The Buffalo Bandits fell to the Orlando Titans in a devastatig 9-7 loss at the Amway Arena.

All-Star forward Mark Steenhuis opened the scoring on the power play to earn his 500th career point.  Assisted by John Tavares and Mike Accursi, the goal marked just one of many power play goals that would follow.

Exactly four minutes later, Darryl Gibson found Kevin Dostie who added another tally to extend the Bandits lead to 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.

When the Titans tied it up just 12 seconds in to the second quarter on a goal from Greg Peyser, the Bandits would go on an offensive streak of their own.

Tallying five straight goals from five different players in the second quarter, the Bandits would have the edge on the scoreboard going into the half with a score of 7-4.

Mark Steenhuis, Brett Bucktooth, Jon Harasym, John Tavares, and Mike Accursi all found the back of the net in the second and extended the team’s power play success with four goals from five chances at the half-mark.

However, that offensive drive would change in the third quarter when Ryan Boyle, Jordan Hall, and Casey Powell would net the only three goals of the quarter to tie the game up at 7-7 after three.

The Bandits did manage any tallies on the scoreboard and had only nine shots on goal, despite only receiving one penalty during the quarter.

The Titan’s momentum carried into the fourth quarter when the Bandits were yet again blanked on the scoreboard.  The Bandits were also blanked on the shot count, where the team mustered up no shots in the fourth and final quarter.

Goals from Casey Powell and Mike McLellan would clinch the Titan’s victory and drop the Bandits to below the .500 mark yet again.

Bandits’ goalie Mike Thompson finished the night with 26 saves on 35 shots, while the Titans goal Matt Vinc would stop 27 of 34 shots to earn his team’s victory.

In a game that could possibly clinch a playoff birth with losses by either Boston or Toronto, the Bandits looked at this game as a must-win.

Now all eyes are on the conference standings to see how this weekend’s game action will shake out and where the Bandits (7-8) will stand.

The Bandits now return home to close-out the regular season on Saturday, April 24th when they take on the Boston Blazers.  Game time is 7:30 p.m. For tickets, click here.

Source: Buffalo Bandits