The Philadelphia Wings dropped their sixth straight home game on Friday night, losing to the Halifax Thunderbirds 8-6. The Wings had an early 2-0 lead, and led 5-4 at halftime, but managed just one goal in the second half. With the loss, the Wings fall to 3-12 on the year, sitting in last place in the NLL, and officially eliminated from playoff contention with three games to go.
The Wings got out to a good start when trade deadline acquisition Lukas Nielsen scored at 4:13 of the first quarter, then again at 5:53. Halifax tied the score on goals from Mike Robinson and Austin Blumbergs, the latter scoring with just seven seconds remaining in the first quarter. The teams alternated goals in the second quarter, with Landon Sinfield, Dalton Young, and Sam LeClair finding the net for Philadelphia. Halifax got a second goal from Robinson, along with a goal from Jason Knox, but trailed 5-4 going into halftime.
Wings manage just one goal in the second half
The second half was all Thunderbirds, starting with Blumbergs scoring his second goal of the game at 7:36 of the third quarter to tie the game 5-5. Halifax then quickly seized the lead for good early in the fourth quarter, with a goal from Brendan Bomberry three minutes in, then a goal from Clarke Petterson five seconds later for a 7-5 lead. Bomberry would add a shorthanded goal at the 8:53 mark, off a deflection that went straight to him on the doorstep of the Wings’ goal crease. LeClair scored a power play goal 19 seconds after that, but Thunderbirds goaltender Warren Hill shut the door the rest of the way.
Hill made 43 saves in the win, allowing just one Wings goal in the second half. The win improves Halifax to 6-9 on the season. While they currently puts them in 11th place in the standings, outside the playoff window, they are only 1.5 games back of Las Vegas (7-7), who sits in the eighth and final playoff spot. The Thunderbirds hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Las Vegas, but do not hold a tiebreaker against San Diego, who are currently a half game ahead of them (6-8). Rochester (6-8) is also ahead of Halifax; however, the Thunderbirds host Rochester in Week 19, with a chance to move up at least one spot (with a win) and possibly two spots (if San Diego loses in Week 19) in the standings.
