The Links: Bandits bounce Rock in thriller, Dobbie’s OT dagger sends Seals to Game 3
Chase Fraser, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Ben Green)
The Lax Mag has collected all the media mentions after Game 2 of this past weekend’s National Lacrosse League West & East Conference Finals – Buffalo Bandits 10-9 over Toronto Rock and San Diego Seals 11-10 over Colorado Mammoth in OT.
As was somewhat expected after goals galore in Game 1 of the East Conference Final, both Matt Vinc and Nick Rose played exceptionally well between the pipes for Buffalo and Toronto.
Rose made dozens of difficult and timely stops while the Rock struggled to score early, keeping Toronto competitive in what would become one of the tightest finishes in NLL history.
Vinc looking like WWE’s heavyweight champ with the post-game gun show after the team tabbed him their top talent in the series-sweeping W. Vinc goes on to try and capture his fourth NLL Cup, having won three previously with the Rochester Knighthawks 1.0.
Considered by many to be this year’s top two goaltenders, Vinc and Rose shared a moment during last night’s post-game shakes.
Rose, box lacrosse’s most followed backstop, shared this with the team’s supporters the morning after the Rock were eliminated…
Although you’ve likely already seen it plenty of times by now, here’s the goal that almost got the Rock into OT, officials later determining that it squeezed in a split second too late. Although the game clock on the broadcast indicated less than a second was left, the in-arena time was ever-so slightly ahead of TSN’s ticker. The moment will still go down as one of the league’s most memorable, just in Buffalo’s favour instead of Toronto’s.
While everyone in the FirstOntario Centre seemed to think the goal was good, Buffalo Head Coach John Tavares suspected otherwise. Here is a superb snap by photographer Ben Green (truly one of the league’s top photogs today), who captured the moment immediately after Dan Craig’s speedy snipe.
John Tavares, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Ben Green)
“It’s tough to look around and see everybody’s faces looking to the ground because this team cares for one another. It’s an emotional loss.” - Toronto Rock Captain, Challen Rogers (Toronto Sun)
The Buffalo News had a game recap up this morning, as did WKBW. The Hamilton Spectator shared a 112-word Canadian Press piece on the game, which failed to mention the thrilling end to the classic contest, because why would you, right? The article also states, “The Rock…couldn’t score on netminder Matt Vinc down the stretch.” Four of the Rock’s nine goals last night were scored in the last sixish minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Rock had nearly 8K in attendance last night, which included a good number of Bandits supporters, who were definitely heard throughout the night.
The Bandits will now get a week off while they wait for the West Conference Finals to be decided in a do-or-die Game 3 this coming Saturday between the Seals and Mammoth, who showcased an equally thrilling Game 2 last night in Denver. The Mammoth packed over 10K into Ball Arena on Saturday night, one of the playoffs’ strongest single-game totals so far. Buffalo (11,396) and Colorado (10,545) are averaging the most fans for home dates during the league’s Chase for the Championship.
West Conference Finals, Game 2, Ball Arena, Denver (Photo: Jack Dempsey)
Unlike Game 1, where Colorado got a lot of additional offensive support with Ryan Lee sidelined (see our full analysis here), most of the Mammoth’s goal production came from The Lax Mag’s 2022 Clutch King, Eli McLaughlin, who scored six of the team’s ten in the loss.
Although it was Dane Dobbie who was without a doubt Game 2’s hero (scroll a bit more to see why), San Diego was led offensively by five goals from Austin Staats, who was also named the game’s first star. Staats and Mammoth goalie Dillon Ward had a few meet ups during the memorable match too.
Dillon Ward, Colorado and Austin Staats, San Diego (Photo: Jack Dempsey)
As has been the case in every game during the Conference Finals, the goalies were outstanding.
Nothing in The Denver Post or The San Diego Union Tribune on Sunday morning, but The Tribune did give a good amount of space to boys and girls HS field lacrosse this weekend.
As we said earlier, if you’re on TLM, you’ve likely seen this already, but here’s Dobbie’s undeniable OT winner that not only saves the Seals season, but puts them a W away from going to the NLL Cup Final against the Bandits.
This morning, the NLL confirmed that next Saturday’s Game 3 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego will take place at 10pm ET on ESPN+ and TSN.ca. The Bandits will host Game 1 of the NLL Final on Saturday, June 4 at 7:30pm ET.