The Philadelphia Wings have no heart? Try telling that to Jake Bergey, Chris Sanderson, and their teammates.

After last week's pounding by the Power at Capital Centre, some Philadelphia fans were beginning to worry that their team no longer had it in them to run with the top teams.

Worry no more. In Saturday night's rematch, the Wings fought an uphill battle for most of the game, clawing their way to a 12-11 upset of the Eastern Division champions, remaining in playoff contention in the process.

This was a hard fought, physical game from the first face-off, and resulted in a game where Gary and Paul Gait were held to a combined five goals and three assists just one week after Paul tallied thirteen points all by himself.

The first period of play was held scoreless for nearly a full ten minutes, when Washington's Del Halladay got a shot past Wings starting goaltender Dallas Eliuk. Despite firing fifteen shots at Eliuk's opposite number, Erik Miller, the Wings were able to find rope on two power plays, with a goal each from Bergey and also by Mark Millon. There would be no more goals in the quarter, and the Wings held the lead after one quarter, 2-1.

In the second period, the Power took the lead on three goals in the first three minutes of play. Gary Fait and Bobby Horsey each scored on the power play, and Jeff Wills added an even strength goal to put the Power up 4-2. Bergey answered with a goal of his own, only to be met by another three-goal run by the Washington squad. Paul Cantebene found rope and was followed by two from Gary Gait, completing his hat trick. After the first of Gary's twosome, Eliuk was replaced by Chris Sanderson following an unfortunately-aimed shot on goal.

However, there was no stoppage in play when Eliuk fell to the turf, even as he remained there in agony, because the Wings hadn't gained possession of the ball and the referees didn't believe Eliuk was in any imminent danger. That left Gary with essentially an empty net on which to shoot.

The Wings put just one more on the scoreboard, on Jeff Ratcliffe's goal with ten seconds remaining in the half, rounding out the score with the Power comfortably on top, 7-4.

Sanderson remained in goal in the second half, and took advantage of the opportunity to display his talents. Washington players threw fourteen balls at Sanderson but managed only two goals in the third quarter of play. Josh Sims opened the Power scoring on the first possession of the period, but power play goals from Bergey and Kevin Finneran brought the Wings within two points. Halladay added a goal to end the quarter, putting the Power back in front by three.

Sanderson again held the Power to only two goals in the final stanza while turning away fourteen shots, earning him the honor of Game MVP. Meanwhile, his teammates found their rhythm on offense, beginning with Finneran's goal at 2:08. Gary Gait answered with a shorthanded goal, his fourth tally of the contest, but Ratcliffe shot back with two goals of his own, one on the power play.

Paul Gait scored with under three minutes left in the game, to keep the Power ahead by two goals, but Tom Ryan sparked a three-goal run seconds later. Ryan was followed by Mark Millon, knotting the contest at eleven goals apiece with under two minutes remaining in regulation, the first time the game was tied since Bergey evened the score at 1-1 in the first.

The upset was in hand after Bergey scored his fourth goal of the evening, taking the lead with just over a minute to play, and the Wings refused to allow a quality scoring chance to the Power in the final seconds.

Paul Gait -- who, like brother Gary, is a former Wing -- will retire after this season, and in a gesture of appreciation repeated at each stop the Power makes this season, he tossed his jersey and several pieces of his equipment to fans in the crowd.

Philadelphia, 7-7, will travel to Toronto to face the Rock in a rematch of last season's championship game on Friday, 22 March, then return home to face Toronto again the next night. The Wings could need to sweep the Rock -- and certainly will need no worse than a split -- to make the playoffs for the eleventh straight season. Washington, 9-6 and playoff-bound as the division winner, will host the Buffalo Bandits, in the final regular season game for both squads, on Saturday, 23 March.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Washington Power (9-6)                1  6  2  2  --  11
Philadelphia Wings (7-7)              2  2  2  6  --  12

WASHINGTON POWER              PHILADELPHIA WINGS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
G Gait         4 - 1     5    Finneran       2 - 5     7
Halladay       2 - 2     4    Ratcliffe      3 - 2     5
Cantebene      1 - 2     3    Millon         2 - 3     5
P Gait         1 - 2     3    Bergey         4 - 0     4
Wills          1 - 2     3    Marechek       0 - 3     3
Reese          0 - 3     3    A Martin       0 - 2     2
F Jenner       0 - 2     2    R Traynor      0 - 2     2
Horsey         1 - 0     1    Ryan           1 - 0     1
Sims           1 - 0     1    Ruhle          0 - 1     1
Fulks          0 - 1     1    Stilley        0 - 1     1
E Miller       0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           54    Shots on goal           61
Saves made by (GA)      49    Saves made by (GA)      43
   E Miller (12)     49          C Sanderson (5)   28
                                 Eliuk (6)         15
Penalties               10    Penalties                4
Penalty Minutes         23    Penalty Minutes          8
Power Play Chances       3    Power Play Chances       8
Power Play Goals         2    Power Play Goals         5
   G Gait             1          Bergey             2
   Horsey             1          Finneran           1
                                 Millon             1
                                 Ratcliffe          1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        0
   G Gait             1          (None)
Loose Balls             70    Loose Balls             82
   E Miller           8          Finneran           9
   Halladay           7          Bergey             7
   Horsey             7          P Jacobs           7
                                 A Martin           7
                                 Spano              7
Faceoffs Won            10    Faceoffs Won            18
   Cantabene    ( 9-13)          P Jacobs     (16-10)
   Brothers     ( 1- 5)          Stilley      ( 2- 0)

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH PHILADELPHIA WINGS ***