The Swarm fell to the Wings Sunday afternoon in St. Paul after narrowly defeating them the previous afternoon in Philadelphia. The Wings started strong and never let up. Penalties also cost the Swarm as five of the Wings’s 15 goals were scored on the power play; the Swarm took seven penalties for a total of 22 minutes.
Evan Kirk was again excellent in the net for Philadelphia, making 35 saves on 43 shots, for a GAA of 8.00 and a SV percentage of .814, his highest numbers of the season in his old stomping grounds. He also made his 700th career regular season save. The Swarm, on the other hand, struggled in net. Tyler Carlson, stayed in net longer today for a total of 23:04 before being pulled. He allowed seven goals on 17 shots, giving him a GAA of 18.21 and a SV percentage of .588. Zach Higgins again came in in relief, facing 35 shots and stopping 27 of them. He had a GAA of 13.00 and a SV percentage of .771.
Jordan MacIntosh was slightly outplayed on face offs by CJ Costabile, giving the Wings the slight edge in control of the ball there. The Wings led in shots on goal, the first time the Swarm have been outshot all season. Shayne Jackson led in shots on goal for the Swarm while Pat Saunders led for the Wings. Jordan Hall led with four goals for Philly, while Tracey Kelusky had a hat trick. Ryan Ward had one goal and six assists. Callum Crawford and Logan Schuss each had two goals and an assist for the Swarm, while Andrew Suitor chipped in two goals, and Jordan MacIntosh added a goal and two assists.
Suitor had words with one of the Wings after his first goal, and that spilled over into fisticuffs with Brodie Merrill late in the second. They both served five for fighting penalties and Merrill was assessed an additional two for illegal cross check.
Wings Head Coach Blane Harrison addressed the fact that they struggled yesterday in the second quarter, and that the “plan today was to have a strong second quarter and to let things go where they may.”
Swarm Assistant Coach Bobby Keast said that they’ve been making offensive adjustments each practice and just haven’t found the perfect adjustment yet.
The Swarm and the Wings are both off next week, returning to action February 1.
