Bandits Travel to Vancouver with Chance to Clinch Appearance in Fifth Consecutive NLL Finals

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NLL Buffalo Bandits

Bandits Travel to Vancouver with Chance to Clinch Appearance in Fifth Consecutive NLL Finals

May 4, 2025 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Buffalo Bandits News Release


One win stands between the Buffalo Bandits and a fifth consecutive NLL Finals appearance.

After breaking the franchise record for fewest goals allowed in their 9-3 win in Game 1 of the NLL Semifinals on Friday against the Vancouver Warriors, the Bandits will travel west to Vancouver for Game 2 on Sunday at 9 p.m. at Rogers Arena.

Here's everything you need to know before Buffalo's potential series clincher:

How to watch

TV (Buffalo broadcast market): CW23

Streaming (out of market): TSN, ESPN+, NLL+, TSN+

Radio: 1520 AM

How We Got Here

The Bandits have advanced through the playoffs on the strength of their defense and goaltending. They tied the franchise record for fewest goals allowed in a game in their 5-4 quarterfinal win over San Diego, then broke that record in the Game 1 win over Vancouver.

The Warriors opened the scoring in Game 1, capitalizing on an early man-up opportunity. However, the Bandits put their foot on the gas and went on a 6-0 run, temporarily running Vancouver goaltender Christian Del Bianco out of the game. Ian MacKay scored three of the six goals during the run, which was spurred in part by two illegal cross-checking penalties on the Warriors that totaled seven minutes.

MacKay led the Bandits with four goals in the game while Josh Byrne had a goal and four assists for a game-high five points. Matt Vinc made 35 saves.

Read more in our recap from Friday.

Full Strength Security

Ahead of Game 1, head coach John Tavares stressed that 5-on-5 play would dictate the outcome of the series.

On Friday, the Bandits shut out the Warriors during full-strength play and scored five goals, crediting the defensive play in slowing down a high-powered Vancouver offense.

"Our goaltender and our defense," Tavares said. "To hold a team to zero five-on-five goals is a great feat, so give them a lot of credit. They built off last game and to go and not give up any goals five-on-five, that doesn't happen very often, so it's a good time for it to happen."

East to West Coast

The Bandits hopped on a plane and traveled across the continent to Vancouver for Game 2.

The Bandits have played twice this season in games in back-to-back days, but both instances were home games paired with close road trips to Albany and Toronto. So, while having to play two games over a three-day span will not be anything new for Buffalo, the travel will be.

"It's short rest for both teams and we're going to try and do what we did tonight, just kind of carry it over," Tavares said. "We usually play one game a week, but this is two games in three days and some travel time, but both teams are doing it."

Check out the Buffalo Bandits Statistics

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