The Nailers collected five out of a possible six points last week, beating Toledo on Friday and Cincinnati on Saturday before falling in overtime to the Cyclones Sunday. What did Wheeling do well to almost maximize their point earnings in these games?
Now that’s how a weekend is supposed to go, even if we didn’t earn all six points that were on the table. The Nailers came out strong against a Walleye team that has historically given them fits, especially in their building, and then carried that back home against a Cincy team currently fighting to stay above that playoff line in the Central Division. Getting three points against a team not even in your own conference is just fine and dandy.
Friday’s game started off strong for Wheeling, as they managed to score three goals on their first five shots and chase the Toledo starting goalie just nine minutes into the contest. Craig Armstrong, Scooter Brickey, and Cole Tymkin put the finishing touches on Soulière’s night, and the Nailers carried the 3-0 lead into the second.
Toledo finally found the back of the net behind Jake Smith with eight minutes left in the middle period, but two more goals by the Nailers by Tymkin and Brickey on the power play made the score 5-1 with 20 minutes to play. The Walleye managed to get one more just past two minutes into the final frame, but Smith shut the door after that to clinch the win for Wheeling.
Saturday’s game started off almost as well for the Nailers as they again got out to a first period lead thanks to goals by Mike Posma and Brickey (for his third in two games) and Wheeling had another lead after one period of play. A third goal for the Nailers came just under seven minutes into the middle period thanks to Craig Armstrong, but two goals for the Cyclones just over a minute apart made it a 3-2 hockey game going into the third.
Wheeling quickly turned things in their direction again with goals by Ryan Mahshie on the power play and Connor Lockhart extending the lead before a power play tally by Cincy on a 5-on-3 gave them some hope. However, three more goals for the Nailers by Max Graham and two by Randy Hernández, with two of those goals coming on the man advantage, gave Wheeling the comfortable victory.
Cincy came out with a little more jump in Sunday’s game, and it showed with the Cyclones managing to score first just seven minutes into the game, again on the power play. But Wheeling wouldn’t be denied as captain Matthew Quercia tied the game with just over eight minutes left in the first. Things settled down from there, and despite scoring chances on both sides, neither team was able to cash in through the end of regulation.
It didn’t take long in the extra frame, as Cincy pocketed the winning goal just 41 seconds into overtime to keep Wheeling from getting the weekend sweep.
The Nailers went on the road on Wednesday to Reading, beating the Royals 4-0. How did Wheeling earn the victory and keep the team chasing them from getting anything for themselves?
It was nice getting a tour around our old division and going 3-0-1 in those games, but it’s nice to come back to playing the teams you’re trying to keep behind you in the standings for a reason. With their victory, the Nailers extended their point streak to six straight games, while giving the Royals their fifth loss in a row and pushing them even closer to the teams chasing them for that fourth spot in the North.
Both teams displayed offensive firepower in the first, combining for 30 shots on goal in the period. Only one found the back of the net, the eventual game winner off the stick of Jack Works with just over six minutes left, and Wheeling went to the locker room with the 1-0 lead heading into the second.
After that many shots in the first, you would think things might slow down, but another 21 combined shots got on net in the middle period, but again only one made it in, thanks to Logan Pietila on the power play and the Nailers doubled their lead going into the third. In the final period, Zach Urdahl and Randy Hernández capped the scoring for Wheeling, and Maxim Pavlenko managed to complete his 32-save shutout to bring home the win for the visitors.
The Nailers will play their final home games until after Christmas this weekend as they welcome Greensboro to town for the first time. What does Wheeling need to do to take advantage of the expansion Gargoyles?
Greensboro might be an expansion team in the ECHL this year, but they’re not having a terrible year, sitting at 6-7-4-1 for 17 points, three points behind Reading in the North Division. They have actually been a better team on the road (4-1-2) than at home (2-6-2-1) this season. The Gargoyles are also one of the least penalized teams in the league, currently fifth lowest in average penalty minutes per game at 9.22, while Wheeling sits 14th in the ECHL at 12.00 penalty minutes per game.
Greensboro is going to need to hope they don’t take too many penalties during the three-game set in the Friendly City, as their penalty kill group on the road is 22nd in the league at a 79.2% success rate. Meanwhile, the Nailers have the fifth best power play group on home ice with a 25.9% success rate, and fourth best man advantage overall at 24.6% success.
The Gargoyles also have one of the worst goal differentials in the league this season at -16 (46 for to 62 against, but their worst period for that is the third, where they are a -6 on the year (17 for to 23 against). By comparison, the Nailers have the best goal differential in the league currently at +26 (68 for to 42 against), of which their best is the second period at a +10 (22 for to 12 against).
If the Nailers are able to get to the power play and use it to their advantage, they should see a lot of success against Greensboro in this series.
Another week, another midweek trip to Santander Arena next Wednesday for a game against Reading. How can the Nailers take advantage of this opportunity against the Royals?
At this point, with how often they’ve had to go out there, the Nailers might be best off applying for residency in Reading. Of the five matchups these two teams have already had, four of them have been played at the home of the Royals. However, it will all start balancing after this game, where six of the remaining nine games on the schedule between them will be held at WesBanco Arena.
In the five games between these two teams thus far, the Nailers and Royals have combined for 45 total penalties called, including 18 in the game on November 18, a 2-0 Wheeling victory. I don’t expect it to get that out of hand, but you can definitely expect some special teams opportunities on both sides. So good play by the power play when given a chance is a necessity.
Another thing to note is that Reading has managed to score first in eight of their games this season, amassing a record of 7-0-1-0 in said games. Meaning in the 11 games they have failed to score first, they have a record of 2-8-1-0.
For the Nailers, they have been able to score first in 12 of their 19 games thus far and have a record of 12-0-0-0 in those games. I’m not suggesting they will always win when scoring first, but based on how they have done so far, getting the first goal might be paramount in this one.
One of the Nailers’ most popular promotions every year, Wizards and Wands, will be held this Saturday against Greensboro, being called Spells in the Snow this year. How much do you enjoy this promotion every year?
While I do quite enjoy this promotion, my wife is a huge Harry Potter fan and really has fun with this every time we go down to the arena. We usually have to have a discussion about which house we will sit in (I’m a Ravenclaw, she’s a Gryffindor), but last year we sat in the blue area, so I have a feeling our tickets this year will be in the red area.
We like to get down to the arena early to get our wands (mine are on display up in my man room while she keeps hers in her classroom), get the chance to enjoy some butterbeer and other snacks, and then go watch some hockey and have fun with all of the wizard themed activities. In addition to that this year, the Nailers will also be holding their annual teddy bear toss during the game, so we’ll have to go out and find some stuffed animals we can take down to the rink and get ready to launch them. I know we’ll have fun at the game again this year, and I hope to see you all there too.
