Following two ugly losses at home the Philadelphia Wings were
looking for some good fortune as they headed into a back to back weekend facing
the Rochester Knighthawks and Colorado Mammoth.
And after getting past a rough first quarter in Rochester in which they
trailed 4-0, the Wings were able to put a solid game together and came back to
defeat the defending champion Knighthawks 10-8 on Saturday before heading home
and completing a weekend sweep by derailing the Mammoth 14-12 overcoming yet
another slow start.
Going into Rochester to face a team they had not beaten in
their last 11 tries (including last season’s playoff matchup) going back to
2009; the first quarter deficit was one that would’ve buried some recent Wings
squads. But on this night the Wings
would dominate the rest of the way, outscoring the Knighthawks 10-4 over the
final 45 minutes of play and getting stellar play in goal from Brandon Miller. Getting this win over the Knighthawks was a
big deal to the Wings.
“To get that monkey off our back and to know we can get a
win off of them, that’s huge for our confidence down the stretch,” Wings
forward Kevin Ross said following Sunday’s game.And Sunday’s win over Colorado followed the pattern of Saturday’s game as the Wings, after scoring the game’s first goal, fell behind by 5-2 late in the first quarter to continue what has been a season long trend of slow starts since their opening night win against the Buffalo Bandits.
“It takes us a little bit to get going,” Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said.
Once the Wings got going in Sunday’s game, they took a 9-7 lead into halftime and would not give up the lead en route to a well earned win that put them back over the .500 mark. Having a big weekend for the Wings was Drew Westervelt, who followed a four point night (2 goals, 2 assists) in Rochester with a four goal and five point day against Colorado. Kevin Crowley had an 11 point weekend while Brandon Miller picked up after his slow start in Rochester to have a strong effort against the Mammoth. The Wings were also helped by two roster moves made during the week to provide some veteran stability to a young team when they added Mike McLellan to the forward ranks and also brought back defenseman Kyle Sweeney.
For the second time this season the Wings will take a two game win streak into Buffalo when the face the Bandits on Friday night. And not have to worry should they get off to another slow start.
“We gotta realize that if they score early there’s a lot of game, a long way to go,” Ross said. “Realize that it’s a 60 minute game and it doesn’t matter if you’re losing in the first quarter. It’s what happens at the end of the game that matters.”
