BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Bandits have clinched a playoff berth for the 25th time in team history, but it remains to be seen if the reigning NLL Cup champions will return to their raucous home arena in the postseason.
Buffalo’s third-straight victory, 14-7 against the Calgary Roughnecks before an announced sellout crowd of 19,070 at KeyBank Center secured the Bandits their spot in the eight-team NLL playoffs. But Buffalo (10-7), currently seeded fifth in the unified conference standings, needs a win next week in Vegas (4-12), coupled with a loss by Georgia (10-7) at home against struggling Rochester (6-10) on Friday, or a pair of losses by Albany (10-6) in order to host a quarterfinal game in Banditland at the end of April.
Josh Byrne scored twice to reach 50 goals on the season, and tallied five assists to bring his league-leading point total to 126, assist-leader Dhane Smith matched Byrne with seven points (one goal, six assists), Chase Fraser scored four goals, including the highlight of the game, Matt Vinc made 43 saves on 50 shots, and the Bandits had their best defensive result of the season in the home finale win.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.