PHILADELPHIA — The return of John Tavares on Saturday night was just what the

Buffalo Bandits needed to get back in the win column.

Tavares, the National Lacrosse League's all-time leading scorer, finally played his first

game of the season after missing six games with a calf injury. He had two goals and four

assists in his return as the Bandits defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 13-11, in the Wachovia

Center.

The Bandits climbed out of the cellar in the Eastern Division as they improved to 2-5.

Philadelphia fell to 1-5.

Mark Steenhuis led the Bandits with two goals and six assists for eight points. Brent

Bucktooth, Kevin Dostie and Frank Resetarits also had two goals each for Buffalo.

Kyle Wailes led the Wings with four goals and three assists, while Geoff Snider added three

goals.

Tavares' return was part of a large lineup overhaul by the Bandits. Veterans Roger Vyse,

Mike Accursi and Ken Montour did not play in the game; Montour was suffering from an

unspecified injury.

Buffalo certainly didn't act as if it was happy to see Tavares back from his calf injury at

the start of the game. Philadelphia scored five goals in the first seven minutes of the

contest to take a 5-0 lead. The outburst chased starting goalie Mike Thompson, who was

replaced by rookie Angus Goodleaf.

The Bandits came back to narrow the margin to 5-4 by the end of the first period, and

were tied, 7-7, at halftime. Two Bucktooth goals helped give Buffalo a 10-8 after 45 minutes.

From there, Tavares took charge. He had both of his goals in the fourth quarter to keep the

Wings at a distance for the rest of the night.

The Bandits have a rare week off coming up. They will host the Wings on Feb. 27 in HSBC

Arena.