(Rochester,NY)… The Rochester Knighthawks will head down the I-90 Saturday as they take on the Buffalo Bandits at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. as the teams meet for the second time this season.
The Bandits came to Rochester in early January this season. It was a 12-9 win for the Knighthawks, playing their second of back-to-back games over a 30-hour stretch. Rochester was led by Thomas McConvey (3+4) and Zed Williams (3+2), each with hat tricks. Rylan Hartley made 42 saves and earned his fourth win of the season.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTHAWKS
Rochester heads to Buffalo coming off a tough loss to the Halifax Thunderbirds last weekend. It was a close first quarter, but the Thunderbirds took the advantage with a five-goal run in the second quarter that gave them an 11-5 lead at halftime. Rochester put the stops on in the third, but it wasn’t enough to cut the deficit. Their final run of the game came in the final nine minutes. They strung three goals together, starting with Taylor Jensen in transition and ending with a Connor Fields bouncer.
Now with three games left in the season, Rochester sits at 6-9, still just outside of a playoff spot. They are in a group with Las Vegas, Ottawa, Halifax, and San Diego, all of which have eight or nine losses this season. The five teams are fighting for the last two playoff spots.
Despite where they are in the standings, Rochester still boasts two of the Top 10 point scorers in the NLL. Fields ranks fourth with 104 points through 15 games. He also ranks fourth in the league with goals (39) and sixth in assists (65). Ryan Lanchbury ranks seventh in points with 93. His 71 assists are second best in the league, and he leads the NLL in assists per game, averaging 4.73.
The Knighthawks have now played four games under Interim Head Coach Randy Mearns and two games with Defensive Coordinator Bobby Keast behind the bench.
SCOUTING THE BANDITS
Buffalo enters the matchup on a six-game win streak, most recently topping Vancouver 15-5 and the week before that, Saskatchewan, 8-7. Over that six-game stretch, the Bandits have been led by their duo of Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne. Since Feb. 27, Byrne has averaged eight points per game, and Smith has averaged just over six. They have also combined for an average of 9.67 assists per game in that stretch. Smith (105) and Byrne (101) have almost doubled every other Bandit in points this season.
On the back end, the Bandits also flipped a switch when they started their winning streak. In their last six games, the defense has averaged 7.33 goals against. It is a combination of the most experienced goaltender in the NLL, Matt Vinc, and the best shot-blocking defense in the league.
Through 16 games, the Bandits have 139 blocked shots. That is 29 more than Vancouver, second-most, and 40 more than the third-place Knighthawks (99). To put those numbers into perspective, 139 blocks is more than double the block totals of Las Vegas (64) and Ottawa (63). Paul Dawson (33) and Mitch De Snoo (28) are first and second in blocked shots.
MILESTONES
- Connor Fields is five goals away from 250.
- Rylan Hartley needs 47 saves to reach 2000.
- Thomas McConvey is six points away from 200.
- Blaze Riorden is three goals from 150 and four assists from 200.
- Ryan Smith only needs one goal to reach 200 in his career.
- Jeremy Thompson is nine loose-ball recoveries away from 2000. He would be the fifth player ever to reach that number.
- Zed Williams is four loose-ball recoveries away from 500 in his career.
NEXT GAME
The Knighthawks will head to Georgia next for a home-and-home matchup with the Swarm. They will play at Gas South Arena on Saturday, April 18, before heading to Rochester for a matchup on Sunday, April 19. Faceoff is set for 4 p.m. at Gas South Arena on Saturday and 3 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena on Sunday.