March 30, 2002. It was the last time the Philadelphia Wings had seen postseason play. That was until Saturday evening when they found out the New York Titans had defeated Rochester and the Wings dance ticket was punched for the first time since that date. And with Buffalo and Minnesota also winning, the Wings quickly found that they would be traveling to Buffalo for their first round matchup on Friday May 2. All of which made the Wings game Sunday with Toronto to be nothing more than a day of play the game and don't get hurt. Except that for what was listed in the standings as a meaningless game actually turned into one of the more exciting games of the season. One that almost followed the pattern of several recent Wing visits to Toronto, except Athan Iannucci, as he has done all season, put his own stamp on the final score, a 15-14 Wing victory to get them ready for the playoffs.
On a day when the Rock said their farewells to retiring captain Jim Veltman, the Wings started out like they have in several recent visits to the Air Canada Centre, with a huge first quarter. After Veltman scored Toronto's first goal on his special day to cut the Philly lead in half, the Wings scored the next five goals to take a 7-1 lead and chase Rock keeper Bob Watson. The score was 8-2 after one when the Rock slowly, as they have done to the Wings so often and cruelly in the past, started making it a game. The Wings would still hold the lead at half (10-7) and after 3 (12-9).
Goals by Jamie Rooney and Iannucci sandwiched a Blaine Manning tally to give the Wings a 14-10 lead with 9:50 remaining to play. From that point, the game began to resemble many other Wing visits, with a Rock comeback that resulted in a tie game on Aaron Wilson's second score of the day with 4:40 left in regulation. The Wings looked to have a great chance to ice the game though when penalties to Toronto's Chris Stewart and Jamie Taylor gave Philly a late two man advantage. But 45 seconds after the Taylor penalty, the Wings Taylor Wray was given a five minute major for cross-checking which resulted in a Toronto powerplay that started with just under a minute left to play. After a failed Toronto possession, the Wings made a shorthanded break. A flurry of shots resulted in some spectacular saves by Rock backup goalie Mike Poulin. However, the final rebound found its way to Iannucci's stick and he would bury it for his fourth goal of the day, 71st of the season AND his 100th point of the year. While the fans felt the game was over, chanting "Thank you Jim" to their retiring captain, the Rock did get one final chance after a Wings 10 second violation. Brandon Miller then made the biggest of his 29 saves in the second half and the Wings would take home a well deserved victory.
Now the Wings get to head back to Buffalo for the postseason and begin a run for the NLL Champions Cup.
