Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The dynasty run is complete.
With a third-straight NLL title on the line, the Buffalo Bandits made history on Saturday in dominating fashion, downing the Saskatchewan Rush, 15-6, to capture the franchise's seventh championship and cap off just the second three-peat run in league history.
The two teams split the first two games of this best-of-three series, with the Bandits winning Game 1 of the series last week Friday in Buffalo, followed by the Rush responding in Game 2 on home turf in Saskatoon.
Just like Games 1 and 2, it was Saskatchewan getting out to the game's first goal, as forward Austin Shanks scored from behind the net just 24 seconds into the contest.
The Bandits responded less than three minutes later, as forward Josh Byrne fought off a check and took the ball to the net. He managed to find a spot over the left shoulder of goalie Frank Scigliano to even the score at 1-1.
Byrne was penalized for goalie interference after the goal, giving the Rush the opening power play chance of the game. It only took 17 seconds for Saskatchewan to regain the lead as Shanks fired a shot past Bandits goalie Matt Vinc for his second tally in the opening five minutes.
Dhane Smith had an answer just 19 seconds later, as the Bandits forward wired a shot past Scigliano to tie the game at 2-2.
The back-and-forth exchange of early goals continued, as forward Zach Manns put the Rush back up 3-2 with a push to the Buffalo net.
A little more than four-and-a-half minutes later, the Bandits, once again, found the equalizer with a nifty goal from forward Chris Cloutier going to the net.
The Bandits opened the second quarter with a four-goal run to put some distance between them and the visiting Rush.
Buffalo managed to grab its first lead of the game just 1:30 into the quarter, as Byrne fired a shot through the five-hole of Scigliano for his second goal of the afternoon.
Then in quick transition, defenseman Dylan Robinson was quick to find transition player Ian MacKay coming off the Buffalo bench for his 16th goal of the playoffs to put the Bandits up by a pair.
Just 18 seconds later, the Bandits' lead became three as Byrne completed the hat-trick with another shot finding its way through Scigliano.
Buffalo's final goal of the run came from forward Kyle Buchanan, who utilized a bounce shot to beat Scigliano and give the Bandits a 7-3 advantage.
Saskatchewan ended the Bandits' four-goal run with three goals of their own to cut the deficit back to one. Veteran forward Robert Church scored a pair of goals for the Rush, while a tally from captain Ryan Keenan also came sandwiched in-between.
The goal scoring subsided from there, as the Bandits were able to kill off a late penalty and take a 7-6 lead into halftime.
The Bandits opened the second half in dominating fashion, owning the scoreboard with a six-goal run, while keeping Saskatchewan to nothing behind Vinc.
Forward Chase Fraser set the tone with another highlight reel goal for Buffalo, as he put a no-look, one-handed shot behind the back to put the Bandits up 8-6 with just 1:34 gone in the third quarter.
Less than a minute later, Buffalo extended its lead back to three with another goal from Byrne from distance that just squeaked through Scigliano and over the goal line.
The Bandits continued their run with another tally from Smith, who bounced a shot past Scigliano to put Buffalo up 10-6 with 6:28 remaining in the quarter.
Cloutier extended the Bandits' lead to five just two minutes later, as he let a shot go that beat Scigliano over the right arm.
The goal scoring didn't stop for Buffalo, as they continued their run to open the half with a hat-trick tally from Smith, as he scored with some traffic in front of him to create a screen.
With 2:05 to go in the third quarter, Cloutier completed his own hat-trick to close the third quarter scoring and give Buffalo a 13-6 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
The fourth quarter saw a bit of a lull in scoring before Buchanan found the back of the net again for the Bandits with 5:18 to go in regulation.
The Bandits made it eight-straight goals in the second half, as defenseman Cam Wyers jumped up on a rush with transition player Nick Weiss, and gobbled up a rebound to make it 15-6, Buffalo.
From there, the Bandits were able to close out a seventh NLL title, now standing along as the winningest franchise in league history.
The Bandits are now just the second team in NLL history to win three-straight titles, joining the Rochester Knighthawks (now Halifax Thunderbirds), who accomplished the feat between 2012-14.
The goalie for the Knighthawks on that run a dozen years ago was Vinc, who has now helped back two different teams to three-peat runs in NLL history. He wins his sixth NLL title at the age of 42, while making 42 saves, including all 19 shots faced in the second half.
As for MacKay, the transition player earned honors this year as NLL Finals MVP, finishing the final round of the playoffs with seven goals and five assists in three games.