Whew!

The Buffalo Bandits won a nailbiter tonight at HSBC Arena, defeating the Colorado Mammoth 12-11 before a crowd of 16,905.

Nothing came easy for Buffalo tonight, as the team had few chances to penetrate a tight Colorado defense which did not give inside lanes to shoot easily. When the Bandits did get inside, they took advantage of their opportunities.

The Bandits welcomed back former star player Mike Accursi to their lineup, who they acquired from the Edmonton Rush just before the trade deadline. Accursi appeared in 73 games with the Bandits from 2000 through 2004, scoring 146 goals and 111 assists for 257 points during that time. “When I got the news I felt like I was coming home” said Accursi, who shook off getting his bell rung in the 4th quarter and scored a key goal late in the game.

Both teams started out slowly tonight, with no scoring and few chances until Bandits goaltender Mike Thompson stopped a Colorado breakaway cold midway through the first period. That sparked the Buffalo bench and Mark Steenhuis answered a few seconds later with the first goal of the game. Buffalo made it 2-0 late in the period when Roger Vyse scored shorthanded, after being left all alone on front of the Colorado net.

With the Bandits ahead 4-1 in the second quarter, the team would get into huge penalty trouble and that would prove costly. Rich Kilgour went off at the 7:12 mark with a 5 minute high sticking penalty. In that stint Buffalo would also commit two minor penalties, providing the Mammoth with a two man advantage on two occasions.

Colorado capitalized with four goals during all that mess, and just like that the score was tied at 5.

Buffalo recaptured the lead late in the second with nifty back to back goals by SteenhuIs and Kevin Dostie. Colorado answered in the waning seconds and the Bandits went to the locker room at the half with a 7-6 lead.

All the scoring in the 3rd quarter came late – Buffalo opened a 9-6 lead, Pat McCready completing a tic-tac-toe play with the help of Delby Powless and John Tavares. Seconds later Cory Bomberry scored off a long shot. Colorado cut it to 9-7 with another late goal in the final seconds.

Buffalo’s 11th goal, coming halfway through the 4th quarter, was the prettiest of the night, coming off the stick of Accursi, who accepted a feed pass from Steenhuis, who patiently waited until Accursi got open. “I knew that the pass would be coming my way and Mikey picked the perfect time to send the feed. From there it was nothing but net for me” said Accursi.

Colorado wouldn’t go away, however, cutting the deficit to one goal, 11-10 on a power play goal. On an ensuing Bandits power play, the Bandits Delby Powless gave the team a two goal cushion with 4 minutes left in the game. Colorado immediately brought it to within one, and final two and half minutes provided that exciting edge of year seat action which makes this game so exciting. The Mammoth had three key possessions in that time and swarmed the Buffalo net, but could not get the equalizer. With the Mammoth goalie pulled Buffalo finally got the ball deep into Colorado territory as the final seconds ticked off, giving the Bandits a one goal win.

A happy and relieved Coach Darris Kilgour said that shots tonight were hard to come by. “We kind of went about things backwards. I stressed during pregame practice… outside shots, stretch the defense, yet they collapsed well into the middle. Give them a lot of credit, they battled well for 60 minutes.”

Kilgour also heaped praise on his goaltender, Mike Thompson, who came up huge again and again, especially when the game was on the line, facing 56 shots and recording 45 saves. “There was never a doubt that he was our number one. It seems that he got his focus back and played a tremendous game” said Kilgour.

With the win the Bandits improve their record to 8-5, and are right in the thick of things for a playoff berth come May, now in third place but just half a game out of the division lead. The team travels next week to Rochester, where they will play the Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena, before returning home in two weeks to face the Chicago Shamrox, who they beat in Chicago earlier this year. Just three games left in the regular season, get your tickets and head on down!

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