John Tavares scored seven goals, Mike Accursi chipped in five, and the Buffalo Bandits scored on better than half their shots on goal, pounding the Calgary Roughnecks, 23-17, Saturday night at HSBC Arena.

After they losing an extremely rough and tumble game in Toronto less than twenty-four hours beforehand, one would expect the Bandits to be tired and sore and not quite on their game against the Roughnecks.

This was far from the case, as Buffalo picked the Roughnecks apart, one body part at a time.

Mark Steenhuis and Jason Crosbie started the scoring with a goal each, giving the Bandits an early 2-0 lead before the clock had ticked off the first minute of play. Kyle Goundrey cut that lead in half before a parade of players to the penalty box began, causing a flurry of power play goals. Buffalo got the first two, from Accursi and then from Tavares.

Steenhuis added an even strength goal, and the Bandits were ahead 5-1 with five minutes left on the clock. Goundrey added his second of the night while Buffalo was a man down for having too many men on the floor.

Forty-five seconds later, Goundrey was serving time for roughing, and Buffalo’s Aime Caines put the ball past Calgary goaltender Curtis Palidwor and gave the Bandits back their four-goal lead at 6-2. Former Bandit Craig Stevenson added another power play goal for the Roughnecks, but Accursi quickly got it back.

The fifty-minute long first quarter ended with an incident that sent two Roughnecks and a Bandit to the sin bin, disqualified one Bandit, and led to a total of twenty-seven penalty minutes. Buffalo’s Pat McCready took a wicked cross-check from Calgary’s Andrew McBride, and they tangled in the corner. At the same time, Roughneck Jordan West-Pratt delivered a slash across the back of Billy Dee Smith’s knees, and when Smith retaliated, those two dropped the gloves a few feet away from McCready and McBride.

When it was all sorted out, McCready and McBride each sat two minutes for roughing, West-Pratt sat five minutes for fighting and Smith was banished to the locker room for the remainder of the game. Smith was assessed three penalties, totalling seventeen minutes – two for being an instigator, five for fighting and a ten-minute game misconduct.

Forty seconds after the fight, Buffalo’s Andy Ogilvie received a two-minute penalty for roughing, but since the Bandits already had two players in the penalty box, Calgary was awarded a penalty shot. Buffalo netminder Steve Dietrich easily stopped Kaleb Toth on the penalty shot.

Lewis Ratcliff closed the quarter with one last power play goal at 14:56, cutting Buffalo’s lead to three goals.

The second quarter began with Calgary killing a two-minute delay of game penalty after challenging Dietrich’s protective equipment. Dietrich was taken into the referees’ area, and his equipment was measured. Unlike last night, when the Roughnecks caught Columbus netminder Mike Miron with illegal padding, Dietrich's equipment was legal and the Roughnecks were assessed a penalty.

Accursi netted his hat trick goal on a fast break less than a minute into the period and the Bandits again had a four-goal cushion. Rob Kirkby scored Calgary’s first goal of the quarter just seven seconds later, though, and three quick Calgary penalties resulted in Buffalo being awarded a penalty shot of its own.

With Jesse Phillips in the box for high sticking and Matt Green serving a bench minor for too many men, Calgary soon made another illegal substitution, allowing Tavares to run uncontested to the net and fire the ball over Palidwor’s shoulder.

Crosbie and Rich Kilgour added two more tallies to Buffalo’s score, giving the Bandits a six-goal lead with ten minutes left to play in the half.

Kilgour’s goal chased Palidwor from the net. Kaleb Toth put a slight dent in Buffalo’s lead when he scored his first of the night at the six-minute mark, but again, Buffalo answered with three in a row. Tavares, Accursi and Steenhuis each beat Matt King before intermission and Buffalo went to the locker room ahead 14-6.

Jason Wulder opened the third quarter scoring for Calgary six minutes into the quarter. Steenhuis and Accursi put the Bandits up 16-7 before the Roughnecks finally put a string of back-to-back goals together.

Corey Quinn, Buffalo’s back up goaltender, replaced Dietrich ten minutes into the quarter, and the Roughnecks quickly fired in four goals. Matt Green picked up a loose ball and put it in the net, then Ratcliff, Phillips and Kirkby made it 16-11 within three minutes of Quinn stepping on the floor. McCready finished off this period’s scoring and Buffalo took a 17-11 lead into the final stanza.

Tavares and Ratcliff traded goals to start the fourth quarter. Jonas Derks added yet another power play goal for Buffalo, but Stevenson and Brad MacArthur soon brought the Roughnecks within five.

Tavares scored three more goals before the end of the game, and with the help of one more from Caines, the Bandits beat the Roughnecks by six, 23-17. Calgary got goals from Wulder, Stevenson and Goundrey to close out its scoring.

In a game that was filled with power play goals, eighteen in all, Tavares stood out with seven goals and three assists. Mike Accursi (five goals, three assists) and Steenhuis (four goals, two assists) also helped to propel the Bandits to victory.

The Bandits truly had their way on offense, scoring 23 goals on just 45 shots on goal. That's right -- the Bandits struck at a 51.1 percent clip.

Craig Stevenson led the Roughnecks with three goals and four assists. Kyle Goundrey and Lewis Ratcliff also scored three goals apiece in a losing effort.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Calgary Roughnecks (2-3)              4  2  5  6  --  17
Buffalo Bandits (4-1)                 7  7  3  6  --  23

CALGARY ROUGHNECKS            BUFFALO BANDITS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Stevenson      3 - 4     7    J Tavares      7 - 3    10
Toth           1 - 5     6    Accursi        5 - 3     8
Ratcliff       3 - 2     5    Steenhuis      4 - 2     6
Goundrey       3 - 1     4    R Kilgour      1 - 5     6
Wulder         2 - 1     3    Derks          1 - 3     4
Kirkby         2 - 0     2    Crosbie        2 - 1     3
MacArthur      1 - 1     2    Langdale       0 - 3     3
Green          1 - 0     1    Susheski       0 - 3     3
J Phillips     1 - 0     1    Caines         2 - 0     2
King           0 - 1     1    McCready       1 - 1     2
Leies          0 - 1     1    Gelsvik        0 - 2     2
West-Pratt     0 - 1     1    Ogilvie        0 - 1     1
                              Seller         0 - 1     1
                              Smith          0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           55    Shots on goal           45
Saves made by (GA)      22    Saves made by (GA)      38
   King (12)         13          Dietrich (13)     35
   Palidwor (11)      9          Quinn (4)          3
Penalties               16    Penalties               22
Penalty Minutes         46    Penalty Minutes         63
Power Play Chances      18    Power Play Chances      11
Power Play Goals        10    Power Play Goals         8
   Stevenson          3          J Tavares          3 
   Goundrey           2          Accursi            2
   L Ratcliffe        2          Caines             1
   Wulder             2          Derks              1
   Toth               1          R Kilgour          1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        3
   (None)                        Steenhuis          2
                                 J Tavares          1
Loose Balls            114    Loose Balls            116
   King              16          Dietrich          15
   Goundrey          11          J Tavares         14
   Leies             11          Crosbie           11
Faceoffs Won            21    Faceoffs Won            24
   MacArthur    (16-15)          Accursi      (13-10)
   Stevenson    ( 3- 0)          R Kilgour    ( 9-10)
   Kirkby       ( 2- 7)          Derks        ( 2- 1)
   Leies        ( 0- 1)          
   TEAM         ( 0- 1)

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