Curtis Dickson scored four goals and Keegan Bal recorded six points as the Vancouver Warriors defeated the Buffalo Bandits 11-9 at Rogers Arena on Friday.
Jesse King contributed a hat trick for Vancouver, while goaltender Christian Del Bianco limited the Bandits to just two goals in the second half.
The Bandits, now with a 4-6 record, had taken a 7-5 lead after scoring six consecutive goals in the second quarter. However, they were unable to score during the entire third quarter and experienced a scoring drought that lasted nearly 26 minutes, from late in the second quarter until midway through the fourth. Entering the final period trailing 10-7, Buffalo narrowed the gap to 10-9 with two goals from Kyle Buchanan. A penalty assessed to Tehoka Nanticoke with just over two minutes remaining affected their comeback attempt.
Josh Byrne led Buffalo with five points on two goals and three assists. Buchanan finished with a hat trick, while Dhane Smith was held to four points, equaling his lowest output of the season.
Ryan Benesch opened scoring for Buffalo early in the game but was quickly answered by Jesse King’s first goal. Vancouver built a 4-1 lead by scoring three times within less than three minutes during the first quarter.
After falling behind 5-1 following five straight Warriors goals, Buffalo responded with six unanswered tallies in just over four minutes during the second quarter. Nick Weiss ended his own six-game goalless streak to start this run. Byrne scored twice within half a minute and Buchanan tied it up by converting a rebound opportunity. Nanticoke added an acrobatic one-handed goal against Del Bianco, followed by Smith’s rebound score as Buffalo moved ahead 7-5.
Dickson ended Vancouver’s own dry spell late in the second quarter to bring them within one at halftime.
In the third quarter, Vancouver regained momentum with four consecutive goals—two from Bal and one each from Dickson and King—to make it 10-7. During this stretch, Buffalo successfully killed off an extended two-man disadvantage for more than a minute.
Buchanan finally broke Buffalo’s long scoreless streak with a power-play goal early in the fourth quarter and followed up with another creative shot around Del Bianco to reduce Vancouver’s lead to one. The Warriors did not score until almost fifteen minutes into the fourth quarter when Dickson netted his fourth goal to secure Vancouver’s win.
