The Philadelphia Wings (4-0) are off to their best start since 1997 and will look to improve upon that when they face the Minnesota Swarm (6-1) Friday night. Faceoff at the Wachovia Center is at 8 PM.
History
The Wings are 3-5 all time vs the Swarm and have lost four consecutive meetings. Last season the Swarm won 11-9 at the Xcel Energy Center on March 18 and followed that up with an 11-8 win in Philadelphia on April 13. The Wings are 1-2 at home against Minnesota. Jake Bergey (five goals, four assists) led the Wings vs Minnesota while Nick Patterson made 81 saves in the two games to lead the Swarm.
Last Week
The Wings shook off the rust from a near three week layoff and outscored the Colorado Mammoth 14-8 after falling behind early and left Denver handing the Mammoth their first loss of the season 15-13. Athan Iannucci paced the Wings attack with a five goal, three assist performance. Merrick Thomson chipped in a hat trick while Rob Blasdell made 48 saves in taking the Wings to 4-0 on the season. Minnesota lost their first game of the 2008 season, falling at Buffalo 16-14. That ended an eight game regular season winning streak for the Swarm.
Familiar Faces
Former Wing Ryan Ward currently leads the Swarm in scoring with 18 goals and 20 assists in seven games. Ward was traded to Minnesota for Shawn Nadelen in February 2005. Former Wings GM Marty O'Neill has been with the Swarm since their inception.
Stats and Stuff
Minnesota's five wins against the Wings are the most they have against any opponents in their three plus seasons of play.
This is the fourth time (1990, 1993 and 1997) the Wings have opened a season at 4-0.
The Wings will debut their red third jersey in Friday night's game.
Wings League Rankings
Powerplay: 44.7% (2nd behind Portland)
Penalty Killing: 67.6% (1st)
Faceoff Percentage: 72.4% (1st)
Shots on Goal Percentage: 71.3 % (9th)
Next Game
The Wings will open a back to back weekend of games next Friday February 29th when they host the New York Titans at 8 PM.
