Tonight the Wings face off against the Buffalo Bandits at 7:30. This game is big for both teams. For the Bandits it could put them in a first place tie with the Toronto Rock who they defeated 15-13 last night in Toronto, and it will also give them the tie-breaker over the Philadelphia Wings as each team has a victory. Johnny Tavares made his return and registered a hat-trick last night, the last being an empty net goal. Anthony Cosmo stood tall during a fourth quarter barrage of shots.
The Wings are coming off a huge sweeping weekend, defeating Rochester 10-8 (ending an 11 game losing streak) and defeating Colorado 14-12. Brandon Miller was defensive player of the week stopping 80.80% of the shots while picking up both victories. It was a total effort last weekend for the Wings. In the two games, Drew Westervelt 6G/3A, Kevin Crowley 4G/7A, Kevin Buchanan 3G/7A, just to name a few.
The Wings know this will not be an easy task tonight, Buffalo coming off a big win last night will have momentum going into the game. The question for Buffalo is, how well can Johnny Tavares recover from last night as he was on the IR since Feb 2, and what is left in the tank, as we know back to back games are difficult.
A Wings victory will bring them within a half game of first place and sole possession of second in the division. It will also mean a 3 game winning streak for the Wings and could be a sign that the team is starting to gel together even more. As we start this month, there are a few questions…Brendan Mundorf, when will he be off the IR and back on the floor? Max Seibald…How close is he to returning? And young defenseman Erick Hoffman, minor surgery to remove scar tissue, he is slated to resume full practice contact this coming week. That gives the Wings another dangerous scorer on the floor in Mundorf, a strong transition player like Seibald who can also score and a defenseman like Hoffman who before the injury last year was laying hits out like it was candy. But with the addition of those three at some point, that means three have to either be released, or sent to practice squad. I would not want to be the coach to make the decision.
This is the only game tonight on the Lacrosse Network. Wings are back in action next Saturday March 9th as the Washington Stealth come to town and the return of Athan Iannucci. Game time 8pm.
