The Vancouver Warriors are back on the road for their first of two games on their World Junior hiatus from Rogers Arena. The first stop is in Eastern New York to face the Buffalo Bandits.
The Bandits and Warriors both share a few things in common, they both opened with victories. The Bandits were 17-15 winners over the Philadelphia Wings in their season opener on December 15th, while the Warriors opened with a thrilling 14-13 overtime win over Calgary that saw the team come from five goals down in the final quarter to get to OT and secure their first franchise win.
Buffalo then dropped their home opener, 17-12 to the Toronto Rock this past weekend, while Vancouver matched, dropping their home premiere 14-8 to those same Roughnecks.
Tonight, the two teams will look to get back in the win column, with both teams having players with something to prove.
Mitch Jones was acquired from the Bandits in a blockbuster trade on November 28th. The former Bandit standout has collected two goals and five assists for seven points thru the first two contests and will look to pick up the pace against his former team. His counterpart in the trade, Corey Small, has lit the lamp six times so far this season, including five goals in his opening two quarters against Philly. Small has nine points thru two games and isn’t afraid to let the shots fly, as he is second in the NLL with 34 shots on goals thru two weeks.
Aaron Bold has been as advertised, despite giving up 27 goals in the Warriors first two games, Bold leads the league in saves with 81. Bold is 7th in the NLL in goals against average.
Logan Schuss has continued his strong start, adding another three points to his opening nine point night to total 12 points in his first two games. Schuss is tied for 5th in NLL scoring with four goals and eight assists.
This will be the one and only meeting in the regular season between Buffalo and Vancouver. The Bandits lead the all time series with a 17-7 record in 24 lifetime meetings. Vancouver on the road in Buffalo has a record of 4-7.
Following the game, the Warriors will jet home, arriving in Vancouver Saturday morning. The team will hop a plane next Thursday for a trip to Gwinnett, Georgia to face the Swarm on Friday night in suburban Atlanta. Game time will be at 4 PM EST.
The Vancouver Warriors face the Buffalo Bandits Friday, December 28th at 4:30PM PT at the KeyBank Center.
Game stream available on B/R Live.
