Buffalo Bandits forward Dhane Smith, looking to pass against Georgia on April 27, became the NLL's all-time assists leader in Friday night's game at Albany. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Dhane Smith had two goals and nine assists as the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Albany FireWolves 12-8 on Friday night in Game 1 of the NLL Finals in Albany.
The Bandits can clinch back-to-back titles in Saturday’s Game 2 (7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center).
Smith’s 11 points were his most in a postseason game.
Eight Buffalo players scored at least one goal, including two by Chris Cloutier, who finished with six points. Byrne also had six points.
The Bandits outscored Albany 7-2 in the second half.
Leading 7-6 entering the fourth, the Bandits took the first two-goal lead of the game on Ian McKay’s goal with 14:23 left. Smith’s sixth assist of the game gave him 117 for his postseason career, setting the NLL record previously held by Bandits coach John Tavares.
Albany answered back 33 seconds later on Alex Simmons’ second goal.
The Bandits led 9-7 when Smith found Kyle Buchanan cutting toward the net for the goal with 7:56 remaining. It was Buchanan’s first goal of the game on his eighth shot.
Buffalo scored a key insurance goal with 4:16 remaining as Byrne – named NLL MVP earlier Friday – completed the hat trick.
Smith scored his second goal with 2:34 remaining to stretch the lead to four, followed by Dylan Robinson’s empty-net goal 14 seconds later.
The teams played to a 4-4 tie in the first quarter. Albany scored only 35 seconds into the game on forward Tye Kurtz’s goal, but the Bandits answered with goals by Tehoka Nanticoke (12:16) and Josh Byrne (9:34) to take a 2-1 lead.
The FireWolves tied it at the 7:47 mark on a delayed penalty goal by Ethan Walker and an acrobatic goal by Kurtz (4:51), who left his feet and scored before landing in the crease.
The Bandits used two power play goals 24 seconds apart by Bryne and Smith to take a 4-3 lead. Albany tied it on Walker’s goal with 20.7 seconds left in the quarter. The Bandits outshot Albany 14-12 in the first.
The game settled down in the second quarter. The Bandits scored at the 12:17 mark when Smith found Cloutier wide open at the top of the crease. Albany took a 5-4 lead into halftime on goals by Travis Longboat and Simmons in the final 6:16.
Trailing 6-5 at halftime, the Bandits scored the only two third-quarter goals.
At the 10:27 mark, on a delayed penalty, the Bandits went out a sixth attacker and Cloutier scored.
A challenge by Tavares with 3:03 left in the third gave the Bandits the lead. Chase Fraser’s goal was initially waved off, but replays showed the ball went into the net before he landed in the crease.
Byrne named MVP
Earlier Friday, Byrne was named the NLL’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a league-best 135 points. Smith and Toronto Rock goaltender Nick Rose finished second and third, respectively.Bryne won Offensive Player of the Year honors on Thursday. He was third with 53 goals and second with 82 assists during the regular season.
Byrne was named first-team all-league, and Smith and McKay were on the second team.
