After trailing 9-3 after the first quarter Saturday in Chicago, the Wings chances of a successful weekend were looking quite slim. A comeback that fell just short of victory, coupled with a solid defensive effort Sunday against Toronto would give the Wings (8-4) a split of back to back weekend games while ending a three game losing skid and maintaining a hold on first place in the tight NLL East division.
Saturday's game improved for the Wings after the defensively challenged first quarter. Philadelphia outscored the Shamrox 11-5 in the final three quarters and were ahead with 2:09 remaining when Chicago's Kevin Ross sent the game to overtime, which would live up to the name "sudden death" as the Shamrox Bobby McBride would need just seven seconds to send the Wings to their third loss in a row. The evening's highlight for the Wings was attained 3:28 into the fourth quarter when Athan Iannucci scored his third goal of the game and his 49th of the season to set a new franchise record for goals in a season, breaking Tom Marechek's record of 48 set in 2001.
Sunday was a defensive battle as the Wings and Rock were tied at one after the first quarter, both teams struggling after playing the night before (Toronto had hosted Rochester Saturday night). The Wings found their offense in the middle frames, outscoring the Rock 8-3 and leading 9-4 after three. While Toronto outscored the Wings 5-2 in the fourth, they could only get as close as two goals while Rob Blasdell made some key saves down the stretch to preserve the win.
Iannucci finished the weekend with eight goals and 11 points in the two games to keep the Wings in first place, tied with Minnesota. The Wings and Swarm will meet again Saturday in Minnesota, the back end of another doubleheader weekend that begins Friday in Portland against former Wing Dallas Eliuk and the Lumberjax, looking to secure a playoff spot in the West. The Wings will be looking to put together a road effort similar to their visit to Denver earlier this season, the lone bright spot away from the Wachovia Center. Wins and solid play away from home will be necessary if the Wings want to end their streak of missing the postseason in 2008.
