Gary Gait scored four goals and Ted Dowling dished out seven assists, leading the Colorado Mammoth to a 13-9 victory Saturday night at the Pepsi Center.

A crowd of 16,606 was on hand for the season's first meeting of these longtime rivals, an even bigger crowd than for the home opener two weeks ago against Toronto (16,121).

Philadelphia's Paul Cantabene scored the game's first goal, a shorthanded strike at 3:03, but the Wings soon came undone as the penalties began to multiply. Josh Sims quickly scored in four-on-four play, Del Halladay scored a pair, and Matt Shearer parked one past Philadelphia goaltender Dallas Eliuk for a 4-1 lead after fifteen minutes.

Early in the second quarter, Colorado's Jamie Hanford and John Gallant tangled with the Wings' Drew Candy and Brian Tower, and in the ensuing power play, Gait scored twice in just 24 seconds, each time assisted by Dowling.

After a few more penalties and a few more goals (John Gallant and Josh Sims), the Mammoth found itself with a nice 8-1 lead. Soon after another two-on-one confrontation (Brian Reese vs. Bryan Barrett, with Tony Henderson jumping off the bench to support Barrett), the Wings finally snapped the eight-goal slide, with Tom Marechek scoring at 12:23.

The run was reminiscent of a game last year at Capital Centre, when the Mammoth was playing as the Washington Power. Following a controversial penalty called against Philadelphia, the Power scored ten straight goals, coasting to a 19-12 victory.

The teams played nice (and quietly) the rest of the half, and the Mammoth went to its locker room with a commanding 8-2 advantage.

However, the Wings weren't about to lay down and die, opening the second half on a Jeff Ratcliffe goal, just 28 seconds in. Bookended by Colorado goals from Brian Langtry and Gait, Ratcliffe scored again three and a half minutes later, and with further scoring from Marechek and Keith Cromwell, the Wings had rallied to a more manageable 10-6 deficit.

However, the Wings couldn't get any closer. Gait and Ratcliffe swapped goals early in the fourth quarter, then Brian Cole and Langtry putting the game out of reach at mid-period. Cantabene and Jeff Spano posted late goals, each unassisted, to make the margin of defeat four goals.

In a game with several fights and a ton of penalties, it would be naive to assume that the final whistle would bring the action to a close. The teams met near midfield, and before long, Dowling, Gallant and Barrett were assessed roughing penalties and game misconducts.

The penalties really were the story of the game. Consider:

• Colorado was assessed 86 minutes in penalties.
• Philadelphia was assessed 83 minutes in penalties.
• The combined 169 penalty minutes sets an NLL record.
• Five players were given game misconducts (Henderson, Candy, Dowling, Gallant and Barrett).
• Gallant set a new league record with 33 penalty minutes.

As if they haven't done enough damage, the Mammoth and Wings meet again next weekend, Saturday night at the First Union Center (8:00 PM). Be there early -- there's little reason to believe the teams will waste much time before picking up where they left off in Denver.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Philadelphia Wings (0-2)              1  1  4  3  --   9
Colorado Mammoth (2-1)                4  4  2  3  --  13

PHILADELPHIA WINGS            COLORADO MAMMOTH
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Ratcliffe      3 - 1     4    Dowling        0 - 7     7
Cantabene      2 - 2     4    Gait           4 - 1     5
Marechek       2 - 1     3    Halladay       2 - 1     3
Cromwell       1 - 2     3    Langtry        2 - 1     3
Spano          1 - 1     2    Truant         0 - 3     3
Ryan           0 - 1     1    Sims           2 - 0     2
                              Cole           1 - 0     1
                              Gallant        1 - 0     1
                              Shearer        1 - 0     1
                              E Miller       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           59    Shots on goal           65
Saves made by           52    Saves made by           50
   Eliuk             52          E Miller          50
Penalties               22    Penalties               25
Penalty Minutes         83    Penalty Minutes         85
   Barrett           21          Gallant           33
   Candy             20          Dowling           17
   Henderson         15          Donovan           13
Power Play Chances      NA    Power Play Chances      NA
Power Play Goals        NA    Power Play Goals        NA
Shorthanded Goals       NA    Shorthanded Goals       NA
Loose Balls             72    Loose Balls             63
   Cantabene         18          E Miller          11
   Eliuk             10          Gallant            8
   Marechek           7          Cole               6
   Spano              7          
Faceoffs Won            12    Faceoffs Won            14
   Cantabene    ( 7- 6)          Hanford      ( 8- 8)
   P Jacobs     ( 5- 7)          Cole         ( 6- 4)
   Cromwell     ( 0- 1)

 *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH COLORADO MAMMOTH ***

Note: Power play numbers are inconsistent in the official statistics and have been omitted until corrected.