Wings cruise past Stealth, win first home game of the season

Kyle Buchanan was playing with a Vancouver-sized chip on his shoulder Saturday night.

The 26 year-old forward spent his first season in the NLL with the (now) Vancouver Stealth before failing to make the squad in 2014.

Now property of the Wings, Buchanan torched his former team with a career-high four goals and three assists, including a first-quarter hat trick en route to a convincing 15-9 victory for Philadelphia (3-3).

"I obviously had this one circled on my calendar," said Buchanan after the game. "My shooting was on today so I just kept putting them on net and a few of them went in."

To put Buchanan's historic performance in perspective, the Robert Morris University product scored as many goals in the game's first 20 minutes (four) as he did all last season with the Stealth, who dropped to 2-5 with the loss.

"I'm very happy for him…but I'm not surprised," said Wings coach Blane Harrison. "From day one he's fit right in with this team and has been a tremendous asset."

The revenge was also sweet for the Wings, who notched their first home win of the season by knocking off a Vancouver squad that came out victorious in both meetings between the two teams last season.

Fresh legs played an instrumental role in the game, as the Wings took the turf for the first time in 12 days after enjoying their bye week. Vancouver, on the other hand, had a short turnaround after falling to the Rock in Toronto Friday night.

"We took advantage of a tired team," said Harrison. "We wanted to get out early and fast, and we did thanks to our offense."

The fatigue seemed evident, as the Wings attack juked and sprinted its way past the Stealth defense with relative ease all night.

Defender Chad Wiedmaier set a speedy tone early for the Wings, kicking off the night's scoring by hustling the length of the floor and faking out a defender before firing a bullet into the top-right corner of the net.

The Wings attack maintained the rapid rate of play, dominating the Stealth in transition and running the opposing defense ragged while jumping out to an early 4-1 lead.

The second quarter began with an eerily similar start for the Wings as they surrendered two goals in the first minute and seven seconds, but captain Brodie Merrill righted the ship by scoring his first goal of the season to break the drought for Philadelphia.

"We were saying up and down the bench that this was the quarter we've been losing," said Buchanan.

But the Wings were determined to not let that be the case Saturday. Three more goals from the home team were enough to chase Vancouver goalie Tyler Richards out of the game with 6:20 still to play in the half.

A Pat Saunders goal with just one second left in the quarter was good for Philadelphia's second hat-trick of the half and put the home team in ideal position, carrying a 10-5 lead into halftime.

Though leading scorer Jordan Hall didn't reach the back of the net in the first half, the forward found a way to make his impact felt by racking up a goal and seven assists on the night, including the 250th of his career.

He credits the bye week for the offense's enormous improvement.

"We had a lot of time to prepare for tonight," said Hall. "When you get that kind of time and the coaches draw up a great plan it pays off."

The second half was more of the same for the Wings, who never let a lethargic Stealth squad get closer than four goals.

West Point graduate Garrett Thul was fittingly effective on "American Heroes Night" at the Wells Fargo Center, adding two goals in the third quarter to make it seven on the season for the rookie.

Down five with just over two minutes to play, Vancouver opted to pull their goalie for an extra attacker, a decision the stifling Wings defense would immediately make them regret as Merrill picked up a loose ball and fired it into the empty net.

Goalie Evan Kirk delivered his best performance of the year while leading the Wings back to .500, making 45 saves on 54 shots and delivering a handful of bone-crushing picks for his defensive mates along the way.

"I think we're starting to feel it in our locker room," said Harrison. "We're challenging guys to be responsible for the things they can do full."

With a crucial doubleheader awaiting the team next weekend, Harrison is pleased with his team's growth.

"They're very good students," said Harrison. "We're feeding them with a fire hose and they still have a lot to learn but they're picking it all up tremendously well."