2015 Buffalo Bandits season
# 2015 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2015 season is their twenty-fourth season in the NLL.

## Regular season

### Current standings

Reference:

East Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Toronto Rock – xyz | 18 | 14 | 4 | .778 | 0.0 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 230 | 185 | +45 | 12.78 | 10.28 |
| 2 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 18 | 12 | 6 | .667 | 2.0 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 205 | 173 | +32 | 11.39 | 9.61 |
| 3 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 18 | 11 | 7 | .611 | 3.0 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 236 | 208 | +28 | 13.11 | 11.56 |
| 4 | Minnesota Swarm | 18 | 6 | 12 | .333 | 8.0 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 185 | 226 | −41 | 10.28 | 12.56 |
| 5 | New England Black Wolves | 18 | 4 | 14 | .222 | 10.0 | 2–7 | 2–7 | 186 | 249 | −63 | 10.33 | 13.83 |

West Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Edmonton Rush – xy | 18 | 13 | 5 | .722 | 0.0 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 241 | 177 | +64 | 13.39 | 9.83 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 18 | 9 | 9 | .500 | 4.0 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 212 | 218 | −6 | 11.78 | 12.11 |
| 3 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 18 | 7 | 11 | .389 | 6.0 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 212 | 217 | −5 | 11.78 | 12.06 |
| 4 | Vancouver Stealth | 18 | 5 | 13 | .278 | 8.0 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 211 | 265 | −54 | 11.72 | 14.72 |

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 2, 2015 | @ New England Black Wolves | Mohegan Sun Arena | L 8–12 | | 5,768 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 3, 2015 | Edmonton Rush | First Niagara Center | W 9–8 | | 14,236 | 1–1 |
| 3 | January 17, 2015 | @ Vancouver Stealth | Langley Events Centre | W 14–13 | | 3,478 | 2–1 |
| 4 | January 23, 2015 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 11–13 | | 11,413 | 2–2 |
| 5 | January 30, 2015 | Minnesota Swarm | First Niagara Center | W 15–12 | | 12,756 | 3–2 |
| 6 | January 31, 2015 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 11–17 | | 6,994 | 3–3 |
| 7 | February 7, 2015 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | W 15–14 | OT | 10,312 | 4–3 |
| 8 | February 14, 2015 | Rochester Knighthawks | First Niagara Center | L 10–15 | | 14,737 | 4–4 |
| 9 | February 21, 2015 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 12–13 | OT | 6,669 | 4–5 |
| 10 | February 28, 2015 | Colorado Mammoth | First Niagara Center | W 14–11 | | 14,669 | 5–5 |
| 11 | March 13, 2015 | Toronto Rock | First Niagara Center | W 15–12 | | 12,903 | 6–5 |
| 12 | March 14, 2015 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 10–11 | OT | 11,460 | 6–6 |
| 13 | March 21, 2015 | Minnesota Swarm | First Niagara Center | W 12–8 | | 14,601 | 7–6 |
| 14 | April 4, 2015 | New England Black Wolves | First Niagara Center | L 11–12 | | 13,674 | 7–7 |
| 15 | April 11, 2015 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 12–9 | | 8,986 | 8–7 |
| 16 | April 25, 2015 | Vancouver Stealth | First Niagara Center | W 17–9 | | 15,897 | 9–7 |
| 17 | April 26, 2015 | @ New England Black Wolves | Mohegan Sun Arena | W 20–9 | | 3,036 | 10–7 |
| 18 | May 2, 2015 | New England Black Wolves | First Niagara Center | W 20–10 | | 15,374 | 11–7 |

### Playoffs

The post season for the Bandits began as the third best record in the east, qualifying them for the division semifinal. The tone was set early on by the host Rochester Knighthawks, who led 5-2 after one period. The game would be relatively even the rest of the game but the three goal margin from the first was the difference in the game and sent Buffalo back west along the Interstate 90. In what would be his last game for the Bandits and in professional lacrosse, John Tavares registered five assists.

**Game log**

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Division Semifinal | May 8, 2015 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 11–14 | | 6,527 | 0–1 |

## Transactions

### Trades

| September 22, 2014 | To Buffalo BanditsNick Weiss 9th overall selection, 2014 entry draft 2nd round selection, 2015 entry draft 1st round selection, 2018 entry draft | To Vancouver StealthRory Smith Eric Penney 12th overall selection, 2014 entry draft |
| - | - | - |
| September 22, 2014 | To Buffalo Bandits49th selection, 2014 entry draft | To New England Black Wolves6th round selection, 2016 entry draft |

### Entry Draft

The 2014 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 22, 2014. The Bandits made the following selections:

| Round | Overall | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | 9 | Brandon Goodwin |
| 2 | 14 | Matthew Bennett |
| 2 | 18 | Tyler Ferreira |
| 3 | 24 | Jordan Dance |
| 6 | 49 | Mike Melnychenko |
