# 2016 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2016 season was their twenty-fifth season in the NLL.
The Bandits had their best season in years, finishing with a franchise-record 13 wins. The 13-5 record gave the team first place in the East Division and also clinched first seed for the playoffs. The team only lost two games in a row once and finished the season winning 9 of their last 10 games.
Buffalo beat New England 2 games to 0 in the semifinals, but lost two close games to the Saskatchewan Rush in the Championship.
The team was led by Dhane Smith, who had one of the best offensive years in NLL history. Smith set new records for both goals in a season with 72 and points in a season with 137.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Buffalo Bandits – xyz | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 0.0 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 251 | 214 | +37 | 13.94 | 11.89 |
| 2 | New England Black Wolves – x | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | 3.0 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 229 | 212 | +17 | 12.72 | 11.78 |
| 3 | Georgia Swarm – x | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5.0 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 238 | 240 | −2 | 13.22 | 13.33 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6.0 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 200 | 215 | −15 | 11.11 | 11.94 |
| 5 | Toronto Rock | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8.0 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 190 | 224 | −34 | 10.56 | 12.44 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Saskatchewan Rush – xy | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 233 | 190 | +43 | 12.94 | 10.56 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 1.0 | 8–1 | 4–5 | 203 | 202 | +1 | 11.28 | 11.22 |
| 3 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | 5.0 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 216 | 216 | −-0 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| 4 | Vancouver Stealth | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8.0 | 4–5 | 1–8 | 198 | 245 | −47 | 11.00 | 13.61 |
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | January 9, 2016 | Calgary Roughnecks | First Niagara Center | W 10–9 | | 14,286 | 1–0 |
| 2 | January 16, 2016 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 14–15 | OT | 14,125 | 1–1 |
| 3 | January 23, 2016 | Toronto Rock | First Niagara Center | W 12–6 | | 13,359 | 2–1 |
| 4 | January 30, 2016 | @ New England Black Wolves | Mohegan Sun Arena | L 11–15 | | 3,874 | 2–2 |
| 5 | February 6, 2016 | New England Black Wolves | First Niagara Center | W 12–10 | | 13,556 | 3–2 |
| 6 | February 14, 2016 | @ Georgia Swarm | Infinite Energy Arena | W 21–14 | | 4,971 | 4–2 |
| 7 | February 19, 2016 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 12–14 | | 7,837 | 4–3 |
| 8 | February 20, 2016 | Georgia Swarm | First Niagara Center | L 15–19 | | 14,515 | 4–4 |
| 9 | February 26, 2016 | @ Saskatchewan Rush | SaskTel Centre | W 19–18 | OT | 10,433 | 5–4 |
| 10 | March 5, 2016 | @ Vancouver Stealth | Langley Events Centre | W 13–8 | | 3,382 | 6–4 |
| 11 | March 11, 2016 | Rochester Knighthawks | First Niagara Center | W 13–10 | | 18,751 | 7–4 |
| 12 | March 25, 2016 | Vancouver Stealth | First Niagara Center | W 17–10 | | 14,301 | 8–4 |
| 13 | April 2, 2016 | @ Georgia Swarm | Infinite Energy Arena | W 18–14 | | 3,355 | 9–4 |
| 14 | April 9, 2016 | Rochester Knighthawks | First Niagara Center | W 14–12 | | 17,397 | 10–4 |
| 15 | April 15, 2016 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 9–12 | | 9,237 | 10–5 |
| 16 | April 16, 2016 | Toronto Rock | First Niagara Center | W 14–8 | | 17,270 | 11–5 |
| 17 | April 23, 2016 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | W 15–13 | | 10,716 | 12–5 |
| 18 | April 30, 2016 | New England Black Wolves | First Niagara Center | W 17–12 | | 19,070 | 13–5 |

## Playoffs

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | Attendance | Record |
| Eastern Final (Game 1) | May 16, 2016 | @ New England Black Wolves | Mohegan Sun Arena | W 15–10 | 3,697 | 1–0 |
| Eastern Final (Game 2) | May 21, 2016 | New England Black Wolves | First Niagara Center | W 20–15 | 14,423 | 2–0 |
| Finals Game 1 | May 28, 2016 | Saskatchewan Rush | First Niagara Center | L 9–11 | 12,692 | 2–1 |
| Finals Game 2 | June 4, 2016 | @ Saskatchewan Rush | SaskTel Centre | L 10–11 | 15,182 | 2–2 |

## Transactions
### Trades

| September 28, 2015 | To Buffalo Bandits55th overall selection, 2015 entry draft | To Saskatchewan Rush6th round selection, 2018 entry draft |

### Entry Draft

The 2015 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 28, 2015. The Bandits made the following selections:
| Round | Overall | Player |
| 2 | 11 | Anthony Malcom |
| 3 | 27 | Mike Triolo |
| 4 | 36 | Tim Edwards |
| 6 | 55 | Matt Francisco |