Tavares, Bandits KO Wings

By Tom Hoffman

Paul Dawson may have thrown a knockout punch when he dropped Buffalo's Travis Irving in the fourth but the more convincing knockout was delivered by the Bandits offense and John Tavares as Buffalo used a 9-2 second half to defeat the Wings 16-7. A season high 9,649 witnessed the carnage, pink jerseys on the Wings and some history at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Wings, for the fifth game this season, scored first on a power play tally from Alex Turner. The fans then got to see some history made when Tavares became the first player in National Lacrosse League history to score 700 goals when his goal with the man advantage tied the score. He would add two more goals in the quarter while assisting on a Tracey Kelusky score to give Buffalo a 4-1 lead after 15 minutes. After Athan Iannucci and Chad Culp traded goals, the Wings would score the next three goals to even things up a five apiece but woul;d trail 7-5 at half following Bandit scores from Culp and Kelusky.

Dan Hardy would get the Wings within a goal just :56 into the third session but that would end up as close as the Wings would get the rest of the evening. Buffalo would run off seven straight goals to effectively put the game away. But at the 2:39 mark of the fourth the Wings fans had their last real moment to cheer when Dawson connected on his punch that left Irving quite woozy and needing medical attention. While it fired up the fans it did nothing to wake up a lackluster Wings effort. After Drew Westervelt stopped the Buffalo scoring streak, Mark Steenhuis would score on a five minute major to the Wings Jeff Reynolds and in the process help chase All-Star starting goalie Brandon Miller for the second straight game and second time since getting the All-Star nod. By the time Steenhuis scored again with under a minute to play, many had already headed for the exits.

The ageless Tavares would end up adding to his Hall of Fame bound totals with a nine point evening on five goals and four assists in leading the Bandit attack. For the Wings, it was once again a frustrating night of little offense and poor fundamentals as they dropped many passes and failed to corral ground balls and rebounds. Now, as the Wings head to Buffalo to reach the season's mid point next weekend, they have to wonder which team will show up: the team that dominated the Boston Blazers a few weeks ago in Boston or the squad that has looked harried and hopeless in losing their last two games.