Stars struggle against Rochester foes

The Buffalo Stars' highly anticipated Battle for New York got stuck in the trenches as the Metro Moose MAD team and Maksymum Rochester Empire team had battle plans of their own.

In MAD Junior "C" action, the Buffalo Stars' league rival, Metro Moose, came to town. On Saturday, a fired-up Buffalo team stormed out of the gate and pounded on the stunned Moose. Buffalo scored just 31 seconds into the game as defenseman Tyler Gajewski (Lancaster) pounced on a loose puck and slammed it past the Moose netminder.

Buffalo quickly added tallies by Phil VanDette (Williamsville), Corey Drozdz and Travis Krieger (Williamsville). When the smoke cleared, Buffalo was up 4-0 just halfway into the period.

The Moose called a time out to regroup and quickly came back with a tally of their own. Buffalo, however, countered that as Christopher Kinney (West Seneca) found the net and Buffalo skated off with a solid 5-1 first period lead.

Metro came storming back as it put up four unanswered second period goals to tie the game at 5-5. Buffalo tallied late in the period as Kinney netted his second of the game and skated off with a slim 6-5 lead.

The Stars, still stunned from their second period, started the third period in the same sluggish way and Metro slammed in three more goals to take a solid 8-6 lead. Buffalo came back to within a goal as Eric Bermingham led a rush up the ice and roofed one in. It was not enough though as the Moose scored into the empty net with just six seconds to go and skated off with the 9-7 victory.

On Sunday, a disappointed but determined Buffalo team put on its game face and came out flying once again. Just 12 seconds into the period, Gajewski (Lancaster) fought his way to the Metro net and slammed one home. Metro came back seven minutes later to tie and the period ended at one each.

An intense Buffalo team stormed out in the second and quickly notched three scores as Gajewski (Lancaster) found the net twice and Tom Comstock (West Seneca) added a single as Buffalo took a 4-1 lead. Metro came roaring back with three goals of its own and the period ended tied at 4-4.

The third period was intense as Buffalo once again stormed out and netted twice as Thaddeus Gannoe (West Seneca) and Drew Mencer put Buffalo up by two goals. Metro fought back hard and came to within one goal on tally with just 5:40 left on the clock.

Metro, now fired up, came at the Stars fast and furious and with less than three minutes to go tied the game. Both teams went end to end in the couple of minutes but the scored stayed tied at 6-6.

With the two losses, Buffalo dropped to 3-6-2 in MADJHL league play.

In Empire Junior "B" action, the Stars' senior squad faced off against Maksymum of Rochester. Maksymum quickly jumped into the lead just four minutes into the game. Buffalo played strong and hard but could not find the net and Rochester skated off with a 1-0 lead.

Buffalo came out hard in the second and quickly tied the game as Dan Fitzpatrick (Depew) battled his way down the ice to tie the game at 1-1. Maksymum pounded in four more goals in the second period, though, and ended the period up by four goals.

Buffalo fought back and played a solid third period. Defenseman Nathan Bond brought Buffalo back in the game as he jumped into the play and recorded his second goal of the season. Maksymum scored late in the period and the game ended 6-2 in favor of Rochester.

In Sunday's rematch, Buffalo was determined to get a victory. Buffalo started strong and played a solid 14 minutes, but once again, the Stars took a few shifts off and Maksymum took advantage to the tune of three goals.

Buffalo and Rochester played a fairly even second period but once again, the Stars stumbled late in the period and Rochester put in two more to end the second with a dominant 5-0 lead.

Buffalo came out hard in the third and scored on the power play as Nathan Bond ripped home his third goal in as many games and Buffalo came to life. The Stars played hard and solid in the third but just could not find the net. Rochester closed the scoring late in the game and skated off with a well deserved 6-1 victory.

Buffalo dropped to 2-16-1 in Empire league play and is 3-18-1 overall.

Over the weekend, Gajewski became the first Stars MAD player to record the hat trick in the team's short two-year history.