The Rochester Knighthawks (1-0) will complete the tail end of a home-and-home series with the Buffalo Bandits (0-1) on Saturday, January 16th. The 7:30 p.m. contest at HSBC Arena will be broadcast live on The Zone 94.1 FM and thezone941.com. Fans can also watch the game live on the NLL Network. Rochester is attempting to open a season 2-0 for the first time since 2000. The Knighthawks opened their 16th season on January 9th with a 10-5 victory over the Bandits as John Grant Jr. and Gary Gait combined for 13 points (5+8) in their first pro game together.
Grant, who missed the entire 2009 season, led the way with two goals and six assists. He now stands just four goals away from reaching the 400-goal plateau. Gait chipped in three goals and two assists. Goalie Pat O’Toole was also stellar in goal making 42 saves and holding Buffalo to one second-half goal. Rochester was also deadly on the power play, going 5-for-9
Buffalo was led by a three-point (1+2) effort from Mark Steenhuis. Buffalo was limited to just five goals without the presence of the league’s all-time leading scorer, John Tavares, who was scratched Saturday night. Goalie Ken Montour stopped 46 Rochester shots in the loss. Rochester now leads the all-time series with a mark of 23-14.The game is the second of three this season between the two teams.New Knighthawks debut: First-overall pick Sid Smith, Kevin Fines, Aaron Bold all suited up for the first time for the Knighthawks.
Closing in on history: Pat O’Toole (6,135) is just 222 saves away from breaking Dallas Eliuk’s league record of 6,356.
Buffalo Notes: Buffalo opens the season with three of their first four games on the road. The lone home game is on Saturday, January 16th against Rochester. Forward Roger Vyse had one goal and one assist against the K-Hawks to give him 16 goals and six assists against Rochester in the last six games. Steenhuis also recorded three points on one goal and two assists, which marked the third straight game Rochester has limited him to one goal and two assists. Second-round draft picks Chris Corbeil and Steve Priolo made their NLL debuts last Saturday. Head Coach Darris Kilgour is still four wins shy of passing legendary Head Coach Les Bartley for the all-time record for wins (93).
Next Game: Rochester remains on the road for the second of three straight road games as they travel to meet Colin Doyle and the Toronto Rock at 7:00 p.m. at the Air Canada Centre. The contest will be broadcast live on The Zone 94.1 FM and thezone941.com. Fans can also watch the game live on NLL Network.
The following was provided by the Rochester Knighthawks Media Relations Office