Playoff Matt Vinc has been a driving force for the Buffalo Bandits in their run to the NLL Finals. On Saturday in Buffalo, Christian Del Bianco proved he should be just as feared when it comes to the postseason.

The 21-year-old goalie made 48 saves and held the Bandits to their lowest scoring output of the season in Calgary’s impressive 10-7 victory in the opening game of the championship series. The Roughnecks can clinch their first title since 2009 at home Saturday.

Buffalo, which entered the playoffs as the favorite, now needs to win two games in a row to earn its first title in 11 years.

“We get to go back home now and take care of business,” Calgary forward Dane Dobbie said. “I thought we stuck to the process, kept an even keel and they started dropping for us late.

Buffalo only mustered one goal each quarter for the first three, making Roughnecks leads seem insurmountable at points. The teams went into the break tied at two, but Calgary pulled ahead with a four-goal run to end the third quarter and begin the fourth.

Another three-goal run in the fourth pushed the Rigger lead to 9-4 with about ten minutes remaining in the game and despite a late Bandits push, they didn’t cut the deficit to under two in the final five minutes.

Buffalo bested Calgary in shots on goal, loose balls and faceoffs and didn’t allow a power play goal on two opportunities. It still wasn’t enough.

“I thought we played hard,” Bandits co-head coach John Tavares said. “We just didn’t shoot the ball very well. That’s probably why we didn’t score many goals.”

Dobbie led all scorers with six points, including two goals in the fourth quarter. Jesse King and Rhys Duch each added four for the Riggers.

Shawn Evans had five goals on a goal and four assists for the Bandits and Josh Byrne notched two of each. Calgary did a great job of slowing down Dhane Smith, holding him to a goal and an assist. Roughneck defenders consistently clogged up the middle of the Bandits’ offensive zone, hurting Buffalo’s flow.

“It’s not focusing on what they’re going to do,” Calgary coach Curt Malawsky said. “It’s more focusing on what we’re going to do and just remembering who we are and sticking with our ideologies.”

Vinc made 43 saves for the Bandits.

The series moves to Alberta for Game 2, set for 9 p.m. on Saturday. It’s the second time in three years Buffalo faces elimination in the final in Canada, having fallen in this game for a two-game sweep against Saskatchewan in 2016.

“I feed off of the hostility,” Bandits captain Steve Priolo said. “Just the way I feed off of our fans pumping us up. I think something we can do moving forward is just pushing that ball a little bit more, maybe a little earlier.”

Flip of a coin

The New York Riptide will have the first overall pick in this year’s entry draft, and the Rochester Knighthawks will select first in the expansion draft after a coin flip at halftime gave the Riptide their pick of the two.

“We think there’s a lot of valuable players in [the entry draft] this year,” New York assistant general manager Lance Basler told the NLL’s Devan Kaney. “As we look to build our franchise, we want to be able to have a good start.”

Remaining NLL Finals schedule

Game 2 in Calgary, 9 p.m. ET Saturday

Game 3 in Buffalo, 8 p.m. ET Friday, May 31 *

* if necessary