By Brandon J. Koch
The Buffalo Bandits improve to 4-3 on the season with a 16-14 win over the Rochester Knighthawks.
Once again another slow start for Buffalo, not as extreme as against the Rush. The Bandits were down 2-0 early and battled back to tie the game. Rochester then took a 4-2 lead and went back and forth to be tied at the half. In the 2nd half, it was all Buffalo. Here’s some thoughts on the game.
Josh Byrne
The rookie has come into his own. What a game by the number one overall pick. He had a nice outing against Saskatchewan and built on that performance tonight. He’s been getting better every game and tonight took over. Byrne had 5 goals and 8 shots and better on the defensive end.
Dhane Smith
The great Dhane scored his 200th career goal tonight, congrats to him. Other than that, a typical, impressive, Smith performance. Another double digit shot total to go along with 10 points. As Smith goes, the Bandits go.
Welcome back Crawford
After missing last weeks game to suspension, Crawford gave Buffalo that extra boost and production. Crawford had seven total points and made a difference in the 2nd half.
Defense
This Buffalo team can score but when they lock down on defense, they are tough to beat. Yes, they had some breakdowns in the 4th, but their 3rd quarter defense was the reason they got out to a lead.
Faceoffs
A lot may disagree, but I think ball possession is important and the Bandits struggled with faceoffs tonight. Withers was 16-24 and Evans was 6-10 for Rochester while for Buffalo, Harris was 9-26 and Weiss was 3-8. It’s not a big problem but they need to be better.
Final thoughts
The Bandits have a win streak! It’s nice to see the team put up another high goal spot and we are seeing the emergence of Josh Bryne right before our eyes. He along with Dhane Smith is a dangerous combination. It also helped to have Crawford back.
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