Thunderbirds Fall Short in Buffalo
Feb 29, 2020
Buffalo, NY (February 29, 2020) - The Halifax Thunderbirds didn’t get the result they wanted in tonight’s game losing to North Division rival the Buffalo Bandits, 13-9.
Buffalo opened up the scoring with two goals within a minute of each other, both coming from forward Josh Byrne. Buffalo continued their lead with Chris Cloutier sinking another past Warren Hill. Forward Chase Fraser followed quickly after with another goal and Cloutier scored again giving Buffalo the 5-0 lead after the first quarter.
The second quarter started with a quick shot from Buffalo for their sixth goal of the game, ending Hill’s night in net. Peter Dubenski took over duties in net for the ‘Birds. Halifax finally put themselves on the board with an upper 90 shot from Scott Campbell 33 seconds in. Buffalo retaliated with another goal, with the score at 7-1 for Buffalo. Austin Shanks was assisted by Campbell and Mike Burke for the Thunderbirds’ second goal of the night. With 1:07 to go, Bandits’ Fraser collects his second goal of the game on Dubenski with the score sitting at an 8-2 lead for Buffalo.
Heading into the third quarter, Buffalo continued their pressure on Dubenski. Byrne netted his fourth goal of the game to get things started. Shanks answered scoring two straight goals for the Thunderbirds and securing a hat trick. Stephen Keogh came in hot scoring to put Halifax within four of Buffalo. Keeping Halifax on their toes, Buffalo fought back with a breakaway from Fraser, collecting his own hat trick.
Halifax started the fourth off strong as captain Cody Jamieson scored a short-sided goal just 20 seconds in. Shanks showed off his offensive skills again, putting the ‘Birds within three. Ryan Benesch kept pace with his teammates, scoring his 450th goal and passing Josh Sanderson for seventh on the all-time NLL scoring list.
Buffalo shut down Halifax’s scoring streak getting past Dubenski and making it 11-8 for the Bandits. Recently traded to the Bandits, Dan Lintner, sunk back to back goals for Buffalo, leaving Halifax hustling to close the gap. Jamieson did just that with 1:20 left in the game, putting the ‘Birds within 4.
Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds didn’t have time to pull out a win, with the final score sitting at 13-9 in favor of the Buffalo Bandits. Face-off wizard Jake Withers had a great game from X (25-27). Dubenski saved 33 of 40 shots he saw on goal after stepping up in the second quarter. Halifax outshot Buffalo with 61 shots against Matt Vinc who had 52 saves. Scott Campbell collected his 1000th loose ball in his career this evening.
“We battled back in the fourth and we need to take that momentum and play a full 60 tomorrow,” said Shanks. “We’ve been talking about it all year; we need to stop talking about it and actually do it. We’re lucky enough we have the chance to do it tomorrow, we don’t have to wait a whole week.”
Tune in tomorrow at 6PM local time to watch the ‘Birds on B/R Live as they face-off against the New England Black Wolves. The Thunderbirds are back in action on home turf, March 8th at 3PM at the Scotiabank Centre ready to take on Buffalo yet again.