Taro T

Nick Weiss called for roughing on Robinson behind the Bandits net. This one is starting to get physical. Gibson with a seeing eye shot from out very high. 7-6 bad guys.

Great save by Vinc. Still tied. 8:40 left in the 2nd.

Looks like it's coming back. His toe was JUST on the line.

Fraser with the wrap around. 7-6 Bandits. 10:13 left in the 2nd.

Bandits are running across the top of the box a lot on offense as there aren't many passes open. This has been effective so far as when Ward has to move across the top of the crease he leaves some openings. Colorado's unorthodox defensive style gave the Bandits fits in the playoffs last year and in their earlier match up this year. Robinson scores on a PP for the Mammoth. 6-6.

MacKay "dancing through the D." Bandits up by 2 again. McLaughlin with another. 6-5.

Zed Williams again. 5-3. McLaughlin with 2.9 seconds left. 5-4 at the end of 1.

And Vinc wisely crawls out of the net on his butt making sure a Colorado shot following up a Zed Williams crossbar doesn't count. (Ball probably wasn't in the net, but Matt was taking no chances.) Just over 2 mintues left in the 1st, still 5-2.

Dhane Smith with his 4th. 5-2.

Bandits mauled in front of Colorado goal but no harm no foul per the refs. Zed Williams gets the ball and springs Downie on a fast break. Colorado on the board. Less than 5 minutes left in the 1st, 4-1. And Ryan Lee follows that one up. 4-2 Bandits. 202 seconds left in the 1st.

And the Great Dhane nets his 50th playoff goal and his 3rd of the game on the PP from Cloutier. 6:44 left in the 1st, 4-0.

And Fraser follows his own rebound and makes it 3-0 less than 5 minutes into the game.

The Great Dhane from Cloutier 40 seconds in. And then Dhane follows it up about a minute later from MacKay. 2-0. 2:02 into the game, Bandits have a 2 goal lead.

No Josh Byrne tonight. Upper body injury. Hadn't heard anything about a potential injury until just now. Bummer. Need Buchanan and Fraser to step up and fill in for his missing offense.

TV Network Scheduling Change. Don't know if the NLL website was wrong or if ESPN changed stuff up last minute, but TONIGHT's GAME IS ON ESPN2 AT 7PM NOT ESPNU. Monday's game is still set for ESPN2 at 4PM Eastern.

IMHO, it's a false dichotomy. There will be 4/5's like Graves that on paper would fit great with the Sabres situation that are UFA's. Can't see the Sabres adding 2 guys that truly fit into the top 4 (because 3 of the 4 spots are solid and they have kids that will be in the mix to fill that 4 role in the near future), but 1 and another 5/7 could be very possible. There also is the 800 # gorilla in the room which is Olofsson who is under contract for 1 more year but had lost his spot in the top 12 who should be quite valuable on the trade market. This year's 1st or next year's 1st along with Olofsson should be able to bring in a guy that either can compete for top 4 duty or is a young guy with potential that can be top 7 this year and legit 4/5 next year (right when they have to decide whether to re-up Lyubushkin or let him walk). Don't see where they need to give up on even Rosen to land a good RFA/younger D-man with the other assets they have. And Olofsson and one of this year's 2nds might be enough to bring that package should they add say a Weissbach type prospect to the offer. It'll be interesting to see if with getting Johnson signed (and still having Stillman, Clague, and Bryson) if they only bring in that 1 guy that fits into the top 4 and run with what they have to cover 3rd pairing and injury replacements. Want that extra guy brought in as well, but am now kind of leaning towards that part not happening.

It's possible it was an "ELC holdout" but considering he signed shortly after Minnesota finished its graduation week activities (like a day later) its alos possible that he was taking Adams advice and living in the moment of where he was at. Will be very interesting to see what his bonuses are. Puckpedia didn't have the contract as of ~30 minutes ago.

The extensions, just like bringing in a UFA (in any capacity), can't happen officially for ~5 more weeks. Until July 1 those 2 aren't in the last year of their current deals. Pretty sure item 2 on your list has already happened and because of that, we MIGHT see a Mittelstadt &/or Jokiharju re-sign shortly after the 1st 2 guys get new contracts. Still am not convinced there won't be a veteran goalie brought in. Will come down to how much he'll cost and how long the term would have to be. But am fairly confident that running back next year with what they have in net is plan B or plan C. But a plan B or plan C that they're reluctantly comfortable with, which means they won't be in desperation mode trying to lock down plan A.

And just like that, within a week, the Sabres D pipeline, while still having room for improvement, no longer looks like a disaster. Great job, Mr. Adams. Now bring in 2 more legit NHLers.

If he does sign w/ the Sabres, Maddy Glab or Marty Biron or whomever in Pegulaville interviews players really needs to sit down w/ him and have him explain in detail how THIS course was best for HIM. It works great for the Sabres or remains exactly the same for them if it actually happens as it either gets them 1 extra year on an ELC & as an RFA or it might because of his age leave them exactly where they would've been had he signed this spring. (Too tired to bother to look up his age at present.) But don't see what he gets out of it other than a relaxed end of his semester at Minn. Maybe that was enough.

That stinks that you lost a friend that way. The possibility of crash into water or a possible fire used to be reasons for not wearing 1; remotely possible as either was. But had a couple of cars w/ automatic seat belts and it was more of a hassle to not wear it, plus wifey being strongly in favor of them just made it a less annoying choice to wear them rather than not.

Saturday's game is 7PM on ESPNU. ESPN2. Monday's game is at 4PM on the Deuce (ESPN2). Should game 3 be necessary, it'll be next Satuday at 7:30PM on ESPN+. Let's GO Ban- Dits!

To a large degree. And interestingly, the Sabres are their only truly subpar franchise. The Bills are a legit contender every year. Likewise for the Bandits. Their daughter is ranked in the top 10 (or at least she was) in tennis. The Amerks are having their 2nd consecutive good playoff run. And this version of the Kin-ig-hit Hawks made the playoffs in just their 3rd season.

The bolded is the "Eddie Olczyk rule." He came close to meeting the regular season threshold but didn't come close to earning his way in the playoffs to have his name on the trophy when the Rags won it but because all the muckety mucks love the guy, the exception was born.

2-0 loss. Gave up a PP goal late in the 2nd to break the seal and then one more goal before that stanza ended. The Kulich line had some really good pressure in the 1st, but overall Hershey wanted it more.