Game Preview: Wings vs Warriors

The Philadelphia Wings return to Wells Fargo Center for a three-game homestand as they host the Vancouver Warriors in their 13th game of the year and seventh at home. The Wings are 5-7 on the year after a 13-8 victory in Georgia last week against the Swarm. Philadelphia will play this three-game homestand in the course of just eight days, with a two-game week ahead; it’s their only such arrangement of the season, and was necessitated when a January game against Saskatchewan was postponed and rescheduled for this coming Thursday. That will be the Wings’ next action, followed by a game against Buffalo next Saturday, before they head on the road for the final three contests of the season.

VS. VANCOUVER

This is the third meeting between the franchises since Philadelphia rejoined the league in 2018 and the second here at Wells Fargo Center. Vancouver was here on January 10, 2020 for a contest the Wings won 18-10. Back in Philadelphia’s first season, they dropped a 19-12 decision to the Warriors in Vancouver.

WING TIPS

Mitch Jones emerged from a dry spell in a big way last week, dropping nine points on Georgia in the form of four goals and five assists as he contributed to nine of the 13 goals Philadelphia posted in the game. Jones was limited to one against Panther City on 3/10, marking the first dme in his Wings career that he’d posted fewer than four points. Jones tied his own franchise record Feb. 16 with eight assists in the win over Las Vegas. He set the record on March 4, 2023 as part of a six-goal, 14-point game that also established a new franchise record for points in a contest and was the third sock trick in Wings history. He’s hit that four-point or better mark in 23 of the 24 games he’s played for Philadelphia since joining the club in January 2023.

Joe Resetarits has paced the Wings’ offense this season, having scored a goal in 11 consecudve games entering this contest. He’s coming off an eight-point game last week (2G, 6A) and has picked up five or more points in each of the last seven contests, with 42 points in that stretch. Resetarits became the NLL’s all-time leading scorer among American-born players Dec. 29 when he passed Casey Powell with his 675th career point, and he enters tonight’s game with 299 career NLL goals. Resetarits is in his 11th season and his second with Philadelphia.

Ben McIntosh continues to enjoy the best stretch of his Wings career, with 36 points over his last seven games. He had his third hat trick of the season on March 10 against Panther City. An eight-point contest (3G, 5A) Jan. 27 vs. San Diego tied his single-game high for points as a member of the Wings (4G/4A, 3/4/23 vs NY) and set a new single-game high for assists. McIntosh has appeared in 45 of a possible 47 games as a Wing and has at least a point in 44 of those contests.

Holden Cattoni has only appeared in seven games this season, but has made an impact in those contests, gathering 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists. He had a seven-point contest in Georgia (1G, 6A), which was his fourth consecutive game of five points or more. He has 27 points over that four-game run.

Sam LeClair had four points Dec. 29 vs. Halifax (2G, 2A), his best as a Wing, and had a first-half hat trick March 2 vs. Calgary. LeClair has 14 goals and 10 assists for 24 points in 10 games this year and has at least a point in all of those contests. He had 11 goals and six assists for 17 points in 17 games last season.

The 67 shots fired by Halifax on Wings goaltender Zach Higgins on Dec. 29 set a franchise record, topping the 66 shots on goal by Buffalo on March 8, 2019. The 52 saves came up three short of Higgins’ franchise record of 55 that he’s done twice before, with the last such occasion coming on 3/6/23 vs. Toronto. It’s tied for the second-highest single-season save total of any NLL goalie so far this season; Higgins made 50 saves Feb. 2 against the Thunderbirds and also has a pair of 48-save games.

The Wings signed Nick Rowlett on January 10 to take over the team’s faceoff dudes and he made his debut Jan. 27 vs. San Diego, going 12-for-24 against Trevor Baptiste, the team’s previous faceoff man who departed in an offseason trade. Rowlett went 16-for-40 in his first two games, which happened to come against Baptiste and Halifax’s Jake Withers, before turning in a 14-for-22 night in Las Vegas. Rowlett is now 60 for 133 (45.1 pct), a notable improvement over the team’s 19 percent win rate over the first five games of the season before Rowlett’s arrival.

The Wings made one trade prior to the NLL deadline, sending rookie forward Taggart Clark to the New York Riptide along with an exchange of draft picks that included Colorado’s first-round pick coming to Philadelphia. New York obtained that pick at the 2022 trade deadline as part of a deal that sent Tyson Gibson to Colorado. Gibson helped the Mammoth win the NLL championship that year, but this season the Mammoth sit at 4-9 headed into this week and it’s a pick that could land in the top three overall. Clark made his NLL debut in Week 2 and scored a goal in Week 3 against his father, Albany head coach Glenn Clark, before picking up his first NLL hat trick on Jan. 7. Clark attended Robert Morris University and was the Wings’ first-round selection (23rd overall) in the 2022 NLL Entry Draft.

MILESTONE WATCH

Ian Llord needs eight loose ball recoveries to reach 800 in his career.

Alex Pace needs eight loose ball recoveries to reach 300 in his career.

Joe Resetarits needs one goal to reach 300 in his career.

Ryan Wagner needs two games played to reach 100 in his career.