Bandits Look to Solidify Playoff Positioning against Vancouver

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NLL Buffalo Bandits

Bandits Look to Solidify Playoff Positioning against Vancouver

March 28, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Buffalo Bandits News Release


The Buffalo Bandits face the Vancouver Warriors on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center for the first time since clinching a playoff berth.

The game will be broadcast locally on CW23 and streaming on ESPN+, and it's available in Canada on either TSN+ or the new NLL+ streaming platform. The local radio broadcast is available on 1520 AM.

Here's everything you need to know before the opening faceoff:

Last time out

The Buffalo Bandits fell 11-10 in overtime to the Albany FireWolves on Saturday night at MVP Arena.

Dhane Smith (2+4) and Josh Byrne (1+6) both notched their 100th points of the season and Matt Vinc recorded his 11,000th NLL save in a 44-save performance, including five in overtime.

The teams matched each other's early punches, and neither held a multi-goal lead until the Bandits took a 6-4 advantage into halftime.

Albany responded by scoring four unanswered goals to take an 8-6 lead. Kyle Buchanan got one back for the Bandits, but the FireWolves scored two more to take a 10-7 lead with 10:51 left in the game.

Ian MacKay scored to start Buffalo's comeback, and Chase Fraser scored nearly two minutes later to bring the Bandits within one goal. With 1:44 left in the game, Byrne scored his first goal of the game to make it 10-10.

Dyson Williams scored 8:08 into overtime to win the game for Albany.

Playoff push

Head coach John Tavares and the rest of the Bandits touted the importance of clinching a home playoff game, especially with the one-game elimination format in the first round. To get a first-round home game, the Bandits would need to finish top four in the NLL standings.

With four games left in the regular season, the Bandits (11-3) sit atop the standings with a one-game lead on the Saskatchewan Rush (10-4) and a three-game lead over fifth-place Colorado (8-6).

The Bandits can secure homefield advantage in the first round with a win this week and a San Diego Seals loss against the Rochester Knighthawks.

League leaders

Per usual, Smith and Byrne are atop the NLL leaderboard in both points and assists.

Smith leads the league in assists (78) and is on pace for 100 this season, one shy of his league-record 101 last season. Additionally, he ranks second in the league in points (104) - one behind Connor Fields, who has played one more game than Smith.

Trailing by just one point Smith is Byrne (103), who ranks fourth in assists (68) and sixth in goals (35).

If the two keep up their points paces this season, or even turn it up a notch, their records from a year ago are in danger, and both players will surely find themselves in the NLL MVP conversation once again.

Hello, old foe

After sitting out the beginning of the season, Christian Del Bianco is back in the net, only this time for Vancouver and not Calgary. He's played two games for the Warriors this season after totaling 119 with the Roughnecks from 2016 to 2024.

He's 4-4 in eight career games against the Bandits, but 0-2 in his last two - including a 14-7 loss last April 13 at KeyBank Center. In those last two losses, he's had a 16.00 and 15.35 GAA along with save percentages of 67.3 and 73.6.

With the Bandits looking for a win to solidify their spot in the standings, they'll hope to get under Del Bianco's skin like they've been able to in the past.

Scouting the Warriors

The Bandits are 2-1 in three prior matchups against Vancouver. The wins have come by an average of 6.5 goals, and the sole loss came in a 13-12 final last season on the road.

In their only game against Vancouver at home, on Dec. 28, 2018, the Bandits led 12-4 at halftime and won 16-10. Shawn Evans (4+7) and Byrne (3+7) led Buffalo's scoring in the win.

Byrne has 24 points (10+14) in three games against the Warriors, leading all players in the three matchups in points by 10, with Dhane Smith coming in second with 14 points (3+11) in two games.

Check out the Buffalo Bandits Statistics

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