Bandits head west in search of fourth straight win
MATT VOLZ
Editor in Chief
After a 3-5 start, the Bandits appear to be back to their former selves.
They’ve won four of their last five games, dating back to a win over Halifax on Saturday, Feb. 14.
One of the major reasons for their recent success has been the re-emergence of team offense.
Buffalo fell short of the 10-goal mark in each of their last three games in January, following that up with a 13-11 loss to the last-place Philadelphia Wings on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Since then, they’ve only failed to hit that mark once.
Part of that has been a result of Josh Byrne finding the back of the net again.
Through the first half of the season, the former MVP battled through what looked like a down year.
In his first eight games, Byrne scored just 12 goals.
That’s a rate of just a goal and a half per game, a full goal per game lower than what he recorded last season.
Across his whole career, he averaged roughly 2.3 goals per game before this season.
He was held completely scoreless in that aforementioned loss to Philadelphia in early February, but that seemed to be the tipping point of the star’s season.
In each of the next two games, he recorded two goals and five total points, his highest point totals in over a month.
Over the last three games, though, he’s exploded back into a top-of-the-league scorer.
On Friday, Feb. 27 against the first-place Saskatchewan Rush, Byrne didn’t score in regulation, but he found other ways to contribute.
He tallied seven assists, tying his best single-game total of the season.
The game went to overtime, and Byrne picked the best possible time to strike again.
He buried a shot past Rush goalie Frank Scigliano, and it was off to the races from there.
The next night in Ontario, Byrne steamrolled the Rock to the tune of a hat trick and seven points.
The Bandits had swept the weekend, but number 22 wasn’t finished.
Last Saturday against Colorado, Byrne had his best offensive game of the season, erupting for four goals and nine points.
Buffalo won each of those three games to put themselves back over .500 and firmly in the playoff conversation.
Outside of Byrne, the Bandits have been unsurprisingly led by the offensive prowess of Dhane Smith.
Smith has recorded 59 assists and 88 points, both good for third-best in the NLL.
When Smith and Byrne are both hot, the Bandits are nearly impossible to stop.
In order to be an unstoppable force, though, Buffalo needs their depth scoring to contribute.
Two solid depth scorers from the last three championship runs, Chase Fraser and Chris Cloutier, both left in free agency to join the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
It hasn’t been the smoothest replacement, but some players have enjoyed decent seasons.
Kyle Buchanan notched a career-high 34 goals last season, and the 38-year-old is close to that pace this year.
Through 13 games, he’s notched 22 goals, good for third on the team.
Tehoka Nanticoke is another depth piece who could set some personal bests this season.
Nanticoke has 19 goals and 32 points through 13 games, already a better offensive season than he had in 2025.
He’ll have to pick up the pace a bit to match his highest single-season totals of 32 goals and 51 points, which he recorded in his 2022 rookie campaign.
Buffalo is also set to bring back one key contributor, though, as Ian MacKay is active for tonight’s game.
MacKay erupted for 37 goals and 54 points last season, by far career bests in both categories.
While his goal scoring dropped a bit, he was on pace to smash the 54-point total before sustaining an injury on Friday, Feb. 27 against the Rush.
His return should spark an offense that added more fuel at the trade deadline.
Buffalo brought Joe Resetarits back in a deal with Philadelphia, and the Hamburg native returns to his hometown team after more than a decade playing for other squads.
Resetarits picked up two assists in last weekend’s win over Colorado, and he’ll look to score his first goal of his second Bandits stint tonight.
On the back end, Matt Vinc will look to continue a solid streak and stop a Seals offense that has hit a cold patch.
While Buffalo has won three straight games, San Diego has gone in the opposite direction, as they’ve lost three straight.
Their last win was exactly one month ago, a 9-8 win over Halifax on Saturday, Feb. 21.
They don’t have top-of-the-league scoring talent like Buffalo does, but Tre Leclaire and Wesley Berg still pose a threat.
San Diego picked up veteran Connor Robinson from Colorado in the offseason, hoping he’d add a significant offensive presence.
The results have been a bit disappointing, though.
Through 13 games, he’s managed 39 points, a far cry from his 67 points in 2025.
The Seals have slightly above average goaltending, as 23-year-old Christopher Origlieri has enjoyed a more successful season than he did last year.
Among starting goalies, he ranks sixth in goals against average (GAA), allowing just a touch over 10 goals per game.
Statistically, Origlieri has been better than Vinc this season, but Buffalo boasts a better defensive unit.
I think Buffalo is a better team than San Diego, but going on the road is always tough, especially when that means going to the other side of the country.
I’d anticipate some big-time offense from Buffalo, especially with Byrne on a hot streak and MacKay returning to the lineup.
I don’t know that it’ll be the prettiest of victories, but I think the Bandits get the job done to move to 8-6 on the season.
Matt’s pick: Buffalo 13, San Diego 10
Tonight’s game begins at 10pm, and it’ll be aired locally on WIVB.
Out-of-market viewers can watch live on ESPN+, and radio listeners can tune into WGR 550.
For live in-game scoring updates and analysis, check out @re_laxlacrosse on X.
Stats for this story were provided by nllstats.com, a league-wide database run by NLL writer Graeme Perrow.
Check out his commentary on nllchatter.com as well as his updates on X (@GraemePerrow).
