The Nailers found a way to take care of business last weekend, earning two victories over the Norfolk Admirals. What did the Nailers do well to come away with the four points they earned?
As I said in my article last week, this isn’t anywhere near the same Admirals team as we faced last year. Norfolk found themselves towards the bottom of the league standings almost the entire way that season, but this year, Norfolk plays a hard style of hockey that could’ve given the Nailers fits if Wheeling allowed them to get to their game. Luckily, Wheeling was up to the task and really managed to put the Admirals on their heels more often than not.
In Saturday’s game, the Nailers yet again scored an early goal, getting one only 3:33 into the contest off the stick of Isaac Beliveau with a nice snapper from the point. Despite Norfolk getting it back a little more than four minutes later, Wheeling wouldn’t be denied, as Jordan Martel got his ninth of the year less than two minutes later to give Wheeling a 2-1 advantage after one.
In the second period, the only goal in the period came off the stick of Davis Bunz to extend the Wheeling lead to 3-1 heading to the final frame. Heading into the weekend, Wheeling had a record of 12-0-0-1 in games they held the lead after two, but that was in danger when the Admirals found a way to tie the game with just under three minutes left in regulation. But, as has been the Nailers method so far this year, Lukas Svejkovsky found a way to answer quickly, only 29 seconds after the tying goal to put Wheeling ahead for good, before Cedric Desruisseaux scored an insurance goal another 36 seconds after that to give the Nailers the 5-3 victory on the night.
Things didn’t exactly end there, as Bunz and Matthew Quercia engaged with three players from the Admirals after the final horn and all involved earned misconduct or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which definitely gave the impression that this would carry over into the game the next evening. Also in this game, Jaxon Castor earned his first professional victory in the goal for the Nailers by making 29 saves.
In Sunday’s game, I’m not sure if it was due to the extracurriculars the night prior or not, but the referees had no issue running guys to the box, calling five penalties in the first period alone, including two on Quercia. Each team managed to put one on the board, with Justin Addamo netting one for Wheeling just 1:17 into the game. Norfolk managed to tie it late in the period to take a 1-1 score to the first break.
Cooler heads appeared to prevail in the second period, as both teams played hard but not dirty to try to get an advantage that eventually went Wheeling’s way with two goals in the period. The first came from the aforementioned Quercia shorthanded just under three minutes into the period, followed by Martel scoring in consecutive games to give the Nailers the 3-1 lead heading to the third, which, as I discussed earlier, meant they should come out with the victory.
One final goal in the last stanza, this time from Tanner Laderoute, pushed the score to 4-1 in Wheeling’s favor before everything went off the rails once more. Quercia again, along with David Drake and Jordan Frasca, got involved with multiple players from the Admirals with less than two minutes remaining, leading to everyone involved being ejected from the game.
I know a lot of people go to hockey games expecting activities like this, but in my opinion, it’s a bad look for the sport. Sometimes, it can be necessary to stand up for a teammate and get involved. But once a message is sent, just stick to your game, and allow the scoreboard to do the talking for you. The Admirals felt dejected, knowing they couldn’t do anything in these games to earn the points necessary to stay within shouting distance of first in their division. Now, I’m not saying not to play to the line. Don’t be afraid to be physical, or else the other team will try to take advantage of you.
But the continued hostilities to the point of multiple ejections sometimes can overshadow some really good performances on the ice, despite Wheeling finding a way to get their needed points. Next time, just point at the scoreboard and skate away, and let them stew in their frustration.
The Nailers head on the road this weekend for three games in Orlando against the Solar Bears on Friday, Saturday, and Monday. What does Wheeling need to do to emerge with a series victory, or better yet, a series sweep?
The Nailers go straight from the frying pan into the fire with this, as Orlando is a very strong team this year, currently sitting in second place in the South Division with a 17-9-1-1 record. The good news is, when looking at how the Solar Bears have gotten to that point, it hasn’t been done at home, as they have a 6-5-0-1 record at the Kia Center. The bad news is, Orlando is currently on a seven-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents during this streak 39-13. They recently had victories of 9-1 over South Carolina and 7-2 over Greenville, the team they are currently chasing in their division.
The other bit of potential bad news is the fact that the Nailers are currently sub-.500 on the road this season, with a 5-6-1 record away from Wesbanco Arena. That being said, I still see reasons for optimism in this matchup. Orlando doesn’t score first in their games very often, only doing so 12 times through their 28 games this year, compared to 17 times Wheeling has managed to do so in their 28 games, with the Nailers having a 12-4-0-1 record in games where they earn the first tally.
Furthermore, the Solar Bears have the third-worst power play in the entire league overall, and the absolute worst home power play in the league. Although I don’t want to see the Nailers head to the penalty kill too often, with how strong it has been lately, I think they should have a good chance to play well against Orlando if it does happen.
On the flip side, the Orlando penalty kill is among the best in the league, currently sitting second overall, but first when it comes to on home ice. The Wheeling power play overall has been relatively dreadful, but the have the ninth-best power play percentage on the road, so if they can find a way to cash in at least once this weekend in that situation, it should go a long way to help them succeed in the Sunshine State.
Both teams, when looking at the stats, do the majority of their scoring in the second period, so if one of the teams can find a way to earn the advantage in the middle period of each game this weekend, there’s a good chance that team will be successful for the weekend as a whole.
Wheeling is 5-1 in their last six games and managed to go 7-3-1-1 in the month of December. What went well for the team over this stretch and how can they keep it going into January?
One of the biggest reasons the Nailers saw so much success over the month of December, and even more so recently, is currently on his way back to the Wheeling roster. Taylor Gauthier has been sent back from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and, despite the good play of Castor against Norfolk, any time you can get a guy back between the pipes with the best goals-against average in the entire ECHL, it’s a boost going into a series against a team as hot as Orlando has been lately. Gauthier’s play in the net for this entire season has been magical despite his 9-6-0-1 record, as he has given up more than three goals against in a game once this season, way back on October 28 against Ft. Wayne, and he’s tied for the league lead in shutouts with two.
When you’re a player with a goaltender behind you that’s playing that well, it gives you a lot more confidence and allows you to play a little more aggressively on offense, which leads to better scoring opportunities for the team.
Another great point to having such a good goalie is that he’s generally thought of as your best penalty killer, and that group has looked extremely strong lately. Despite having a bit of a droop later in November, Wheeling has now managed to kill off their last 11 shorthanded opportunities, and 19 of their last 20 dating back to the Cincinnati game on December 22. When your penalty kill is going as well as it has, that also allows your team to feel comfortable to push a little harder.
I still wish the other half of the specialty teams could improve slightly, despite them doing better in December. The man advantage group currently has a 16.5% success rate, which is better than it was, but if they can improve it even further, I think the Nailers can be even more successful in January and beyond than they were in December.
Looking ahead, the Nailers only have three home games out of 12 total games scheduled for the month of January. How might this affect the team and what can they do to avoid having all the travel over the next month hurt them as they play games?
Boy, another situation where the schedule maker for the ECHL didn’t do the Nailers any favors. Earlier in the year, Wheeling had to play home games sandwiched around a road contest in Indy against the Fuel, leading to some awkward travel needs and awful sleep patterns for athletes expected to perform their best game in and game out. Now, the Nailers have to prepare to live out of a suitcase for the majority of the month of January, which can’t be pleasant, even if it can sometimes be expected as a professional athlete.
After this sojourn south, the Nailers have their only home dates for the month back in Wheeling, with two against the Fuel on Friday and Saturday followed by Kalamazoo coming to town on the 14th. Once they finish that stand, it’s back on the road for two in Iowa, three in Reading, then one more road game to finish out the month in Cincinnati.
It can be very tiring for an athlete to be stuck on the road as much as they will be this month. It feels like they’ll get to come home just long enough to do some laundry and pack everything back up and get back on the bus headed for the next city.
I really think this is a good chance for the Nailers to prove themselves though. They have a chance to improve that road record I spoke about earlier against some tough opponents. Getting the chance to focus on nothing but hockey and spending time with their teammates might be what makes or breaks this Nailers team, depending on how things go.
I really believe that, if they can find a way to come out of this month with a winning record in January, the schedule should shift in their favor enough that they can push hard for a good position in the standings to be ready for postseason play come April.
With the Nailers trip to Orlando this weekend, they have a day off scheduled for Sunday. What would you do with a free day in a city like Orlando if you were on a road trip with the team?
The last time I had a chance to visit Orlando was for my honeymoon almost 14 years ago now, as my wife and I went to Disney for it. If you think that place is magical to visit normally, go there when you’re celebrating something that special. They really roll out the red carpet for you when they know you chose to spend that time with them, and you get a lot of great freebies across all of the parks. I had a fantastic time there at that time, and I look forward to going back again, as we plan to visit next year to celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss.
In this situation, if it were up to me, I think my first question would be if I could bring my golf clubs. I’ve been known to play a round or two of winter golf here in Wheeling, including the round I played just a couple weeks ago at the Palmer course at Oglebay on December 24. If that were an option, I would definitely take advantage of the day off and head out to a course (I’ve heard Disney has several nice courses as well) and play.
If I couldn’t do something like that, my next option would be to head to one of the theme parks, either a Disney Park or to Universal Studios, and have a fun day there. I’ve long wanted to see the Harry Potter world, and that could be a really fun adventure for a day off. I look forward to hearing about what the players got up to with their time off while away from home.
