The Wheeling Nailers continue to make history, and on Saturday night, they set a new club record for the longest winning streak with their 13th win in a row.
The contest was scoreless deep into the second period, before Kyle Jackson and Matty De St. Phalle gave Wheeling the lead. Louie Roehl and Jordan Martel added insurance in the third, and Sergei Murashov made the win stand up with 30 saves, as the Nailers knocked off the Reading Royals, 4-1 at Santander Arena.
In addition to the winning streak, Wheeling extended its team-best point streak to 16 straight games (15-0-1).
Neither team was able to find the twine in the first 33 minutes of the game. That finally changed, when the Nailers opened the scoring in period two. Jordan Martel rolled a pass out to Jack Beck at the left point. Beck was given lots of time and space to walk in and load up a wrist shot, which bounced off of Kyle Jackson and dribbled in over the goal line. 4:20 later, Wheeling struck again.
This time, Jackson set up the marker, as he delivered a pass into the right circle, where Matty De St. Phalle fired a laser of a one-timer into the top-left corner of the cage. Reading trimmed the margin to one with 1:11 remaining, when Austin Master put back the rebound of Jake Smith’s initial shot.
The Nailers stopped the potential momentum for the Royals immediately, as they regained their two-goal edge just 35 seconds into the third. Chris Ortiz dished a pass across the blueline to Louie Roehl, who wired a slap shot all the way through and in from the right point. Wheeling tacked on one more with the man advantage, when Jordan Martel split the defense, and flipped a shot into the top-right corner of the net to give the contest a 4-1 final score.
Sergei Murashov earned his ninth consecutive victory in goal for the Nailers, as he thwarted 30 of the 31 shots he faced. Keith Petruzzelli received the loss for Reading, as he allowed four goals on 21 shots.
The Nailers will return to home ice on Friday night at 7:10 for a Frosty Friday with $2 beer specials against Toledo. That will be the first of three games next week for Wheeling, who will also travel to Toledo and Kalamazoo to wrap up the pre-holiday slate. A couple of exciting upcoming promotions include Kids’ Neon New Year’s Eve on December 31st, and Star Wars Night on January 11th, which is the next Big-6 Promotional Game.
Season memberships and other terrific ticket plans for the 2024-25 season are available now by calling (304) 234-GOAL. The Wheeling Nailers, considered one of the top things to do in Wheeling, West Virginia, provide affordable family entertainment for fans throughout the Ohio Valley.
