Wings upend Bandits in overtime, 11-10

The win moves the Wings (5-3) past the Bandits (5-4) into second place in the NLL East.

The Wings are still a half game behind the Toronto Rock who are 6-3.

Westervelt’s goal was his third of the night and capped off yet another comeback from the Wings.

Westervelt’s goal came on the heels and the momentum of Jordan Hall’s goal with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

The Wings trailed, 6-2, at halftime, but outscored the Bandits, 9-4, in the second half and overtime to notch their third straight victory.

"We’re really proud of our guys for sure." Wings head coach Johnny Mouradian said during a phone interview after the game.

The Wings got off to yet another slow start offensively against the Bandits, something that has become a running theme during the early stages of the 2013 season.

The reason for the slow start tonight was the team taking a lot of penalties and Buffalo taking advantage of the special teams opportunities.

The mountain of penalties contributed to the Wings trailing by four goals at halftime.

In the locker room during halftime, Mouradian said he stressed to his players to stay out of the penalty box, as the Wings’ defense were stopping the Bandits at full strength.

"You take those four power-play goals out of the first half and it’s a different ball game," Mouradian said.

The Wings outscored the Bandits, 5-3, in the third quarter to bring themselves within striking distance at 9-7.

After an early goal from Buffalo’s Jon Harasym, the fourth quarter belonged to the Wings. The Wings finished the game on a 4-0 run.

Joining Westervelt in the hat trick department was Paul Rabil. Rounding out the scoring for the Wings were Kevin Ross with two goals and Kevin Buchanan, Kevin Crowley and Hall all with one goal apiece.

Westervelt’s game winner was the 150th of his career and tied him with Gary Gait for sixth on the franchise goals list.

Friday night was another example of the Wings showing composure in the face adversity, something Mouradian attributes to the leadership on his team.

"We’ve got a good mix of leaders on this club that when we’re in those predicaments, they’re working really, really hard," Mouradian said. "[They] show the type of effort and mental stability in order to keep everybody on track."

“That’s really important because we’ve got a fair amount of young players on this club and they look to the leadership,” he added. “Our leaders stay composed and that’s real important when get behind.”

Although the Wings will take the win any way they can get them, the team knows it cannot make a habit of falling behind early as it may come back to bite them in the long run.

Mouradian said the key to accomplishing that is winning every quarter.

"That’s our goal: win every quarter and stay out of the penalty box.," Mouradian said. 

The Wings will receive more than a week of rest before hosting the Washington Stealth (5-4) at 8 p.m. March 9 at the Wells Fargo Center.

It will be the first meeting of the season between the Wings and Stealth.

The Stealth are currently tied for first place in the NLL West with the Calgary Roughnecks.