BLUE CROSS ARENA - The first-place Buffalo Bandits (10-4) managed to sneak out a victory over the Rochester Knighthawks (7-5) after a late goal in the fourth that broke a tie which seemed to loom over The Blue Cross Arena for most of the contest. While Rochester played an impressive evenly matched game with its thruway rivals, the Bandits continue to sit pretty in first-place in the East, as the K-hawks try to hold on to third in the division. The Bandits also have now won two games in as many nights after defeating Toronto in comeback fashion, much like tonight.
Tracey Kelusky (2+3), John Tavares (3+1) and Mark Steenhuis (1+3) carried the weight for the Bandits tonight, combining for six of the club’s nine goals, while forward Chad Culp (1+2) also handed out three points of his own.
Netminder Michael Thompson was able to stop 41 of Rochester’s 49 shots and played crucial defense in the second half as his offense slowly crept back and secured the victory. Thompson is now in double-digits in the win column with 10.
Shawn Evans (2+1), who was also the player of the game, captain Shawn Williams (2+1), Cody Jamieson (1+2) and Mike Accursi (1+2) all had three points each for the K-hawks in the finish.
Despite coming up short, goaltender Matt Vinc protected the net nicely throughout, stopping 34 of the Bandit’s 43 bullets.
The two teams traded goals early, with the K-Hawks striking first at 2:05 of the opening quarter. “No Mercy” Accursi converted a rebound shot after the initial shot was taken by Jamieson. The Bandits responded, however, with two quick goals in a span of seven seconds just over a minute later from Kelusky and Culp.
Rochester restored the lead 3-2 over its regional foe with a pair of goals, including one with the team at a man-disadvantage. Craig Point cashed-in first with a shot from the middle of the slot, followed by a shorthanded marker courtesy of Evans. On Evans’ goal, he circled the Buffalo “cage” and slipped an airborne wrap-around attempt between the legs of netminder Thompson.
After almost seven minutes of back-and-forth, but scoreless play, the Knighthawks cashed in two more consecutive goals. At 11:59, Williams found the back of the net on a shot from just inside the offensive zone, with Evans following up with his second of the night on the power-play at 14:05. After faking a pass, Evans sent a blistering shot through the five-hole of Thompson to give Rochester the 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Buffalo pulled to within two just 16 seconds into the second quarter, as Kyle Clancy converted on a shot from just outside the crease that eluded Vinc.
The K-Hawks regained the momentum, as Cory Vitarelli scored the club’s second shorthanded goal of the night at 2:59. After Vinc made a big save at one end, he hit Vitarelli with a stretch pass that sent him in alone on Thompson. he shifty forward made no mistake, beating the Buffalo netminder high for his sixth of the season.
The Bandits once again responded less than two minutes later to cut their deficit to 6-4. Widely-renowned veteran forward Tavares converted after taking a back-door pass from teammate Kelusky for his 26th goal of the season.
Tavares then netted his second straight tally at 8:40, with a shot from the high slot that found its way through a crowd of players, as well as Vinc to bring the Bandits within one. Just 38 seconds after that, a great individual effort off the rush by Tom Montour evened the score at six. With his team playing at a man disadvantage, Montour outworked a pair of Knighthawk defenders and found his way to the top of the crease before depositing a shot to the lower portion of the net. After four straight crossbars by the Knighthawks in the final few minutes of the half, the two teams headed to their respective locker rooms with the score tied 6-6.
Despite maintaining their composure for more than four and a half minutes on the man-down after Kyle Laverty was sent to the box for an illegal cross-check major, the Knighthawks couldn’t compete with the Bandits when Vitarelli was also sent to the box with less than 30 seconds to go in the quarter. Buffalo chipped in the only goal of the third when Kelusky scooped up the loose ball and took an underhanded shot at the net, finally breaking the tie with one second left in the quarter on the power-play.
The Bandits opened the final frame where they left off, taking the two-goal advantage at 3:06 of the fourth, again capitalizing on the power-play. The goal was the first lead for Buffalo since going ahead 2-1 at 3:20 of the opening quarter. Tavares tripled up on tallies for his 28th of the season, his second on the man-advantage, with help from Brett Bucktooth. Kelusky received the secondary assist.
Rochester quickly responded with two goals of its own to knot the score at eight. After coming up empty on nine shots in the third and being held scoreless through a majority of the second, Williams’ quick-stick goal at 6:17 and Jamieson’s shot at 7:52 of the final frame would lock things back up with a familiar even score.
While the K-hawks had an opportunity with four and a half minutes to go in the contest when a loose ball rolled through Thompson’s legs, a Bandit defender would nurse the tie by scooping it up before it had a chance to dribble into the net.
Then, as things looked as if they might go into overtime, Buffalo denied any such thing thanks to Steenhuis, who dished out the game-winner with only 50 seconds left in regulation with Clancy and defender Scott Self’s assistance.
COURTESY ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS
