A hard-charging Ken Millin bagged a hat trick, and captain Jim Veltman served up a goal, four assists, and one of the finest improvisational gems of the entire season as the Toronto Rock shut down the Buffalo Bandits 14-11 before a sell-out crowd at the Old Post Office Arena on Lakeshore Boulevard.

This was a thrilling contest from start to shutdown, with plenty of close calls down the stretch.

Steve Dietrich started between the pipes for Buffalo, with Bob Watson holding down crease duty for the Rock.

Toronto’s power play is quickly becoming its most effective weapon, and penalties got the visitors in trouble in the opening minute, when Blaine Manning ripped home a man-up slot bomb just 38 seconds in.

It almost got worse, when Buffalo superstar John Tavares decked Patrick Merrill with an ugly stick jab, and then stepped on him! The refs only called a minor penalty on the play, and the Rock couldn’t cash it in.

Jason Crosbie knotted the game for Buffalo with a power-play goal of his own at 6:07, but a minute later Steve Toll put the Rock back in front on a blazing counterbreak, set up by a perfect long-distance set-up from Pat Coyle.

Colin Doyle then made it 3-1, cutting to the middle and ripping one home in traffic. Crosbie responded -- again on the power play -- ripping home a rebound with Watson stranded on the far side.

3-2 Toronto after one.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Veltman. Running along the right-side boards in his own end, he swats a loose ball off the boards, around a Bandit defender, to himself. Still on the dead run, he pumps the ball to a steaming Steve Toll, who scores on one of the least-likely, best-executed counterbreaks of the year. Masterful! Five stars!

The Bandits knuckled down and went to work, quickly tying the game on a Mike Accursi duck-and-shoot on the doorstep, and Pat McCready’s wide-open finish of a sizzling pump pass from Mark Steenhuis.

Toronto answered with three goals in a row. Colin Doyle ran through, then around the Buffalo D, diving to score shorthanded at the post. Then Ken Millin snagged and scored on his own rebound off the backboards, unexpectedly finding himself wide open when two Bandit defenders took off in the opposite direction expecting a counterbreak!

The rally was capped five minutes before the break, when Veltman went bag on a thirty-foot diagonal bounce job on the power play.

Buffalo fought back with a Rich Kilgour counterbreak, but the Rock led 7-5 at the half.

For fourteen and a half minutes, the Bandits owned the third quarter. Crosbie got his third man-up marker of the night early, and Accursi tied the game right under Watson’s nose at 8:34.

Manning finally broke through for Toronto with 29 seconds to go, freezing Dietrich with a nifty fake to cash in a sneaky feed from Veltman. Thirteen seconds later, Millin bagged a virtual gift for the Rock, scoring of a long downfloor pass off the faceoff when Buffalo virtually abandoned the floor on an all-executed line change.

9-7 Rock after three.

And then didn’t the thrills and spills begin for real.

• Accursi scores for Buffalo after a good jostle on the doorstep and some fine set-up work by Jonas Derks.
• Seconds later, Glenn Clark scores a faceoff goal for the Rock, almost identical to Millin’s at the end of the third.
• Tavares! Buffalo! Highlight reel! How many people in history have successfully flown the crease, starting out from underneath Pat Coyle?
• Matt Shearer rips home a sizzling one-timer for the Rock, again set up by great work from Veltman.
• Shearer again, shooting wide, zapping home his own rebound.
• Accursi back for the Bandits, a quick rip from in close to cut Toronto’s lead to 12-10.

Let’s dial up the tension, shall we?

• Steenhuis tears loose on a clean break for the Bandits, shooting just wide.
• Tavares hauls back from the restraining line and absolutely bombs one off Watson’s crossbar.
• On the same shift, Tavares surges to the low slot and scores to slash the lead to one.
• Toronto’s reply wasn’t pretty -- Millin squibbing one past a baffled Dietrich -- but it counted.
• Tavares -- no! He’s stripped by Glenn Clark, who goes coast-to-coast, beats Dietrich... hits the post!
• Tavares -- yes! An unstoppable behind-the-back rip that -- no! -- hits the post!

Buffalo never got another chance. Chris Driscoll dropped one off into an empty net for the Rock. 14-11. Final.

Very little to add. A great game, very worthy of the first-place shootout billing. Buffalo’s good. Toronto looks better, and can cement "best" status by winning again tomorrow, at HSBC Arena, to clinch the Eastern Division title.

Onward!

Ben Knight is lacrosse columnist for Sportsnet.ca.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Buffalo Bandits (8-6)                 2  3  2  4  --  11
Toronto Rock (9-4)                    3  4  2  5  --  14

BUFFALO BANDITS               TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Accursi        4 - 1     5    Manning        2 - 3     5
Tavares        2 - 3     5    J Veltman      1 - 4     5
Crosbie        3 - 0     3    Millin         3 - 1     4
Derks          0 - 3     3    Doyle          2 - 2     4
Ogilvie        0 - 3     3    Shearer        2 - 2     4
McCready       1 - 1     2    Toll           2 - 0     2
Steenhuis      0 - 2     2    Driscoll       1 - 1     2
R Kilgour      1 - 0     1    G Clark        1 - 0     1
Dietrich       0 - 1     1    Coyle          0 - 1     1
N Powless      0 - 1     1    Gibson         0 - 1     1
                              A Wilson       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           53    Shots on goal           47
Saves made by (GA)      33    Saves made by (GA)      42
   Dietrich (13)     33          Watson (11)       42
   TEAM (1)           0
Penalties               10    Penalties               10
Penalty Minutes         20    Penalty Minutes         20
Power Play Chances       8    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         4
   Crosbie            3          Manning            2
   Accursi            1          Shearer            1
                                 J Veltman          1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        2
   (None)                        Doyle              1
                                 Toll               1
Empty Net Goals          0    Empty Net Goals          1
   (None)                        Driscoll           1
Loose Balls             85    Loose Balls             72
   Steenhuis         12          Veltman           12
   Crosbie            9          Coyle              7
   McCready           9          Millin             7
   Ogilvie            9          A Wilson           7
Faceoffs Won            12    Faceoffs Won            17
   Fraser       (12-17)          Millin       (13- 7)
                                 Toll         ( 3- 5)
                                 Merrill      ( 1- 0)

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH TORONTO ROCK ***