Omran Wahidy
Setting The Scene:
The boys are back in town.
The Roughnecks (0-2) are looking to grab their first win of the season on Return of the Red night in their home-opener when they host the defending champion Buffalo Bandits at 6 p.m. on WestJet Field. (ESPN2, TSN+ and NLL+)
The Riggers are coming off a bye week, but opened the season with a pair of losses on the road against the Saskatchewan Rush (16-13) in Week 2, and the Toronto Rock (11-10) in Week 3.
Buffalo (1-1) enters the contest after a bye week as well and will be hungry to get a win following a 9-8 overtime loss to Halifax in Week 3.
Roughnecks forward Tanner Cook heads into Week 5 just one point shy of 250 in his NLL career. While face-off specialist Justin Inacio sits second in the NLL in Faceoff Wins (46) and loose balls (35) following two games of action.
Head-To-Head:
The two teams squared off twice last season with the Roughnecks winning the first matchup in Buffalo 17-11. The rematch took place the next week in Calgary, which saw the Bandits earn a 11-6 victory in front of 16,443 fans at the Rough House.
Players To Watch:
Roughnecks: F Noah Manning: The rookie forward is looking to continue his solid start to the season. Manning, who had a hat-trick in Week 3 against Toronto, leads the team with five goals in two outings.
First @NLL hattrick ✅
Have a night Noah Manning! pic.twitter.com/WLkBnFe2n2
— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) December 14, 2025
Bandits: F Dhane Smith: Smith is coming off a seven-point performance against Halifax (3G, 4A) and currently sits just outside of the top five in league scoring with 15 points.
2025-26 Scoring Leaders:
Roughnecks:
Tyler Pace – 13 pts (3G, 10A)
Tanner Cook – 10 pts (4G, 6A)
Haiden Dickson – 10 pts (4G, 6A)
Cookie 🥶 pic.twitter.com/lILy0IsODj
— Calgary Roughnecks (@NLLRoughnecks) December 14, 2025
Bandits:
Dhane Smith – 15 pts (7G, 8A)
Josh Byrne – 12 pts (5G, 7A)
Ryan Benesch – 5 pts (2G, 3A)
