When his job was still up in the air last summer, Buffalo Bandits general manager Steve Dietrich was quick to point out the team’s plan hadn’t come to fruition just yet. So far this season, we’re seeing exactly what he imagined.

The Bandits have already passed their win total from last season and tied the franchise’s record for the best 11-game start to a season with a fifth straight victory on Friday night.

The now 9-2 Bandits’ offense was clicking, led by seven-point performances from Dhane Smith and Corey Small and six-point outings from Shawn Evans, Chris Cloutier and Chase Fraser, in a 16-9 victory against the Rochester Knighthawks Friday in Blue Cross Arena.

The Bandits have scored 15 or more goals in four of their last five games and is winning by an average of 6.4 goals over their win streak. It’s hard to believe Buffalo has this much firepower even without injured Josh Byrne.

Buffalo went into the break with a 6-5 lead but outscored Rochester 10-4 the rest of the way thanks largely to a 7-1 run. Defensively, Matt Vinc and the back door unit held an opponent in the single digits for a fourth time this season.

The Bandits, who are off next week, now sit alone in first place in the East Division.

Rock’s streak ended

Buffalo is alone because the New England Black Wolves did the Bandits a favor on Sunday by knocking off their main competition at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Pack came back from down three goals at the start of the third quarter to best Toronto, 13-11, and end the Rock’s six-game winning streak.

Callum Crawford scored twice in the Black Wolves’ 6-1 fourth-quarter run before he was ejected from the game with around five minutes left to go after catching Brad Kri with an elbow to the head.

That forced New England’s defense, and young goalie Doug Jamieson, to play man down for nearly the entirety of the final five minutes of action while holding onto a two-goal lead. The Black Wolves were up to the task, thanks largely to Jamieson having his best game as a pro yet. He made 47 saves on 58 shots.

“That one’s on Dougie,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said. “He made some key saves and if you don’t get good save when you’re man down, you’re not going to have any success.”

Crawford scored three goals and five assists before being sent to the showers early. Dereck Downs, who scored the first two goals of the game, finished with a hat trick, while Tyler Digby had a goal and five assists.

Tom Schreiber had three goals and three assists for the Rock.

Rush moving in right direction

The Saskatchewan Rush seem to have righted the ship somewhat, winning a second straight game after ending a three-game losing streak last week against the Vancouver Warriors. This time, Evan Kirk returned to action and made 37 saves in a 9-7 defensive battle with the Colorado Mammoth.

“You need to win in this league in a variety of ways,” Rush GM and head coach Derek Keenan told media postgame. “Some nights it’s special teams, sometimes it’s the offense or transition. Tonight, it was defense and goaltending. We played a gritty game defensively. We challenged them and they rose to the occasion so I’m happy for that group.”

The game was close to the end, with the Rush never leading by more than three goals. Colorado scored twice in the fourth quarter, getting goals from Jacob Ruest and Ryan Lee, to cut the lead to one goal with about six and a half minutes left. Ruest had a last chance to tie with under a minute left, but Kirk made the save and Brett Mydske buried an empty netter to clinch the victory.

Mark Matthews led the Rush with two goals and three assists, while Jeff Shattler notched a hat trick.

Saskatchewan moved back into first place in the West, moving a half game ahead of the dormant Calgary Roughnecks and San Diego Seals.

Week 12 Preview

Knighthawks at Swarm
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. ET

The Knighthawks, now 2-7, need to turn things around fast if they want to make a playoff appearance. A win against the third team in the East would be a major help and would mark the team’s first win away from Blue Cross Arena this season. Georgia, two games back of the top of the East, has lost two straight.

Roughnecks at Rush
Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET

Calgary beat the Rush in Saskatchewan earlier this month, the first time the Riggers have won in the Sasktel Center. The Roughnecks pulled away in the second while holding Ben McIntosh to an unusually quiet one goal and one assist.

Warriors at Seals
Saturday, 10 p.m. ET

These two teams meet for a third and final time this season after splitting the previous two meetings. San Diego has lost two straight, including once to these Warriors, after jumping out to first in the division. Vancouver’s Keegan Ball nearly matched his previous season total with six goals in the last matchup between these teams.

Mammoth at Black Wolves
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET

Colorado, now just a half game up on Vancouver in the standings, still hasn’t scored more than 12 goals in a game this season and has now scored 10 or fewer goals five times. New England, winners of three of the last five, has a shot at catching the Swarm to tie for third place this week with a win and a Georgia loss.