The Philadelphia Wings kept themselves positioned for a playoff spot by defeating the Rochester Knighthawks, 8-7, in front of 12,001 fans Saturday night at the Wachovia Center.

Combined with Minnesota’s comeback win against Toronto, the Wings are now tied with the Swarm for second place in the Eastern Division, at 7-6, a half-game up on the Knighthawks and Rock.

Rochester’s Pat Dutton struck almost immediately, scoring just 19 seconds into the game, but the Wings defense kept the Knighthawks off the board for more than ten minutes after that, with Jeff Spano levelling the score at 1-1.

John Grant finally ended the drought for the K'Hawks, but two more goals -- one each from Shawn Greenhalgh and Jeff Ratcliffe -- gave the Wings a 3-2 lead at the first break.

It took over nine minutes of game action, but Philadelphia opened the scoring in the second stanza, Kyle Sweeney for a 4-2 lead.

Mike Accursi and Shawn Evans took matters into their own hands, however, and knotted the game at 4-4 a minute and a half later.

Greenhalgh scored a power play goal with 48 seconds left in the half, but it was quickly negated by Regy Thorpe’s shorthanded tally at 14:58, tying the game 5-5 at the half.

The third quarter was a low scoring affair, a goal from Grant and the Wings’ Peter Jacobs being the only shots to find rope. In fact, the Knighthawks managed to put just five shots on goal in the period.

Jake Bergey scored back-to-back goals to start off the final period, putting the Wings ahead 8-6. Philadelphia's defense -- backstopped by netminder Matt Roik -- then held the Knighthawks to just one goal, a Grant goal with over six and a half minutes to play.

Rochester, now 7-7, returns home to host the Minnesota Swarm next Saturday evening. The Wings ascend to 7-6, with a trip to the hostile environs of Toronto up next, also next Saturday; a win would clinch a postseason berth for the Wings, their first since 2002.