I warned you all
WINGS STING ARIZONA IN SEASON OPENER WITH 10-9 OVERTIME WIN
GLENDALE, AZ - The Philadelphia Wings opened the 2005 regular season with a 10-9 overtime win against the Arizona Sting at Glendale Arena. The Wings head to Anaheim tomorrow to face the Storm at the Arrowhead Pond at 7:30 p.m., their last game before their home opener on Saturday, January 22 against the Toronto Rock at the Wachovia Center at 8:00 p.m.
"Our guys worked hard to pull off this win tonight ," said Wings' General Manager and Head Coach Lindsay Sanderson. "We'll have to quickly regroup to prepare for a tough Anaheim team tomorrow night ."
A low-scoring first quarter saw the Sting get on the board first with two goals (Gewas Schindler, Dan Dawson) in the first 6:23 of play. The Wings put their first goal of the night up when Bryan Bendig scored his first goal in a Wings uniform at 13:47. The score at the end of the first quarter had the Sting on top 2-1.
Philadelphia tied the game at two when Bendig scored his second of the night on a power play goal at 3:31 in the second quarter. Tom Marechek scored his first goal of the season for the Wings at 6:25 to put the Wings up by one. Marechek scored his second of the night at 13:11 on a power play goal to put the Wings up by two, but the Sting's Dawson scored short-handed just :32 later , but the Wings Dan Marohl scored a power play goal with just :13 left in the half to put the Wings up 5-3 after two quarters. At the end of the first half Wings goaltender Dallas Eliuk had made 25 saves, while Sting goaltender Mike Miron had 19.
Arizona scored three straight (Kasey Beirnes, Dawson, Lindsay Plunkett) to put the Sting up 6-5. The Wings added one goal when defenseman Jeff Spano scored his first of the season with 1:02. At the end of the third quarter, the score was tied again at six each.
The Wings scored first in the fourth quarter when Jeff Ratcliffe scored his first of the season at 1:21. Arizona put two straight on the board with goals by Pat Maddalena and Scott Self which put Arizona up by one again. Philadelphia's Keith Cromwell scored his first goal of the season to tie the goal at eight followed by Jake Bergey's first goal of the season to put the Wings up by one. But Maddalena scored his second of the night to tie the game at nine at the end of regulation.
The Wings' Marc Morley scored the game winner just 1:30 into overtime, his first goal as a Philadelphia Wings. The final score was Wings 10, Sting 9.
Leading the Wings in scoring were Bryan Bendig with five points (2G, 3A), Keith Cromwell and Dan Marohl with four points each (1G, 3A), Dan Marohl with three points (1G, 2A), Tom Marechek with three points (2G, 1A), Marc Morley, Jeff Ratcliffe, and Jeff Spano with two points each (1G, 1A), and Jake Bergey with one goal. Wings goaltender Dallas Eliuk finished the night with 55 saves.
Notes: Second-year defenseman Thomas Hajek was named captain of the 2005 Philadelphia Wings earlier today. Alternate captains for the 2005 season are forwards Jeff Ratcliffe and Jake Bergey.
Individual tickets for the 2005 Wings season, including the home opener against the Toronto Rock on Saturday, January 22 at 8 p.m., are on sale now at the Wachovia Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Season tickets start as low as $80 and are available by calling the Wings ticket office at (215) 389-WING (9464).