By the time the Philadelphia Wings and Washington Stealth took the floor to play their last regular season game, the destination was already set for the Wings. With the Knighthawks defeating the Bandits earlier in the evening, the Wings were headed back to Rochester for round one of the 2013 playoffs.
But the Wings could still play the spoiler role in this game, except it seemed as if they decided to play not to get hurt as they fell 17-13. Drew Westervelt (3G/1A), Brendan Mundorf & Jordan Hall (2G/3A) led the Wings. Kevin Crowley (2G) and Brodie Merrill 2 SHG on the same penalty also chipped in, but it wasn’t enough to contain the Stealth who with the win will now host a first round playoff game.
The loss for the Wings drops them to a #7 seed overall. The Wings can still host the East final should the Minnesota Swarm upset the Toronto Rock and they defeat the Knighthawks. And if that doesn’t happen, should they advance to the title game, for them to host the opponent would have to be the Colorado Mammoth.
The Stealth were led by 2013 Goal Scoring Champion Rhys Duch (4G/5A) giving him 45 this season and Cliff Smith (2G/5A). Stealth will now host the Edmonton Rush in round one of the 2013 playoffs.
We always say the playoffs are another season, animal, etc… For the Wings and their fans lets hope that this game was what I said earlier. They played it and hoped no one gets hurt. If they play they way they did versus Minnesota and Toronto in their last two home games, it could be a very enjoyable playoff run. If they play as they did this weekend, or the six games that they weren’t even in by getting blownout, it could be a quick and painful game as well as a painful offseason.
For the fans and the team, lets hope it’s the earlier and not the later.
