The Toronto Rock dynasty has been derailed. Looking tired, directionless and lost, the former champions had no answer for an inspired, disciplined afternoon's work from the Buffalo Bandits.

Led by four-goal outbursts from Jonas Derks and A.J. Shannon, and two goals and seven assists from the great John Tavares, the relentless Bandits stampeded out as 19-9 winners in a barely half-full Air Canada Centre.

It was a stuning end to a wrenching NLL season in Toronto. After head coach Les Bartley was sidelined by cancer before the season began, the Rock never seriously approached their usually dominant level of goaltending and defence.

Their eight-game winning streak, which began with the arrival of new bench boss Terry Sanderson, was fired by the emergence of a dazzling, flashy, deeply dangerous power play. Slipping Aaron Wilson in at the left post was the missing piece of the puzzle, and the Rock started tearing opponents to shreds on the man-up.

But a great power play is useless if the other team doesn't take penalties. And after a shaky start, that's exactly what the Bandits accomplished. And those early penalties didn't end up hurting them at all -- they were already up 4-0 by that time, and the Rock were missing in action.

The first goal went a long way to setting the tone. It was a botched play that Buffalo scored on anyway. A wonky pass from the point missed everything, wobbling sickly to the backboards -- then bouncing straight into the stick of Derks, who buried it behind Rock starting goalie Bob Watson from just off the left post.

Shannon soon doubled the lead with a low thirty-five-foot screen rip. Then Bryan Kazarian cashed in a nice pass from Tavares, and soon after Derks wicketed Watson on the power play for a 4-0 Bandit lead.

That was when the penalties threatened to undermine this Buffalo stampede. Ken Millin got the Rock's first goal of the night, popping home a short, blunt Aaron Wilson cross-crease pass on the power play. The Bandits then came up two men short, and Colin Doyle punished them with a twenty-five-foot pop job.

Temperamental defender Billy Dee Smith took a slashing penalty on the play, keeping the visitors two men down.

This turned out to be the turning point of the game. Many in the building thought the Rock would now tie the game, and Bandit coach Darris Kilgour would blow a fuse at Smith and/or the refs, blowing his own concentration and effectively taking himself out of the game. This, after all, is how the Rock have beaten Buffalo in the past.

Turns out, Darris saw it coming. He told me after the game his veteran players huddled with him, warned him about losing his focus, and he listened. He also said staying out of the penalty box was "THE strategy" for his team tonight. The Bandits were never in serious penalty trouble again after this.

And Toronto couldn't score. The Rock took a quick penalty to halve their advantage. The end of the quarter and John Tavares were set to do the rest.

4-2 Bandits after one.

Eight seconds into the new frame, Tavares scored. Just over three minutes later, he was foiled on a daring scoring chance, shooting while sliding on his hip towards the net. Watson got that, but Derks buried the rebound. 6-2.

Blaine Manning came back with a gorgeous solo effort for the Rock, bulling his way out of the corner and ripping a sizzling crease bouncer past Buffalo netkeeper Steve Dietrich. But once again, Tavares answered, once again right off the draw, and Watson was pulled from the Toronto net, trailing 7-3 at 5:51 of the second.

Jason Crosbie quickly netted one past relief goalie Anthony Cosmo, dropping one off in the low left corner on a strong run to the post. Aaron Wilson and Blaine Manning cut the lead to 8-5 on a doorstep redirect and a blazing counterbreak, but Bandit Mike Accursi wiped out that little momentum blip, beating Cosmo with a wide-open one-bouncer from way out at the restraining line. Shannon then added an emphatic crease dive, and we came to turning point two.

Trailing 10-5 in the final minute of the half, the Rock needed a strong finish. What happened, instead, was just sick. Mike Accursi of the Bandits, standing at left shooter with his back to the Toronto net, took a wild swat at a pass from the point that was flying hopelessly over his head. He got enough to swat it downwards. It went straight into the net.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Rock pulled their goalie to press for a goal of their own. And then they did what the Toronto Rock never do -- they coughed up the ball on a soft and dreadful cross-floor pass attempt. The Bandits intercepted, and Rich Kilgour went on a long and happy empty-net scoring run.

12-5 Buffalo at the half.

For the record, I spent halftime in the corridor directly outside the Rock dressing room. The door was open a fair bit of the time. I did not detect any traces of a trademark Terry Sanderson chew-out speech. Things were ominously quiet, in fact. The Rock players emerged looking grim and determined. The Bandits seemed confident on the way out, but were quiet and focused, as well.

By the time I got back upstairs, Rock defender Glenn Clark had taken a five-minute roughing penalty for introducing the shaft of his stick to Jason Crosbie's chin. The refs seemed to even up a minute later, when Tavares was given a minor for a hard, yet seemingly clean hit on the shoulder of Darryl Gibson. Two minutes of even-strength lacrosse burned away, and Accursi scored on the power play with an outside rip a minute after Tavares returned.

The Rock had one last rally attempt in them. Wilson scored to cap some lovely four-way passing on a running breakout at 9:46, and Doyle followed with a superb doorstep put-back of his own rebound at 10:18.

But then the roof truly fell in on the Toronto Rock dynasty. Derks cashed in a twenty-foot post rip, Mark Steenhuis showed great second effort to score anyway after his attempted crease crash was foiled, and Shannon closed out the quarter with a running one-bouncer that folled Cosmo completely.

16-7 Bandits after three.

They played the fourth quarter, but only for the benefit of the statisticians, the visiting fans, and the ultra die-hards. Jason Clark scored two straight for Buffalo; Aaron Wilson answered with a good slot rip. Shannon finished off a two-on-oh; Jim Veltman chased Dietrich from the Bandit net at 9:00 with an in-close bouncer. Derek General came in to finish the game; Doyle scooched one past him at 11:49.

NOTES:

This was an absolutely great win for the Buffalo Bandits. More importantly, head coach Darris Kilgour learned not to let his emotions take him out of crucial games. If he remembers the lesson he learned today - and how could he not? - he will be a very difficult coach to beat in years to come.

The Bandits have so many great young players who drive opponents absolutely buggy on the floor. Not only are Mark Steenhuis, A.J. Shannon and the deeply underrated Bryan Kazarian tremendous talents, they play with a cheeky, arrogant self-confidence that will unhinge any defender foolish enough to take the bait. If Billy Dee Williams could ever learn the same lesson Darris learned tonight, you can add him to that list, as well.

As for the Rock...

This is not the same Toronto Rock team we have come to know so well, people. Not only is the personnel turning over more quickly than before, they don't seem to have the same confidence out there. Just a guess, but I think a lot of their old swagger came from the incredible depth of strategy and self-confidence Les Bartley instilled in them shift after shift, game after game, season after season, championship after championship.

Terry Sanderson and his staff did a fine job of stepping into a very difficult situation. At the end, though, I'm left wondering if the bluntness and simplicity of Sanderson's approach -- which has done nothing but win at every other level of the game -- might, in the end, have been the wrong medicine for this team.

I believe Terry Sanderson will return as head coach of the Toronto Rock next season. When he does, he will make absolutely sure the team on the floor is his team. Look for some huge and significant changes in the off-season, involving every aspect of the game from goaltending on out.

In the dressing room after the game, Rock captain Jim Veltman was inconsolable, unable to fathom how suddenly and completely the roof fell in. Ah, but that there roof sure stayed up there one hell of a long, great time, didn't it, lacrosse fans?

The king is dead.

The throne is vacant.

Long live lacrosse.

Ben Knight is lacrosse columnist for Sportsnet.ca.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
E3 Buffalo Bandits (10-8, 2-0)        4  8  4  3  --  19
E1 Toronto Rock (10-7, 0-1)           2  3  2  3  --  10

BUFFALO BANDITS               TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Tavares        2 - 7     9    Manning        2 - 5     7
Derks          4 - 3     7    A Wilson       3 - 2     5
Accursi        3 - 3     6    Doyle          3 - 1     4
Shannon        4 - 1     5    Millin         1 - 2     3
Kazarian       1 - 3     4    J Veltman      1 - 2     3
J Clark        2 - 1     3    Shearer        0 - 2     2
Crosbie        1 - 2     3    Coyle          0 - 1     1
Steenhuis      1 - 2     3    Driscoll       0 - 1     1
R Kilgour      1 - 1     2    Toll           0 - 1     1
McCready       0 - 2     2    
Dietrich       0 - 1     1
Laverty        0 - 1     1
Ogilvie        0 - 1     1
Powless        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           48    Shots on goal           64
Saves made by (GA)      54    Saves made by (GA)      29
   Dietrich (9)      51          Cosmo (11)        18
   General (1)        3          Watson (7)        11
                                 TEAM (1)           0
Penalties                9    Penalties                3
Penalty Minutes         18    Penalty Minutes          9
Power Play Chances       3    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         2
   Accursi            1          Doyle              1
   Derks              1          Millin             1
Shorthanded Goals        3    Shorthanded Goals        0
   Accursi            1          (None)
   J Clark            1
   Tavares            1
Loose Balls             64    Loose Balls             85
   Steenhuis         14          J Veltman         11
   Ogilvie            9          Doyle              8
   Laverty            6          Merrill            7
                                 Millin             7
Faceoffs Won             9    Faceoffs Won            24
   R Kilgour    ( 7-20)          Millin       (18- 5)
   Accursi      ( 2- 4)          Toll         ( 6- 4)

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