Best/Worst Periods in Bandits' History

The Bandits didn't waste any time in 2024-25 updating this list. Their big finish in the season opener in Rochester was close to the 20-year record. This is for the regular season:

Best Periods in Bandits' History (by goal margin) - 2005-2026

Opponent - Date - Score (Per.) - No.
New England - 3-23-18 - 10-2 (3rd) - 8
Rochester - 12-7-24 - 8-1 (4th) - 7
Calgary - 12-4-21 - 7-0 (3rd) - 7
Rochester - 1-16-09 - 9-2 (4th) - 7
Vancouver - 12-28-18 - 8-1 (2nd) - 7
Las Vegas - 3-21-25 - 8-1 (1st) - 7
Albany - 2-18-22 - 7-0 (4th) - 7
Chicago - 2-24-08 - 8-2 (1st) - 6
Minnesota - 1-20-07- 7-1 (1st) - 6
Rochester - 1-31-15 - 6-0 (3rd) - 6
Toronto - 3-13-15 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Vancouver - 4-25-15 - 8-2 (4th) - 6
Georgia - 2-14-16 - 9-3 (2nd) - 6
Vancouver - 3-17-17 - 6-0 (3rd) - 6
Toronto - 4-14-17 - 6-0 (3rd) - 6
Albany - 2-18-22 - 6-0 (2nd) - 6
Rochester - 2-4-23 - 7-1 (3rd) - 6
Philadelphia - 1-18-25 - 10-4 (2nd) - 6

Worst Periods in Bandits' History (by goal margin) - 2005-2026

Opponent - Date - Score (Per.) - No.
Albany - 2-18-22 - 7-0 (3rd) - 7
Toronto - 3-29-13 - 7-0 (3rd) - 7
Minnesota - 1-28-12 - 7-0 (3rd) - 7
Rochester - 3-10-12 - 7-0 (3rd) - 7
Calgary - 4-5-14 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Calgary - 3-24-12 - 6-0 (4th) - 6
Colorado - 3-9-13 - 6-0 (4th) - 6
Rochester - 1-25-14 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Edmonton - 3-21-14 - 7-1 (2nd) - 6
Rochester - 1-31-15 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Toronto - 4-29-17 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Saskatchewan - 1-19-18 (1st) - 6
Halifax - 12-28-19 - 6-0 - (2nd) - 6
Rochester - 1-31-20 - 8-2 (3rd) - 6
Toronto - 4-30-22 - 7-1 (4th) - 6
Toronto - 4-1-23 - 7-1 (1st) - 6

Updated through April 28, 2026

Combined goals in a Bandits' half (2005 to 2025-26)

Most Combined Goals in a Bandits' Half - 2005 to 2025-26

No. - Opponent (Half) - Date
23 - Philadelphia (2nd) -1/29/05
22 - Philadelphia - (2nd) - 3/1/08
21 - at Minnesota (1st) - 3/4/07
21 - at Saskatchewan (1st) - 2/26/16
21 - At Minnesota (2nd) - 3/11/05
20 - at New England (2nd) - 2/19/17
20 - at New England (2nd) - 4/26/15
20 - Vancouver (2nd) - 3/2/16
20 - at Georgia (2nd) - 4/2/16
20 - at Toronto (1st) - 12/30/17
20 - at Philadelphia (1st) - 12/15/18
20 - at Rochester (2nd) - 1/13/24
20 - Rochester (2nd) - 1/31/20

Fewest Combined Goals in a Bandits' Half - 2005 to 2025-26

No. - Opponent (Half) - Date
 4 - at Toronto (1st) - 1/29/11
 4 - at Rochester (1st) - 1/9/10
 4 - at San Diego (1st) - 3/25/23
 5 - at Rochester (2nd) - 4/9/11
 5 - at Orlando (2nd) - 4/16/10
 5 - at Rochester (1st) - 2/8/14
 5 - at Minnesota (2nd) - 4/12/14
 5 - at Rochester (1st) - 4/19/14
 5 - New England (2nd) - 4/20/19
 5 - at Rochester (1st) - 1/28/06
 5 - at Colorado (2nd) - 1/22/0
 5 - at Rochester (1st) - 12/7/24

(Overtime goals not included in second-half totals. Regular season only.)

Updated on April 23, 2026

Combined goals in a Bandits' quarter (most/least) - 2005 to 2026

Most Combined Goals in a Bandits Quarter - 2005 to 2026

No. - Opponent (Quarter) - Date
14 - Philadelphia (2nd) - 1/28/25
13 - at New England (4th) - 2/19/17
13 - Minnesota (3rd) - 1/20/07
13 - at Georgia (4th) - 4/2/16
13 - at Rochester (4th) - 4/23/16
12 - Philadelphia (3rd) - 1/29/05
12 - at Minnesota (2nd) - 3/11/05
12 - at Washington (4th) - 3/13/13
12 - Minnesota (4th) - 2/28/09
12 - at Boston (1st) - 4/4/09
12 - at Minnesota (2nd) - 3/4/07
12 - at Georgia (2nd) - 2/14/16
12 - Rochester (2nd) - 2/24/18
12 - at New England (3rd) - 3/23/18
12 - at Georgia (2nd) - 4/16/22
12 - Halifax (2nd) - 12/20/22
12 - at Albany (2nd) - 12/9/23
12 - at Rochester (1st) - 1/13/24
12 - Saskatchewan (3rd) - 3/8/24
12 - Las Vegas (4th) - 1/3/26
12 - at Colorado (2nd) - 1/31/26

Fewest Combined Goals in a Bandits Quarter - 2005 to 2026

No. - Opponent (Quarter) - Date
 0 - at Minnesota (1st) - 3/23/14 (third time in league history)
 0 - at Minnesota (3rd) - 4/12/14 (fourth time in league history)
26 games tied at 1

Last one: at Oshawa (1st) - 4/18/26

(Regular season only)

Updated on April 27, 2026

The 2011-12 season

The Buffalo Bandits started the 2012 season with an apology, and finished it with an reveral of fortune. The news in between wasn't too good either, especially by Bandits' standards.

It was, by any definition, a trying season.

The apology came on the first day of training camp in December at the First Niagara Center. General manager and coach Darris Kilgour had gone through a difficult offseason because of an incident on May 9 that included a charge of driving while intoxicated. Kilgour lost his license for a period of time. Right after that first practice, he sounded humbled when he addressed the subject.

"I embarrassed the organization, I embarrassed myself, my family, all Native Americans across the board," he said. "I lived up to the stereotype I'm very disappointed with myself. I take full responsibility for it. It's something I can't do, and it's something I shouldn't have done. I feel very, very bad about it."

Kilgour still could fulfill his duties to the team, and when he looked out at the players on the turf that first day he saw evidence of the ever-changing landscape of the National Lacrosse League. The Boston Blazers had suspended operations the previous fall, so the league would go from 10 teams to nine. Not only was that a step in the wrong direction for the league, but it caused a difficult situation in terms of alignment and playoffs. How many teams out of nine should qualify for the postseason?

The league considered its options and opted to allow eight of the teams to make the playoffs. The East (four teams) and West (five teams) remained in effect. However, a fifth-place team in the West would take the last postseason berth if it had a better record than the fourth-place team in the East. There were no byes, which would have been necessary with a six- or seven-team format. With eight teams in, there still was no way around the fact that each team would complete a 16-game schedule in order to eliminate one team from the playoffs.

The Boston folding also put plenty of top-notch players up for grabs in the dispersal draft, as the Blazers were loaded with talent. With about 10 percent fewer jobs in the league, the level of play figured to be that much better. Plus, if a player had a bad couple of weeks, there was a good chance that someone on the proverbial street could be brought in without much of a drop in talent.

The Bandits' first pick in the dispersal draft was Kevin Buchanan, a supporting player on a talented Boston offensive unit. He figured to help, but he lived in the Boston area and had to fly in for games and practices. Buchanan was joined by some other "fly-in" players, such veteran Kyle Sweeney and rookie Jeff Cornwall. The Bandits had mostly stuck to players in Western New York and Southern Ontario, which allowed almost everyone to drive in to practices and games. That represented a good-sized change in philosophy.

The biggest trade of the offseason was somewhat stunning. The Bandits sent Chris Corbeil to Edmonton for two draft picks, including a first-rounder in the fall of 2012. Corbeil had improved greatly the year before, and was one of the team's best young players. But there was a chance that Edmonton would have a poor year, giving Buffalo a top prospect in the transaction.

The number of talented players who turned up in training camp was considerable, and there figured to be surprises on cut-down day. Brett Bucktooth certainly qualified, as he was dropped. Travis Irving, Brenden Thenhaus and Jay Thorimbert also sat out. Meanwhile, the biggest addition was Luke Wiles, acquired in a trade from Washington. Wiles was an All-Star who asked to come east for family reasons. Mat Giles came in a trade, while Jeremy Thompson was a second-round draft choice.

It was tough to know how good anyone was in the NLL before the games began, relatively speaking. But the Bandits had come within a goal of reaching the championship game the year before, and they apparently had added talent in the offseason. That added up to a contender status in 2012, so it was thought.

That thought looked good at home on opening night, when the Bandits knocked off Toronto, the defending champions, 14-10. Goalie Mike Thompson had one of his best games as a Bandit, while Wiles had three goals. Meanwhile, the Rock lost Blaine Manning to a broken collarbone in the game; they eventually grabbed Thenhaus off the Buffalo practice squad as a replacement.

It was more of the same a week later. John Tavares, still in form at the age of 43, had four goals and four assists to help the Bandits beat Rochester, 12-9. That gave Buffalo a 2-0 start with wins over its two biggest rivals. It was a time to feel good about the Bandits' chances, although Tavares sounded a warning.

"It's a great start, but it means nothing. There are 14 games left. We can't be satisfied, we have to build on this."

The good feelings lasted through the third quarter of the team's next game, a home matchup with Philadelphia. Then the Bandits played their worst quarter of the year to that point by fa, giving up six goals to lose a 13-10 decision at home. Buffalo had to get up early the next morning to fly to Minnesota for a game that night against Minnesota. The Swarm had a 10-5 lead at the half and scored the third quarter's only seven goals to break the game further open. The result was 19-11, but it wasn't even that close. The 19 goals allowed by the Bandits were the most ever by a Buffalo team coached by Kilgour.

Just like that, the good start was over. Buffalo was better in its next start but still lost, 10-9, to a struggling Washington team. Kilgour had his most vivid quote of the year after watching his team give up the ball in the final seconds of regulation time in order to give the Stealth a chance to tie it. "We deserved to lose that game. We’re the stupidest team on the face of the planet right now,” he said.

You knew Kilgour wouldn't stand still with a three-game losing streak, and he didn't -- he cut Sweeney and traded Cornwall to Edmonton for a pair of second-round draft picks. That means two of the "fly-in players" were gone. Thorimbert and Travis Irving came up from the practice squad to take their places.

When that didn't help avoid a one-goal loss in Philadelphia on February 12, Kilgour looked at the schedule that revealed a three-week break before the team's next game and made a major move. The Bandits gave up first-round draft choices in 2013 and 2014 to Minnesota for goaltender Anthony Cosmo. The reasoning was rather odd. Kilgour said that he wasn't unhappy with the goaltending and merely wanted to shake up the defense. It's more likely that he wanted to be loyal to existing starter Thompson in public. Two first-rounders was a high price to pay, but Cosmo -- sitting home while waiting to be traded East -- was a veteran goalie who might go into the league's Hall of Fame some day. Shortly after that, Buffalo dropped Hamburg native Frank Resetarits to make room for Cosmo on the active roster.

Before Cosmo could make his debut, the NLL All-Star Game came to Buffalo for the first time. Oddly, Thompson -- perhaps on his way out as the Bandits' number one goalie -- was the starter for the East. The  13,446 in attendance saw a good, competitive game. The West beat the East, 20-18, as Wiles had three goals and Thompson might have been an MVP candidate had the East not blown a halftime lead. Geoff Snider of Calgary was the player of the game with four goals and two assists. Here are the highlights:



Cosmo started in Buffalo's first game after the break on March 3, but he couldn't help. The Bandits lost to Colorado, 16-13, to make it five straight losses. "Our defense was terrible, and until we fix the defense we're going to be a bad team, and we are a bad team right now," Darris Kilgour said.

A week later, Rochester erupted for a 7-0 burst in the second quarter and merely had to hang on for a 13-10 win. One Rochester longtime observer said he's never seen the Bandits look as bad as they did in the second quarter. The 2-6 record tied the team record for the worst eight-game start. Six straight losses was a franchise record, too. "I'm at a loss for words. It's not a lack of effort, it's a lack of smarts," Smith said.

The winning drought ended on March 16 with a surprising 21-14 win in Toronto, as Wiles had five goals and Tavares and Mark Steenhuis had four each. They followed it a night later with a 13-10 win over Minnesota. Had the Bandits lost those two games, Kilgour said he might have backed up the truck and had a clearance sale of his roster.

The team's problems were far from over. Buffalo was run over by a good Calgary team, 17-6, the next week, and then lost at home to Toronto. The embarrassment of missing the playoffs was starting to loom in the background when Cosmo finished kicking off the rust and picked up his game considerably for the final month of the season. Buffalo beat Philadelphia and lost in Edmonton, but still only needed to beat Rochester in the next-to-last game of the season to clinch the last postseason spot. The Bandits answered that call with a 14-9 win over the Knighthawks. The season-ending game with Washington was irrelevant, but the Bandits won anyway, 17-16 in overtime, to finish 7-9.

Individual performances were mixed. Tavares was second in the league in goals with 41 and was named to the second team All-NLL squad. If he needed a sign that his level of play was dropping in order to consider retirement, he certainly didn't find one in 2012. Wiles was right behind with 39 goals. Steenhuis was the subject of some conflicting and odd statements from the front office about his play, but he still had 62 points despite not spending the entire year with the offensive unit.

However, Tracey Kelusky's play continued to fall off, in part because of a concussion suffered during the season. Buchanan and Roger Vyse never did find their scoring touches, and Chad Culp's scoring fell off as the season went on. On defense, the Bandits looked a little thin once they got past the big three of Smith, Chris White and Scott Self. Tom Montour's game fell off, while Thompson and Jimmy Purves were typically inconsistent considering their youth.

Still, there was hope going into the playoffs. Buffalo was 5-3 in the second half of the season. Toronto was the only team in the East that had been above .500 (9-7), and the Bandits beat them in two of three games. In a best-of-one playoff format, any team, the logic went, could get hot.

The Bandits looked just like that hot team in the playoff game in Toronto on May 5. Buffalo jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, as the Rock looked confused offensively. Toronto picked up its play in the second quarter, but still trailed, 6-2, after 30 minutes. Bandits' fans could dream a little of the possibilities.

Neither team scored for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but it was Toronto that finally figured out how to get on the scoreboard. The Rock scored the next four goals to tie the game at 6-6. That's the way it stood when Thenhaus -- remember him? -- rolled a one-handed shot past Cosmo with 1:35 left. Still, there was time for one last gasp. The Rock's Bill Greer was called for holding the stick, giving Buffalo a power play with seven seconds left. Here's the play:



But wait. Every goal in the final minute is reviewed. After officials looked at the video, the goal was disallowed. Game over. Season over.

"I got ahead of the defenseman, and he pushed me into the crease. It's a rule," Kelusky said.

The Bandits hadn't scored in the final 34 minutes of the game, and that ultimately cost them the game. If that didn't make them feel blue, the fact that Rochester -- a team that Buffalo handled easily in Game 15 -- won the NLL championship certainly did. Still, the ending was a very fitting way to send the Bandits off into what figured to could be a transformational offseason.

"It was a stupid play at a stupid time," Kilgour said. "It explains our whole season."

The 2010-11 Season

(Right, Roger Vyse helps John Tavares celebrate what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the playoff game between the Bandits and the Boston Blazers in HSBC Arena. Photo courtesy of The Buffalo News/Mark Mulville.)

The biggest news bulletin of the offseason concerning the Buffalo Bandits and the rest of the National Lacrosse League might have come, of all places, out of Orlando, Florida.

The Titans had played one season there, and were a success on the field. They won the East title in the regular season. But off the field there were problems. The franchise opted to suspend operations, a sure sign the the Titans were not going to come back.

That meant the NLL would go from 11 teams to 10 for 2011. If you were a player in the league, that meant it would be 10 percent tougher to hang on to a job for the season. And that doesn't include the way that new talent was coming out of the college ranks, squeezing more veterans to retirement every year.

"If you don't come out to play, you aren't going to win the game," Bandits' forward Mark Steenhuis said. "It's going to come down to which team is willing to fight for the loose balls, fight for the game."

The two big prizes were Casey Powell, the league's first American most valuable player, who ended up in Boston. Goalie Matt Vinc was selected by Colorado in the dispersal draft, but was traded to Rochester in a deal involving John Grant Jr.

There was a lot of activity going on around the league, but not much of it centered on Buffalo. Eventually, though, news started to come out of HSBC Arena.

First was some nice news for Rich and Darris Kilgour. They were inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, the first people with lacrosse connections to be so honored.

"Twenty years ago, if you had said lacrosse players would be in the Hall of Fame, people would have laughed. I don't know how much more special it can get," Rich Kilgour said.

As for Darris, he made sure the quiet period ended. Kilgour was quietly given back the job of general manager, although it had been rather obvious in 2010 that little had changed in the organizational chart of decision-making by the team no matter what the titles in the media guide said.

Kilgour's big move came when Calgary had a problem. Star forward Tracey Kelusky had been transferred back East to Ontario, and the Roughnecks thought it might be tough to fly him out for games weekly. Calgary was in the midst of revamping its roster anyway, so a trade was worked out with Buffalo to send Kelusky to the Bandits for a first-round draft choice in 2011.

Other moves followed soon after that. Defender Billy Dee Smith figured to miss the entire year with an offseason knee injury, so a replacement was needed. Scott Self came over in a deal from Minnesota, and Jay Thorimbert, a faceoff specialist who was very much needed, joined him in Buffalo in the transaction that send a second-rounder in 2011 and a first-round in 2012 to Minnesota. Brenden Thenhaus was acquired from Boston with a first-round pick for the sixth overall choice in the dispersal draft. Chad Culp was signed as a free agent; he had been with Colorado in 2010. Travis Irving was taken in the first round of the draft; he was big and tough.

The Bandits didn't change their goaltending, even though Ken Montour was still having leftover concussion-related problems from 2010. Mike Thompson was number one, and Angus Goodleaf moved up from number two. The pair had led Peterborough to a Mann Cup championship in the summer.

Buffalo made some news in the preseason of all places. The Bandits played Toronto in Six Nations, Ont. The brawl-filled game was called in the third quarter after the proverbial bench-clearing brawl.

The schedule-maker supposedly did Buffalo a favor in the early going of the 2011 season. Opening night on January 8 was against Calgary, which had gotten younger and cheaper through a series offseason moves. The Roughnecks spent several minutes before the game honoring Kelusky, including the presentation of a symbolic cowboy hat. It was a nice thank-you present for several years of great service.

Once the game began, Calgary showed it apparently meant business when Curtis Dickson scored 16 seconds into the new season. Kelusky responded about a minute later, but the Roughnecks never trailed for the rest of the game in taking a 10-9 season. That made a game in Philadelphia a week later important, since the team didn't want to fall to 0-2 in a very competitive East. The Bandits took care of business there with a 9-6 win.

The home opener -- number 20 in the career of John Tavares -- featured a game with undefeated Toronto, and it was a classic, back-and-forth contest. Finally in overtime, Self got a breakaway and ran more than halfway down the field to score the game-winner.

"Chris White picked up the loose ball, and I just yelled and took off," Self said, "He led me with a pass and I was just able to run into it."

The two teams met a week later in Toronto, and the beginning of the game was something of a payback for the preseason slugfest. Five players were ejected in the first few minutes in one of the ugliest games in recent memory.

"I think the first five minutes took about 35 minutes to play," Steenhuis said.

Once the two sides got down to business, the Rock held the Bandits to only five goals, a season low, in a 8-5 Toronto win.

Buffalo recovered to beat Minnesota at home (Tavares with two goals and six assists) and Philadelphia on the road. Tavares got his 700th career goal in the game, easily the league record.

"It think it is a pretty good feat, a good accomplishment, but it's a tribute to all the guys I've played with," Tavares said. "Without those guys, right from '92 to now, I'm not going to score those goals."

Tavares reached 1,500 points a week later, but all the Bandits were stunned at home by the Wings, 10-9, in one of the biggest upsets of the NLL season. The Wings were 6 for 9 on the power play while Buffalo was 1 for 6. The Bandits went into the All-Star break a little stunned, but several players helped the East beat the West, 30-26, in a game at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY. Tavares won the first two faceoffs of his life in that game.

Buffalo faced a difficult weekend to open the March part of the schedule, but it couldn't have gone better. Buffalo beat Rochester, 11-9, and then after overcoming some winter weather difficulties held off the Blazers in Boston, 9-8. Thompson was particularly sharp in goal in the win over the Blazers, while Clay Hill was the unlikely author of the game-winner. A home win against Boston on March 12 put the team's record at 7-3, with Tavares getting the game-winner with 2:12 left. The record moved to 8-3 with a victory on March 27 in Minnesota.

The Bandits welcomed Washington to HSBC Arena on April 2, and it looked as if the Stealth would leave a loser. The Bandits had the ball and a one-goal lead with about 34 seconds left. All they needed to do was kill off the 30 seconds on the shot clock, and Washington wouldn't have time to do much. Instead, Mark Steenhuis missed a shot without about 15 seconds left, Washington scooped up the ball and went down the floor, and Rhys Duch tied the game with 10 seconds left. Then the Stealth won the game in overtime on a goal by Cam Sedgwick.

It prompted the quote of the year from Kilgour, who said, "We have the stupidest team on the face of the planet."

The Bandits got smarter a week later. The Rock needed only to win to clinch the division title, and the game was at home. But Buffalo won, 11-8, and the Bandits went to Rochester a day later to beat the Knighthawks to take a firm hold on the division. Steenhuis scored with 52 seconds left for the 9-8 victory.

At 10-4, Buffalo had a chance at the best overall record in the league. Instead, Boston came in and blasted the Bandits, 16-9, on a night that spoiled Rich Kilgour's uniform number retirement ceremony. The only consolation came when Toronto lost in Edmonton, giving Buffalo the East title. A week later, Rochester put on a clinic to take a 15-9 decision in the season finale.

"Obviously the guys shut her down with two weeks left in the season," Darris Kilgour said. "They weren't too worried about our home record."

Buffalo finished the regular season at 10-6, in a three-way tie for the lead in the East but the winner on tiebreakers. However, the team's record at home was only 4-4.

Tavares finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 78 points. Steenhuis had 61 points despite flipping between offense and defense at times. Kelusky had 21 goals and 54 points, a bit of a disappointment since it was his worst full season since 2003. Culp and Thenhaus chipped in with 21 and 17 goals respectively. Tom Montour had 17 points in a transition role. Chris Corbeil led the team with 121 loose balls and showed great improvement in his defensive play.

Thompson was second in goals-against average at 9.67, .01 behind Anthony Cosmo of Boston. If Thompson had played 47 more seconds, he would have tied for first. Goodleaf's GAA was only 10.19, but he lost as many games as Thompson -- 3.

The Bandits drew Boston in the first-round playoff game at home. The Blazers went 8-8 in the regular season, but were considered a very dangerous opponent because of their offensive firepower. Buffalo played superbly for 55 minutes, taking a 10-6 lead. Then Boston pulled its goalie, and ran off four straight goals to tie the game with about a minute left.

With that, Tavares did his best Kirk Gibson impression. Tavares went into the training room for work on a sore calf and the game apparently in hand at 10-6. When he saw the score change to 10-10, he returned to the bench and got the ball with less than a minute left. Shot, goal, game. It was the highlight of the season.

"Tracey made a great play, helping me to get open," Tavares siad. "I got some room and shot."

Here are some highlights:



However, the ending wasn't a good sign for the future. Tavares had his calf treated during a Thursday practice in HSBC Arena. He thought he might be able to play in the East final against Toronto. But when Vyse came up a little lame in warmups, Kilgour said he thought he couldn't afford to have two injured forwards. So Tavares sat, and the Bandits acted like they couldn't play without him.

"We definitely weren't ready to play," Vyse said about the start.

Toronto jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Tavares' replacement, Kyle Clancy, finally got the Bandits on the board in the second quarter. Buffalo reduced the lead to 7-6 by 10:37 of the first half when Toronto scored twice to make it 9-6.

The Rock built up another lead, going up by 12-7 early in the fourth quarter. Again, the Bandits clawed back, getting to within 12-11 with 4:35 to go. Clancy had four goals at that point. But Buffalo couldn't get the tying goal. Their last chance came when Brett Bucktooth was stopped by Toronto goalie Bob Watson in the final 15 seconds. That was that.

About 28 hours later, police in Lewiston noticed a car in a ditch. When they investigated, they later charged Kilgour with a DWI offense and three other violations. While it seemed unlikely that Kilgour would lose his job over the matter, it was difficult to know what might happen otherwise considering that the Bandits had a new owner in Terry Pegula, who bought the team and the Sabres during the course of the season. There was some uncertainly as the team headed into the offseason after a 2011 campaign that was better than expected but fell short of the team's goal.