The Buffalo Bandits cleared another skeleton from their closet Saturday night.

John Tavares had six goals and two assists and goaltender Marty O'Neill made 39 saves in his first start in more than a year as the Bandits defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 16-11, before a season-high crowd of 10,396 at HSBC Arena.

It was the Bandits' first home win over the Wings since 1995, and first ever over Philly at HSBC Arena.

Buffalo finished its home schedule 5-1, just one year after going 1-5 at home.

The Bandits (7-3) moved into a tie for first place with the defending champion Toronto Rock. With two games remaining, they are in excellent position to claim one of the National Lacrosse League's four postseason berths.

Philadelphia, which plays again at 2:00 this afternoon at Albany, lost its second straight and dropped to 5-4.

"It was such a big win because it was either first place (with a win) or fifth place (with a loss) for us," Tavares said. "That gave us plenty of motivation."

The 35-year-old O'Neill, who has frequently been a target of the boobirds at home, allowed three goals in the first six minutes then slammed the door on the Wings the rest of the night.

"I never really felt the fans accepted me here in Buffalo, maybe from my time in Boston," said O'Neill. "I really wanted to go out and have a good game to show that I've never been a weak link in this team. I enjoy the pressure."

O'Neill also had the motivation of playing against one of his best friends, seven-time All-Pro goalie Dallas Eliuk of the Wings.

"I certainly enjoy playing against the guy at the other end, who I consider the greatest goalie ever to play the game," said O'Neill, who was the best man in Eliuk's wedding. "So I had that to help get me prepared all week, too."

Eliuk finished with 30 saves, despite missing most of the second quarter after being shaken up in a collision with Buffalo rookie D'Arcy Sweet.

The Bandits clamped down defensively after the first quarter, outscoring the Wings, 14-9, the rest of the way. Buffalo scored eight of nine goals at the end of the second quarter and start of the third to turn a 6-2 deficit into a 10-7 lead.

Tavares scored three goals during that stretch, one on a perfectly executed hidden ball trick late in the second quarter, and another on a spectacular backhand scoop shot early in the third quarter.

"On any given night anyone can score that big goal for us," said the Bandits' Derek Malawsky, who had two goals and three assists. "John had a couple huge ones for us tonight and we just fed off that."

Philadelphia crept as close as 12-11 in the fourth quarter when Jake Bergey - who had two goals and a team-high six points - scored with 11:27 left.

But the Bandits scored the last four goals, two by Tavares, and O'Neill dazzled down the stretch with 17 saves in the last quarter.

"We weren't getting to the loose balls at all," said the Wings' Chris Panos. "Tavares was such a key tonight. He was in our game plan but nothing we did could shut him down. They just have so many weapons. We didn't take care of the things we needed to take care of."

Buffalo's final two regular-season games are on the road, next Saturday in Philadelphia and on 15 April in Albany. In addition to the rematch with the Bandits, Philadelphia still must travel to Rochester, on 15 April, to close out the regular season.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Philadelphia Wings (5-4)          4  3  2  2  --  11
Buffalo Bandits (7-3)             2  5  5  4  --  16

PHILADELPHIA WINGS            BUFFALO BANDITS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Bergey         2 - 4     6    Tavares        6 - 2     8
Millon         2 - 2     4    D Malawsky     2 - 3     5    
Marechek       3 - 0     3    Accursi        3 - 1     4
Gagliardi      2 - 0     2    Williams       1 - 2     3
Finneran       1 - 1     2    Catton         0 - 2     2
Busza          0 - 2     2    Sweet          0 - 2     2
Slate          0 - 2     2    Maddalena      1 - 0     1
Stilley        1 - 0     1    Prat           1 - 0     1
Eliuk          0 - 1     1    Seller         1 - 0     1
McEvoy         0 - 1     1    Stevenson      1 - 0     1
Panos          0 - 1     1    Brunsch        0 - 1     1
Phair          0 - 1     1    Couling        0 - 1     1
                              O'Neill        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           50    Shots on goal           57
Saves made by           41    Saves made by           39
   Eliuk             30          O'Neill           39
   Piazza            11
Penalties                6    Penalties                5
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes         10
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         3    Power Play Goals         4
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Faceoffs Won            15    Faceoffs Won            19
Loose Balls             95    Loose Balls            131

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH THE BUFFALO BANDITS ***

Thanks to Bandit for providing the official game stats.