Thunderbirds come up short against Bandits

Apr 13, 2025

(BUFFALO, NY) April 12, 2025 -- The Halifax Thunderbirds dropped a back-and-forth game on Saturday night, falling 15-12 to the Buffalo Bandits at KeyBank Center. 

Randy Staats led all Thunderbirds in scoring with four goals and nine points on the night. Clarke Petterson also had a hat trick and seven points. Cody Jamieson (2G, 2A), Thomas Hoggarth (4A), Dawson Theede (2G, 1A), and Mike Robinson (1G, 2A) also had productive nights for Halifax.

Drew Hutchison turned away 33 shots in the game, but he was saddled with the loss. 

While this game featured two of the highest-powered offensive units in the NLL, the opening quarter belonged to the goalies and defences. The first goal of the contest didn't come until the three-minute mark of the first frame, with Ian MacKay scoring a power-play goal after Halifax went on a five-on-three penalty kill for a full two minutes. Josh Byrne added a second goal to make good on the two-man advantage for the hosts. Mike Robinson scored his 19th goal of the year to get Halifax on the board. The rookie outwaited Matt Vinc after receiving a pass from Randy Staats in close. 

After one, Buffalo held a 2-1 lead.

The second quarter had a much more frantic pace and output. Byrne and Clay Scanlan extended the Bandits' lead to 4-1 in the opening five minutes of the second. But the Thunderbirds clawed back into the game with three straight goals. Back-to-back goals from Petterson made it 4-3, and Theede's first of the game knotted the game up. From there, the teams exchanged a pair of goals each to end the half. Kyle Buchanan and Byrne got the Bandits' goals while Staats netted both of the goals for Halifax to send the teams into the break tied at six. 

Coming out for the third, it was Buffalo again getting out to a good start, getting goals from Byrne and Buchanan to jump back out to a two-goal lead in the third. A power-play goal from Theede cut back into that deficit for Halifax, but a Chase Fraser goal restored Buffalo's advantage. For the second time in the game, however, a personal two-goal run from Staats got the game back to even. Dhane Smith and Cody Jamieson traded markers to send the game into the final frame tied 10-10. 

Halifax took its first lead of the night with a power-play goal from Petterson at the 11:36 mark, however, two goals in the following minute and a half from Buffalo put them back ahead. Jamieson's second of the night tied the game back up at 12 with 9:45 to play in regulation. 

That goal would be Jamieson's 1,000th point in his illustrious career. He became the 17th player and first Indigenous player in NLL history to accomplish the feat. 

With both teams looking for the go-ahead goal, it was MacKay finding twine to put the Bandits back ahead. They would get insurance goals from Buchanan and Cam Wyers to seal the win at home. 

The Thunderbirds sit at 10-7 on the year with one game left to play. They will wrap up regular-season play when they head to Paramount Fine Foods Centre to wrap up the season series with the Toronto Rock. Opening face-off is at 8:00 p.m. AT.