. "No matter what the score is, he never gives up. He always wants the ball when it matters most. He showed it today why he deserves to have the ball.”

His efforts were needed because Saskatchewan showed why it had the same regular-season record as Buffalo in the regular season. (The Bandits won the top seed on a tiebreaker.) The Rush scored 22 seconds into the game, and seemed unintimidated by the league’s most intimidating building and crowd. They only trailed for less than four minutes of the first half.

One of the few reasons the Bandits were tied at the half was the play of Ian MacKay, who ran his postseason goal total to 13 – including three scores in the first 30 minutes. Buffalo scored most of its goals during that time in flurries, as Saskatchewan piled up the shots.

“It would have been easy for us to fold up after the first half,” Tavares said. “At times they dominated the play. They had the ball for the majority of the time. But the guys knew what it takes in the second half, and they showed up and they were very determined.”

The Bandits saved their best flurry for the later stages of the third quarter, taking a 12-11 lead with 4:24 left on Smith’s third goal of the game. (He also finished with five assists). From there, the game took a completely unexpected turn: the scoring came to a complete standstill.

If you had a wager that no goals would be scored into an occupied net for the final 18 minutes and 24 seconds, you’re a winner.

Buffalo’s defense was superb in that span, and goalie Matt Vinc stopped everything. The offense may not have generated any goals, but it did prevent Saskatchewan from having any easy transition opportunities.

"They're our backbone, and have been throughout the year," Smith said about the team's defense. "Obviously Matt Vinc is the best goalie for a reason. He shut the door. There's probably a few that he wants back. As an offensive group, we get so much motivation because we know the defense is going to make that next stop."

It’s easy to not want to make a mistake in this sort of setting. It raised the question of whether the Bandits weren’t aggressive enough offensively in that situation.

"It's an easy answer now because we won the game," Tavares said. "It went scoreless until the empty-net goal. I was a bit nervous because they hadn't scored in a while, but the defense played phenominal and Matt was there when they did get an opportunity. I think the offense doesn't get enough credit for not giving them many transitional opportunities."

The Bandits extended their playoff winning streak to 10 straight games and counting. That’s easily an NLL record, and it certainly gives the team a little confidence that it can figure out a way to win in difficult situation. In other words, been there, done that.

"I think back to my first couple of years, the years we lost to Calgary and Colorado (in the Finals)," MacKay said. "I have a way different mindset then than I do now, having gone through it. Personally speaking, that experience helps us, and a majority of the guys have been on the team for this run here. ... We have really good composure."

A three-peat for the Bandits is now a game away. It could come on Sunday night, when Saskatchewan hosts Buffalo (8 p.m., EDT). If the Rush wins that one, Buffalo has another chance to win it all on Saturday afternoon, May 24.

“The next one’s obviously the hardest,” Smith said. “We have to make sure we go up, from the opening draw. They’re not just going to give it to us, right? We understand that, but we’re hungry. We’ve been in this position before. We’ve seen both sides of it, where we’ve lost it, and we’ve won it.