Wings

Date    Opponent   Time    Jan. 14    Rochester Knighthawks    7    Jan. 21    Washington Stealth   7      Jan. 27    at Buffalo Bandits    7:30    Feb. 4    Toronto Rock    7    Feb. 12    Buffalo Bandits    4    Feb. 18    at Toronto Rock   7    Feb. 24    at Edmonton Rush    9    March...

The Chicago Shamrox defeated the Wings, 17-11, at the Sears Centre last night, sending Toronto to the National Lacrosse League playoffs and eliminating the Wings. The Wings, Chicago and Toronto were 6-10 in the Eastern Division. Toronto won based on its 5-7 divisional record. Chicago finished 5-8. The Wings were 4-8. Marc Morley led the Wings with three goals.

The Wings will play their only National Lacrosse League exhibition game at 1 p.m. Sunday against the Rochester Knighthawks at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton. Brodie Merrill, who was the league's player of the year last season, and Kevin Crowley, the Wings' No. 1 draft choice, will make their Wings debuts. The Wings will open their 16-game regular season Jan. 14 against Rochester at the Wells Fargo Center.  

The Wings upset the defending National Lacrosse League champion Toronto Rock, 10-8, last night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Tom Marechek led the Wings with five points, including three goals. Jeff Ratcliffe had three goals; Dan Marohl and Keith Cromwell each had two goals. Ratcliffe netted the game-winning goal; that score gave him 200 points for his career. The Wings, who ended a three-game losing streak, are 3-3. "I was proud of the way this team came into this building and played," Wings coach Adam Mueller said.

The Toronto Rock crushed the Wings, 17-9, last night and pushed the defending National Lacrosse League champions to the brink of elimination. The Wings (7-8) will meet Toronto tonight at the First Union Center in their final regular-season game. The Wings need a win to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs, but two other contenders also must lose either tonight or tomorrow.

The expansion New Jersey Storm handed the Wings their first home loss of the season, 13-11, before 17,488 fans at the First Union Center last night. Tom Marechek, Jeff Ratcliffe and Jake Bergey each scored three goals for the Wings, the National Lacrosse League champs. Scott Stewart led the Storm with three goals and two assists.

Drew Westervelt scored two goals and had three assists to lead the Wings to a 12-8, National Lacrosse League victory over the Boston Blazers Saturday night at the Wachovia Center. Wings goaltender Brandon Miller made 41 saves, and was particularly stellar in the first quarter, stopping 14 of 15 shots. The Wings (1-1) were clinging to a 9-8 lead entering the fourth quarter, then put the game away with three goals. Another key to the win was holding last season's league MVP, Dan Dawson, to two assists.

Gewas Schindler scored the winning goal in overtime as the Columbus Landsharks defeated the Wings, 15-14, in a National Lacrosse League game last night. A crowd of 13,726 fans in the First Union Center watched the former Wing score 4 minutes, 23 seconds into the extra period to hand the Wings their third straight loss. Tom Marechek led the Wings in scoring with four goals, while Mark Millon, Kevin Finneran and Jeff Ratcliffe each recorded hat tricks. Marechek had a total of six points for the Wings.

The Wings defeated the Buffalo Bandits, 16-13, in a National Lacrosse League game last night. Jeff Ratcliffe powered the offense with four goals, while rookie Ryan Ward recorded his first NLL hat trick. The Wings (2-0) started off strong, getting three straight goals by Ratcliffe, Tom Marechek and Ward. After a goal by Buffalo's Jason Crosbie, the Wings added another three goals, on shots by Keith Cromwell, Ward and Thomas Hajek. The Wings' home opener is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday against the Rochester Knighthawks at the Wachovia Center.

Keith Cromwell scored less than three minutes into overtime last night as the Wings defeated the New York Saints, 18-17, in the National Lacrosse League. The win put the Wings (5-5) in a tie with the Colorado Mammoth for first place in the NLL's Eastern Division. Brian Tower scored five goals for the Wings and Cromwell added four. Tom Marachek and Tony Henderson each netted three goals. Goaltender Dallas Eliuk made 50 saves. "We're happy with the overtime win, but we have to remember we led by eight goals [14-6]

The Wings are looking forward to the beginning of a "new" season, especially the way the recent one ended. On Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Wings travel to Rochester to face the Knighthawks in the first round of the National League playoffs. The Wings (7-9) lost their final five regular season games. Rochester is also 7-9 but won the tiebreaker and home advantage by going 3-0 against the Wings this season. Eight of the nine NLL teams qualified for the postseason in what will be a single-elimination format all three rounds.

THE WINGS look to clinch a chance to host a home playoff game Saturday when they visit the Rochester Knighthawks in their final regular-season game. The 7-8 Wings have already clinched a National Lacrosse League playoff spot, but one of the two spots for hosting a game in the East Division remains open. The team also could win the division if it beats the Knighthawks and the Toronto Rock loses to the Edmonton Rush on Saturday. "We're at playoff time, we'd love to host a playoff game in our building," Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Swarm defeated the Wings, 15-10, in a National Lacrosse League game at Xcel Energy Stadium Saturday night. The Wings must defeat the Knighthawks in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday to guarantee home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, which begin the weekend of May 4. Dan Dawson led the Wings (7-8) with five goals and an assist, tying the single-season record of 100 points in a season set by former Wings forward Athan Iannucci in 2008.

The Wings lost to the Minnesota Swarm, 15-10, in a National Lacrosse League game in St. Paul on Saturday night and now must win at Rochester (6-9) on Saturday to gain a home playoff contest. The Wings (7-8) were led by forward Dan Dawson who tallied five goals and one assist, tying the single-season record of 100 points in a season set by former Wings forward Athan Iannucci.

The Wings are already guaranteed a National Lacrosse League playoff berth, and with two regular season games remaining will attempt to earn their first home postseason game since 2002. With a 7-7 record, the Wings are tied for first place in the East Division with the Toronto Rock. After a bye week, the Wings look to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit the Minnesota Swarm (7-7) on Saturday. In their earlier meeting, the Wings lost a 13-9 decision to visiting Minnesota on April 6. The Wings' regular season will conclude with an April 28 game at the Rochester Knighthawks.

KEVIN KLEIN scored a go-ahead goal 6:25 into the third period and Pekka Rinne made 40 saves, lifting the Nashville Predators to a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series. The Predators, who have won both games in Detroit, can eliminate Detroit in Game 5 on Friday night in Nashville. Predators rookie Gabriel Bourque broke a scoreless tie 1:55 into the third period. Detroit's Niklas Kronwall tied it 1:19 later with a power-play goal that was waved off on the ice but reversed by video review.

GABRIEL BOURQUE scored two goals in his postseason debut, and the Nashville Predators held onto home-ice advantage by beating the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, 3-2, to open their Western Conference playoff series. Game 2 is Friday night in Nashville. Paul Gaustad scored his first postseason goal, and Pekka Rinne made 35 saves. The Predators started at home after edging out Detroit for the No. 4 seed, and they started their third postseason series against their Central Division rival with their first win in the opening game.

THE Bandits sent the Wings to a third straight loss, 17-7, Saturday night in Buffalo. The Wings got off to a slow start on the road, trailing 6-2 in the first quarter, and were unable to turn things around in the second half. On Friday at home against the Minnesota Swarm, it was the fourth quarter that caused trouble for the Wings in a 13-9 loss. Captain Brodie Merrill scored three goals for the Wings, who dropped to 7-7 and out of first place in the East Division. Veteran John Tavares, 43, paced the Bandits (5-8)

The Wings lost their third straight game as they fell to the host Buffalo Bandits, 17-7, at First Niagara Center Saturday night. After falling to the Minnesota Swarm, 13-9, Friday night, the Wings fell behind by 6-2 early and were never able to make it competitive in the second half. The Wings dropped to 7-7 and out of first place in the National Lacrosse League's (NLL) East Division as the Toronto Rock defeated the Edmonton Rush to improve to 7-6. Brodie Merrill led the Wings with three goals.