The Buffalo Bandits put forth their second twenty-goal effort in as many games Friday night, blowing out the Anaheim Storm, 20-9, at HSBC Arena.

A good night all around for the Bandits' offense was punctuated by the 500th assist of John Tavares' illustrious career (making him the first player ever to reach that plateau) and a five-goal showing by A.J. Shannon.

Shannon, who spent most of the 2004 season playing defense, is getting to see some of the other end of the floor this year. He certainly took advantage of his opportunities tonight, including scoring the game's first goal just 2:38 in.

Tavares upped the Bandits lead to 2-0 before Chad Wittman finally got the Storm on the board with a goal at 8:32. However, Tavares, Shannon and rookie Delby Powless added three more for Buffalo, for a 5-1 lead.

Wittman scored the final goal of the quarter at 14:23, trimming the Bandits' lead to three at the end of the first quarter.

Shannon started off the second quarter scoring with two goals in less than two minutes, putting the Bandits up by a score of 7-2. Richard Morgan and Rich Kilgour then traded goals in the fourth minute, then Casey Powell narrowed Buffalo's lead to four at the six-minute mark, off a pass from Matt Dwane.

While Buffalo clearly dominated the Storm for the whole game, it was never more apparent than during the last five minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half. Mark Steenhuis scored with five minutes left to play before intermission, and his goal kicked off a scoring run that would put the Bandits ahead by ten goals before it was over.

Shannon scored his fifth of the night at 11:05, Powless added another at 13:16, and Steenhuis netted his second goal just seconds before the whistle blew to end the half.

Aime Caines and Dan Teat each buried the ball behind Storm netminder Matt Roik in the first four minutes of the third quarter and Buffalo had a commanding 14-4 lead.

However, Anaheim finally put two goals together when Dwane and Peter Morgan each found the back of the net within a minute and a half of each other, cutting Buffalo's lead to 14-6.

Four minutes later, Teat and Powless brought the Bandits lead back to ten goals, but the Storm was not giving up just yet -- Wittman and Peter Morgan cut the lead back to eight as they each scored to end the quarter with the Bandits ahead, 16-8.

Jason Crosbie quickly started the final quarter’s scoring, increasing Buffalo’s lead to 17-8. After Rory Glaves scored the Storm's only goal of the stanza, Steenhuis struck a few minutes later.

Steenhuis and Billy Dee Smith then closed out the game with short-handed goals in the waning minutes.

Steve Dietrich stopped 25 of 34 shots to earn the win, with Derek General blocking ten of eleven in a fourth-quarter appearance. Storm starting goaltender Matt King was chased from the net early in the second quarter after allowing seven goals on only twelve shots, but replacement Roik could record only 29 saves on 42 shots.

Tavares led all scorers with eleven points, on two goals and nine assists, and is now just six points away from joining Gary Gait in the 1000 Point Club. Steenhuis added four goals and three assists, and Shannon contributed five goals and an assist.

Anaheim was led by three goals from Wittman. Peter Morgan chipped in with two goals and an assist, while Dwane had a goal and two assists.