The Philadelphia Wings came out of the locker room at halftime and took off like a rocket, scoring five times in the first 3:09 and eventually using a 13-3 second-half scoring advantage to take an 18-10 win over the Rochester Knighthawks. The victory moved the Wings to 4-2 on the season ahead of Sunday afternoon’s showdown with the New York Riptide.
The game was a tale of two halves, as the Knighthawks erased a 2-0 lead the Wings had opened up in a 60-second span during the first quarter. Rochester went on a 6-1 run over the final five minutes of the first quarter and first three minutes of the second quarter. The Wings slowed the momentum but still trailed 7-5 at halftime.
However, the second half turned into a completely different affair as the Wings scored four goals in the first 92 seconds and added four more before the end of the period, outdistancing the Knighthawks 8-1. A further 5-2 scoring advantage took the contest to its 18-10 conclusion, one goal shy of the Wings’ franchise record of 19 in a game established in the 2018-19 season.
By the end of the night, nine different Wings had found the back of the net, led by a hat trick from Ben McIntosh. Matt Rambo, Trevor Baptiste, Blaze Riorden, Brett Hickey, Kevin Crowley, Cory Vitarelli, and Kiel Matisz all scored twice, while Anthony Joaquim got in on the fun with his first goal of the season. Crowley contributed seven assists for a season-high nine points, while Matisz had four assists for six points and Rambo, Vitarelli and McIntosh each earned five point nights. Trevor Baptiste won 20 faceoffs, passing the 700-win milestone for his career in the process, and also grabbing 16 loose balls.
Zach Higgins earned the win with 44 saves on 54 shots. The Wings fired 64 shots on Rochester goaltenders Rylan Hartley and Joel Watson, with Hartley absorbing the loss on 47 shots faced. Watson stopped 11 of 17.
The Wings play the second half of the back-to-back on Sunday when they host the New York Riptide at 4pm.
