Wings 2009 Game 9 (at Edmonton 2-27-09) and Game 10 (at Portland 2-28-09)

By Tom Hoffman

After a much needed win last weekend, the Philadelphia Wings (3-5) head out West for a tough pair of matchups. Friday night the Wings will be at Rexall Place to square off with the Edmonton Rush (3-5) with a 9:30 PM faceoff. Saturday the Wings will head to Portland to meet the Lumberjax (4-3) at the Rose Garden. Saturday's faceoff is at 10:30 PM. Both games can be seen live on NLL.com

Histories

The Wings and Rush have met just once, in the 2007 season opener in Edmonton. The Rush won 13-12 on a last second goal by Randy Daly after Kyle Wailes had tied the game with 1:49 remaining in regulation. Wailes (3G, 3A), Geoff Snider (G, 2A) and Athan Iannucci (3G) each made their Wings debut that night. The Wings are 1-2 against Portland, each team winning on the road. Last season the Wings made their first ever visit to Portland and came back to defeat the Jax 13-10, using a 6-2 fourth quarter to overcome a six goal night from Portland's Dan Dawson. Brandon Miller earned the win in goal with 45 saves while Athan Iannucci had a six goal night of his own.

Last Game

The Wings stopped a two game losing streak with a 13-12 win over the Minnesota Swarm Saturday night. Athan Iannucci returned to the Wings lineup with a five point night (3G, 2A) while Drew Westervelt also added five points (2G, 3A) and Merrick Thomson also chipped in with a hat trick. Portland last played February 7 when they defeated San Jose 16-13 in Portland.

More All-Star info

The Wings added another member to the Eastern Conference All Star team when defenseman Kyle Sweeney was named as one of the reserve players. Sweeney will join Geoff Snider in Denver on March 7, for Sweeney this will be his first NLL All Star appearance.

Wings Mid-Season records (last five seasons)

2008: 7-1

2007: 4-4

2006: 4-4

2005: 3-5

2004: 4-4

Quotes

Wings coach Dave Huntley on the upcoming weekend: "Edmonton's a big, physical defense. They've got some very talented guys on the front door and a goalie, Chugger (Steve Dietrich), with great experience. Our reward for playing them Friday is we get to play the "Oregon Redwoods" of the Lumberjax. They're a gigantic team. It'll be a real challenge."

Next Game

Following the All Star break, the Wings will return home to face the Minnesota Swarm on March 14.

Wings rediscover the win column against Swarm

By Tom Hoffman

After last week's humiliation at home against the Boston Blazers, the Philadelphia Wings needed a night like last night. Getting their # 1 weapon back in the lineup (Athan Iannucci), facing an opponent struggling almost as bad as the Wings have been (four straight losses prior to last night) and had also played the night before (home against Boston) seemed to be the perfect tonic for the Wings. A quick start allowed the Wings to hold on at the end and defeat the Minnesota Swarm 13-12 before a season high of 10,559 at the Wachovia Center.

The teams were in a snarling mood even before the opening faceoff as the Wings Geoff Snider and Minnesota's Ryan Cousins had to be separated by the officials. The Wings got off to the fast start they needed in the first, getting a hat trick from Merrick Thomson and a tally from Geoff Snider to take a 4-0 lead. Former Wings Ryan Ward and Dan Marohl would combine on the Swarm's first two goals to make the game 4-2 Wings after the first. After Ryan Sharp scored one minute into the second to get Minnesota within a goal Wings fans got to see what they have been missing all season, an Athan Iannucci score just nineteen seconds later. The 2008 MVP would add a second goal later in the quarter and assisted on Drew Westervelt's goal that gave the Wings an 8-4 halftime advantage.

Kyle Wailes opened the second half scoring for Philadelphia before Minnesota began to show some life on the floor. The Swarm scored five of the next six goals to cut the Philly lead to 10-9 before Westervelt's second of the night and a one from Rob Van Beek restored the three goal cushion. The eventual game winning goal came after Minnesota's Kevin Fines brought the Swarm within two and was a show of pure beauty and strength. Iannucci took a feed from A. J. Shannon and one handed a shot past Swarm keeper Kevin Croswell to put the Wings up 13-10.

"It was a great pass by A.J.," Iannucci said. "Put it right in my stick."

The Swarm would get the game's last two scores, the last by rookie Brad Favero with 1:08 left in regulation but the Wings were able to hold off the Swarm and walk off with the victory. Hostilities didn't end with the final whistle as Snider and Minnesota's Ryan Sharp were exchanging words in the handshake line.

While Mat Giles led all Wings scorers with six points (1G, 5A), it was Iannucci the fans were concerned with, and he did not disappoint with a five point night (3G, 2A). Afterwards, he felt like a player in his first full game of the season.

"I felt a little slower than I wanted to," Iannucci said. "I'm just sore all over, tired. You can practice all you want but there's no substitute for a game."

Fortunately for Wings fans, the knee Iannucci had injured last summer was feeling fine. His presence back in the lineup certainly sparked the offense, which goalie Brandon Miller noticed as well.

"Our offense really stepped up tonight," Miller said. "After that debacle last week it sure was nice to see everyone came to play tonight. It was a great team win."

Miller had 39 saves in the cage for the Wings but felt it was not one of his better games.

"I think the guys bailed me out tonight," Miller said. "I wasn't having my strongest game, I was, for some reason, just a little bit off tonight."

While quite happy with the win, Wings coach Dave Huntley saw some things that he felt still needed some improvement heading into the second half of the season.

"I thought we came out with great energy," Huntley said. "I'm disappointed that at this stage of the season we still aren't buying into possession before transition and just getting off the floor. We still have to buy into the idea of getting off the floor and picking the ball up before we run up the floor."

The Wings will look to maintain that energy when they hit the road for a pair of games out West, Friday night in Edmonton and Saturday night in Portland.