Wings Post Game Review

By Bill Criss

This review is being completed on the Philadelphia Wings vs. Buffalo Bandits game which took place on February 12,

2012 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. This came was a complete 180 from the prior week’s match up versus

the Toronto Rock. The Wings defense held firm and the Wings had several players registering points in the offensive

categories.

Offensive Categories:

Goals: 14 (Meets) – 14 goals is a solid performance. The Wings had several players tally multiple goals with Kevin Crowley

scoring 4 goals followed by Brodie Merrill and Drew Westervelt scoring 3 goals each. Brendan Mundorf also had a multiple

goal game finding the net 2 times.

Assists: 23 (Exceeds) – I rated this category an exceeds based on Dan Dawson’s performance alone. The dangerous one

tallied 9 assists on his own. His individual performance tied the 9 total assists that the Wings had has a team against the

Toronto Rock

Power Play Goals: 1/2 (Low Meets)-50% is not bad, kudos to the Bandits for staying out of the penalty box.

Short Handed Goals: 1 (Meets) - Nice short handled goal by Brodie Merrill.

Turnovers: 26 (Meets) – Nice job reducing the number of turnovers. The Wings had 35 in the prior game and were able to

reduce the number of turnovers.

Shots on Goal vs. Shots off Target: (Meets) 54 Shots on goal vs. 16 Off Goal. Much better shooting performance

Category Rating: (Meets) – solid overall offensive performance- no categories failed to meet.

Defensive Categories:

Power Play Defense: (Does Not Meet) – allowed the Bandits to score 5 goals on 7 power plays. The Wings continue to be

plagued by penalties and being a man down.

Goals against: (Meets) 13 – held the Bandits to 1 fewer point and therefore they won the game.

Saves: (Meets) –Miller had 48 saves and a save percentage of .787 which is an improvement from the Toronto game the

previous week where he had a save percentage of .674. Miller continues to keep the Wings in close games making tough

saves.

Shots against: (Does Not Meet) The Wings allowed 61 shots on goal. It should be noted that the Bandits often were able to

get 2 or 3 shots on Miller forcing him to make save after save.

Forced Turnovers: (Meets) 31 forced turnovers

Total Points allowed: (Low Meets) 33 – while the Wings were able to hold off the Bandits from winning there was a tense

moment in the 4th quarter when they allowed Buffalo to draw even.

Total Category: (Low Meets)-3.5 Meet Compared to 2 Does Not Meet in this category. This was a much better defensive

effort by the Wings this week. The Wings need to limit the penalty minutes and/or tighten up the power play defense.

Misc:

Face-offs: (Does Not Meet) - Buffalo won this battle 17/14 – Winning face-offs means you are keeping the ball out of your offensive zone.

Loose Balls: (Does Not Meet) – The Bandits won this battle 90/72

Wild Card: (Meets): The Bandits came out flat in the 1st quarter and the Wings were able to take advantage of this. The

Wings almost let Buffalo come all the way back but they held tough and get an A for effort in this sub-category.

Category: (Does Not Meet) 1/3 met.

Based on the above ratings I will score the Wings performance as a low meets. The Wings did enough right in this game to

escape with the 14-13 victory over the Buffalo Bandits. This game very easily could have been won by the Buffalo Bandits

as they were able to even the score in the 4th quarter. The Wings did a good job buckling down getting the lead back and

holding off the Bandits for the victory. Kudos to “Dangerous” Dan Dawson for his 9 assist and 1 goal performance. In

addition, great job by Captain Brodie Merrill with 3 goals and 2 assists with one of the goals being short-handed. In

additional solid efforts by Kevin Crowley who continues to impress along with Drew Westervelt and Brendan Mundorf.

The next Philadelphia Wings game will be Sat. Feb. 8, 2012 in a re-match against the Toronto Rock. That game has a 7:00

start time and will take place from the Air Canada Center in Toronto.