The Nailers came out of another weekend with only one win in three tries, beating Cincinnati on Friday before falling in Fort Wayne and Toledo. What happened last weekend to cause Wheeling to falter like they did?
Well, the good news is, at least we’re not in the Central Division anymore, although most of our games this season are still against teams from there. The Nailers managed to earn a victory against a team that has greatly improved from where they were earlier in the year, but still sit towards the bottom of the standings, before they struggled against the better teams from that division. While it would’ve been nice to have better outings against the stronger opponents, at least Wheeling was able to salvage some points out of the weekend and hold on to second place in the North Division, albeit barely.
Friday’s game started off strong for the Nailers, despite being outshot in the first period by a 17-6 margin. Matty De St. Phalle managed to put Wheeling on the board first just over six minutes into the contest, which held until just under six minutes left in the frame when Cincy managed to tie the score at 1-1 heading into the intermission. The Nailers jumped out quickly again in the second, with Gabe Klassen scoring less than six minutes into the period, and it looked like that would hold through the period until the Cyclones again knotted it up with just nine second left. Cincinnati managed to earn the tiebreaking tally in the third just over eight minutes in, but 51 seconds after that score, Isaac Belliveau scored his first of the season to tie the game again, and the game remained tied through regulation. Then, just 48 seconds into extra time on the first shot of the overtime period, Matt Koopman earned the extra point for Wheeling.
The first period on Saturday started off almost as poorly for the Nailers as the previous night, as Fort Wayne outshot Wheeling 12-5 in the opening period. The Komets got on the board first just over four minutes in, but Wheeling fought back and tied it thanks to Matt Koopman with nine minutes elapsed. Fort Wayne scored their first of two power play goals in the game just under three minutes later, and Wheeling trailed heading to the first intermission. The second period saw the Komets score twice more, once just eight minutes in before following it up with five minutes left in the period before Wheeling managed to get a power play tally of their own thanks to Matt Quercia, and the Nailers trailed by two heading into the third. In the final period, Wheeling managed to break through with less than two minutes left in the game thanks to the second of the game from Quercia, but with the goalie pulled, Fort Wayne pushed the lead to two again and that’s how the game ended.
Sunday’s game at Toledo didn’t start quite as poorly for Wheeling, as they ended the first period with a 2-0 advantage thanks to James Hardie and David Jankowski each lighting the lamp, and shots were only in favor of the Walleye by one at 7-6. The middle frame went much worse for the Nailers, as Toledo found the back of the net twice in the frame and the game headed to the final 20 minutes tied. In the third, Wheeling took the lead again early as Matty De St. Phalle scored less than four minutes in, but the Nailers couldn’t make it stand as the Walleye scored just past the halfway point of the period then, just over five minutes later, scored again on the power play to take their first lead of the game. Two empty net goals coming down the stretch for Toledo just stretched their lead out to 6-3, which is where the game finished.
The Nailers have two games scheduled for this weekend, starting Friday in Indy before coming home Saturday to welcome Reading to town. How can Wheeling reverse their recent trend and earn victories on back-to-back nights?
This weekend starts with a game against a team currently fighting to get back into a playoff spot in the Fuel. Indy currently sits in fifth place in the Central Division, three points behind Bloomington for the last playoff spot in the division. Indy is also the only team in the league to have yet hit triple digits in goals for this season, having only scored 92 goals in 40 games (an average of 2.3 goals per game), but they also have the second lowest number of goals against this season at 93 (2.325 goals against per game average). Due to offseason renovations at their arena, Indy didn’t play their first home game this season until December 6 and have only played 16 games on home ice this year, skating to a record of 6-7-3 at home.
Then on Saturday, Wheeling welcomes Reading back to town. The Royals currently occupy the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, although they’re tied in standings points with Worcester and have played two more games than the Railers have on the season. Reading comes in with a -26-goal differential, although the majority of that (-15) is in the third period, and they also have yet to win a game (in seven tries) that ends in overtime. The Nailers have a 5-1-0 record against the Royals to this point this season.
These are the sorts of games that Wheeling absolutely has to take advantage of. The Nailers were able to take care of the lesser opponent last weekend but struggled against (and ultimately lost to) the better teams they played, and both opponents this weekend are ones the Nailers should be able to take advantage of. While Indy does have a very good power play this season (ranking second in the league overall), they don’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with Wheeling if they begin to force play. And with how much success they’ve already had against Reading this year, I would expect nothing less this time around either. I feel like the Nailers must win these two games to keep pace with the other leaders in the division if they want to stay within striking distance of the top of the standings as we progress later in this season.
The Nailers have struggled in their last 10 games, earning a record of 4-6-0, while Trois-Rivières has managed to go 6-3-0-1 and Norfolk 6-4-0 over that span. What does Wheeling need to do to hang with these teams the rest of the way?
This section of the season, from late January to late February/early March, is called the dog days for a reason. The Nailers were riding high after earning the best record through the first half of the season in franchise history. But just like that, they’re fighting for the chance to be the home team in the playoffs with Norfolk sitting just one point back. Trois-Rivières has leapfrogged the Nailers into first place by three points, but they also have two games in hand on Wheeling, meaning it could possibly be as much as a seven-point edge for the Lions.
The good news for the Nailers is, aside from the team in first, the only other team with games in hand on them is Adirondack, who currently sits in last place in the North Division. Wheeling actually enjoys the advantage of games in hand over Norfolk (two games), Reading (three games), and Worcester (one game). So, if the Nailers were able to turn those extra games into extra wins, that would give them a little bit more breathing room than they currently have.
The real issue is all of the changes that have happened to the roster. Some of them have come about due to movement in the organization, which is always a threat just due to the fact that we’re a developmental rung in the ladder. Some of them have been due to injuries, and you can hope those players get healthy fast enough to help the team improve. Also, thanks to the new tournament the NHL is having that starts next week, there could be some roster moves associated with it, which could push some players back down. Obviously, it all comes down to winning games, something that has been a bit of a struggle recently, but it shouldn’t stay that way in the future.
Despite some of the recent struggles the team has endured, not everything is doom and gloom around the Nailers right now. Can you give some reasons to be optimistic as we progress through the dog days of the season?
Looking back at my answers to the previous questions, you might get the feeling that the Nailers are holding on by a thread to a playoff spot, just hoping to make it to April at this point. But that’s the problem with hitting a rough patch during the year, it gets concerning when the teams around you in the standings are keeping it interesting. When I look at this Nailers team, where they are in the standings, and how well they have performed to this point just over halfway through the year, I have no question they can play strong the rest of the way and stay in the race for that division title.
Wheeling’s schedule doesn’t do them many favors in February, starting next weekend with a game against South Carolina (currently second in the South Division), then three at home the weekend after Tulsa (currently second in the Mountain Division), while Trois-Rivières gets away with SEVEN (!!!) games in a row against Adirondack (currently last in the North Division), and Norfolk gets five of their next six against Maine (currently sixth in the North Division). So, the schedule makers didn’t really do the Nailers any favors with that.
But I feel like it’s moments like these that can inspire players to go above and beyond. The Lions and Admirals are facing bottom feeders, sure, but that just means they won’t be ready when they get to the point where they’re facing harder competition, whereas the Nailers will take this adversity, face it head on, and use it to get them ready for the last month and a half of the season and into the playoffs. I’m sure Coach Derek Army knows how to use the schedule to his advantage with his players, and he’ll have them ready to take on this stretch of games with a fire in their bellies.
And speaking of that, not that anything is set in stone at this point, but Wheeling does still enjoy a 16-point advantage over the first team out of the playoffs right now, and with the number of games remaining, either Reading or Worcester (currently in a tie points-wise for fourth) would need to go on a tear to catch up to the Nailers. I’m not suggesting they can coast the rest of the way and stay in, because their goal should still be that division title and guaranteed home ice. I’m just saying, I feel confident that this team has the skill and ability to get into the dance, and once there, anything can happen.
As you said last week, this Saturday’s game against Reading is Pittsburgh Penguins night at WesBanco Arena. What are you looking forward to the most with this promotion?
You know, it’s a funny thing, human memory. Some people can recall the smallest detail about the most insignificant moments in their life. Some people can’t remember what they had for dinner the night before. Some people have their memory stolen from them, while others are stuck living with just their memories and can’t recognize the world around them.
My memory has gotten a bit worse over the years, and it was really bad when I was going through chemotherapy (chemo brain is real, btw), and has improved a bit but will probably never be the same. Yet I can remember May 25, 1991, better than I probably should. I was seven years old, and I had to find a way to convince my dad to let me stay up and watch the hockey game with him on KDKA that night, in the hopes that I might get to watch the Penguins lift the Stanley Cup for the first time. Despite it meaning I had to stay up well past my bedtime, it was a Saturday, so he let me do it, and that really cemented my hockey fandom from that moment.
We all know how that story went. The Penguins absolutely ran through an overmatched Minnesota North Stars team (that was just two years away from relocating to Dallas) 8-0. Mario Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoffs MVP. Then it was time for the skate with the Cup. Some of my favorite players in Penguins history (not named Mario) were on that team and got to lift that trophy. Joe Mullin. Ron Francis. Ulf Samuelsson. And the player coming to Wheeling on Saturday, Kevin Stevens.
Stevens is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Penguins, winning it again in 1992, and he was the player who invented the power forward player type. Listed at 6’3”, weighing 230 pounds, Stevens wasn’t afraid to drive the net, take a bump or two, and make the goalie nervous. He was also fantastic at puck possession and was a really good passer too. He really was one of the guys I enjoyed watching play the most, because he might not have danced with the puck or used a lot of finesse, but he did what it took to play his game and help win games, which is what I always wanted to do in any sport I played.
I think it’s exciting to have a former player like him come down to Wheeling and say hi to the fans. I’m very much looking forward to getting into the arena and telling him just how much I really enjoyed watching him play. For fans coming to the game with children, Iceburgh will also be coming down to the game and having fun with all of the kids with Spike and Buck as well. I very much recommend being there for this one, and I look forward to seeing you all at the rink.
