Del Bianco Shuts the Door
Calgary Roughnecks goalie Christian del Bianco personally brought the San Diego Seals back down to earth.
The youthful star allowed only five goals, never more than two in a quarter, in the Roughnecks’ 9-5 home win against San Diego.
“Christian and our defense won us that game,” Dane Dobbie said.
San Diego’s Frankie Scigliano, who was replaced by del Bianco in Calgary, had a strong game in his own right. The teams were tied at four entering the final quarter, but a game-ending 5-1 run fueled by two goals and two assists from Rhys Duch gave Calgary its second win of the season.
“I grew up watching Frank, actually, and then playing with him,” Del Bianco said. “I never really got a chance to play against him, so there was a lot of chirping through the week, kind of going back and forth joking about who was going to owe who a beer. It’s nice to come out on top.”
Austin Staats, who notched nine points in his NLL debut, was held to just two assists in the Saddledome.
Shorthanded Bandits win
Buffalo was playing without two of its strongest offensive players, Dhane Smith and Corey Small, but still rolled past the Vancouver Warriors, 16-10. The final score makes the game seem closer than it was, as the Bandits led 15-6 at one point.
The Bandits used an 8-1 second quarter to get out to the large lead.
“I thought we shot the ball very well,” Buffalo co-head coach John Tavares said. “Our offense was moving and they working to get each other open. Defense was in good position. They collapsed when they had to, helped when they had to.”
Shawn Evans had four goals and seven assists, continuing his torrid start to the season. He leads the league with 28 points. Josh Byrne had three goals and seven assists and ranks second in the league in scoring with 25 points.
Matt Vinc earned the 100th win of his NLL career.
NLL on B/R Live’s Last Hurdle
Rochester was the stream everyone was waiting to see before declaring a final verdict on the NLL’s broadcast improvements on Bleacher Report Live. The Knighthawks, one of five teams playing outside an NHL or NBA arena, had arguably the worst video quality of any team in the league prior to the improvements.
And, just like the rest of the teams, the Knighthawks’ stream is much better for the 2018-19 season. The days of straining our eyes to make out numbers seems behind us.
Week 4 Preview
Wings at Rock
Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Offense: Kiel Matisz has the most loose balls of any forward in the league but is still looking for his first goal. Toronto Americans Tom Schreiber and Kieran McArdle each scored twice in the loss to Georgia.
Defense: Philadelphia’s Trevor Baptiste leads the NLL in faceoff percentage through two games. Toronto captain Challen Rogers leads the NLL in points for a defenseman with five.
Warriors at Swarm
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Offense: Swam captain Jordan McIntosh has scored twice shorthanded this season, the only player to find the net more than once a man down. Vancouver’s Joel McCready had three goals, two assists and 10 loose balls against Buffalo.
Defense: Warriors Matt Beers and Ian Hawksbee rank first and second in the league in loose balls, respectively. Georgia’s Holden Cattoni trails Lyle Thompson by one point for the team lead.
Knighthawks at Bandits
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Offense: Smith participated in the Bandits’ morning shootaround last week, making a return to action probable. Cody Jamieson led the Knighthawks with three goals and three assists against Philadelphia.
Defense: Vinc plays against his old team for the first time since signing in Buffalo as a free agent. Scott Campbell was named Rochester’s new captain prior to this week’s game.
Seals at Rush
Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Offense: It’s a matchup of two offenses looking to rebound. Saskatchewan ranks last in the league in shooting percentage after one game. Staats is now tied with Philadelphia’s Chris Cloutier in the rookie scoring race.
Defense: San Diego’s Brodie Merrill has snagged at least eight loose balls in each of his last five games, dating back to last season with Toronto. The Rush are still without Nik Bilic and Mike Messenger.
Roughnecks at Mammoth
Sunday, 3 p.m. ET
Offense: Dobbie has four powerplay goals for Calgary, tops in the league. Jacob Ruest is having less luck to start the season, failing to score on 15 shots. No one has shot more without a goal this year.
Defense: Calgary’s Dan MacRae had 10 loose balls last week. Colorado gave up 12 of San Diego’s 17 goals in the middle quarters last week.