In front of 15,678 Wings faithful, Dallas Eliuk showed why he is one of the best, if not the best, goaltenders in the game today. Aided by a smothering defense in front of him, the Wings held off Paul Gait (no goals, two assists) and the Syracuse Smash on their way to 15-6 victory tonight at the First Union Center.

Dallas Eliuk faced 51 shots, stopping 45 of them, on his way to being named Co-MVP along with second-year star Jake Bergey (3 goals, 5 assists). The Wings were also led by Tom Marachek (4 goals, 2 assists) and Kevin Finneran (3 goals, 2 assists). The Smash were led by Neal Powless (2 goals) and Todd Oudemool (3 assists) while Paul Gait was held in check, mainly due to the Wings philosophy of taking him out of the game and letting the rest of the Smash try to beat them.

The first period set the tone for the game with two goals from Marachek and a goal apiece from Rogers and Finneran while Eliuk and the defense held Syracuse scoreless for a 4-0 lead going into the 2nd quarter. After a quick goal in the opening minute of the second period from Todd Katanchik, the Smash answered with two quick goals from Jeff Klozden and Del Halladay to make the score 5-2. The Wings then reeled off four unanswered goals, to take a 9-2 lead into halftime.

After a very uneventful third quarter where Bergey scored the only goal for a 10-2 lead, Syracuse attempted to make a game of it by scoring twice in the first 3 minutes of the fourth quarter, to cut the lead to 10-4. However, the Wings scored four of the next five goals before Syracuse pulled Collins and replaced him with Rankin. The Smash added one more goal before the Wings scored twice to finish the scoring.

The Wings win raised their record to 3-5 and moved them a half-game behind the New York Saints and only one game behind the Buffalo Bandits for the fourth and final playoff spot. Syracuse dropped to 2-5 and last place in the standings. The Smash play host to the second-place Toronto Rock next week while the Wings play host to the first-place Baltimore Thunder at the First Union Center, in a rematch of an earlier game which the Thunder beat the Wings 18-17 in overtime. The Wings will also be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the 1989 Championship by having players from that team in attendance on Philly Sports Legends Night.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
Syracuse Smash (2-5)              0  2  0  4  --   6
Philadelphia Wings (3-5)          4  5  1  5  --  15

SYRACUSE SMASH                PHILADELPHIA WINGS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Oudemool       0 - 3     3    Bergey         3 - 5     8
M Benedict     0 - 3     3    Marechek       4 - 2     6
Powless        2 - 0     2    Finneran       3 - 3     6
Halladay       1 - 1     2    Slate          0 - 4     4 
Klodzen        1 - 1     2    Katanchik      2 - 1     3
Gait           0 - 2     2    Rogers         2 - 1     3
Fay            1 - 0     1    Ogelsby        1 - 2     3
Jones          1 - 0     1    McEvoy         0 - 2     2
O Benedict     0 - 1     1    S Radebaugh    0 - 2     2
                              Busza          0 - 1     1
                              Eliuk          0 - 1     1
                              Jenner         0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           51    Shots on goal           46
Saves made by (GA)      31    Saves made by (GA)      45
   Collins (13)      28          Eliuk (6)         45
   Rankin (2)         3
Penalties                5    Penalties                9
Penalty minutes         10    Penalty Minutes         18
Power Play Chances       7    Power Play Chances       4
Power Play Goals         1    Power Play Goals         1
Loose Balls             88    Loose Balls             75
Faceoffs Won            13    Faceoffs Won            14

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH PHILA WINGS ***

Thanks to John Sapello for providing the game stats.