The Nailers had a breathtaking home opener, coming back to win 2-1. How did they manage to earn the two points?
Whew, talk about an exciting opening game for the 2024-25 season at Wesbanco Arena.
The energy in the arena was through the roof thanks to a packed house, and you could tell the players were feeding off of it from the opening faceoff. Despite Bloomington coming out and having a good push in the first period, both teams left the ice with no points on the board.
The second period was a back-and-forth affair with neither team finding much of an advantage. A fight early in the period set the tempo. Late in the period, while shorthanded, the Bison finally found a way to break the gridlock and take a lead into the final frame. Wheeling fought hard to come back in the third, but it almost looked hopeless as they pulled their goalie when they got their fifth power play chance of the game. The Nailers finally cashed in on this one thanks to Atley Calvert’s first goal as a professional with under 30 seconds left in regulation and, 15 seconds later, Matthew Quercia took a turning shot off a faceoff that found its way through the Bloomington goalie and gave Wheeling their first lead of the game with only 13 ticks left on the clock. Those seconds ran off, and the Nailers came away with the victory.
Obviously, everyone came away impressed with the fights, the push to tie the game, the hard skating and forechecking. But I want to say I was most impressed by Jaxon Castor between the pipes for Wheeling. Castor turned away 24 of the Bison’s 25 shots on the night, several of which came from high-danger areas. We were very lucky in Wheeling last year to get to see the maturation and arrival of Taylor Gauthier, but I don’t think we’ll see that much of a drop-off with Castor this year if he continues to play this season how he did against Bloomington.
The Nailers went on the road this week, winning in Cincinnati 5-2 on Wednesday. What happened to allow Wheeling to pick up the victory?
After a home opener that could’ve really sucked the energy out of the team, the Nailers went on the road yet again to face a team they’re very familiar with. As yet another former division rival that we will see a lot this season (nine total games scheduled between Cincinnati and Wheeling this season), these teams both hoped to set the tone early for how their season series could go. Luckily for the Nailers, it began very well, scoring two goals thanks to Atley Calvert (his second in as many games) and Sam Houde, while outshooting the Cyclones 13-2 in the frame and heading to the locker room with the lead.
The second period went much better for the home squad, as they got two goals of their own on 13 shots and, despite Wheeling pushing hard with 10 shots of their own, the Nailers couldn’t bury one themselves and they went into the last 20 minutes deadlocked. Wheeling managed to come alive in the third again though, this time outshooting Cincy 13-5 in the frame and getting three more tallies from Kyle Jackson, a second goal from Houde, and a power play goal from Jordan Martel to give the Nailers the 5-2 victory and a winning record on the season at 4-3.
I really like how much the Nailers came out and pushed hard twice in the game when things could’ve gone the exact opposite way. As I said earlier, with how much emotion the team expended in their home opener, the team could’ve come out flat and didn’t, putting 13 shots on net and earning a lead. Then, after the comeback effort by Cincinnati to tie the game in the second, Wheeling could’ve rolled over then and given up on the game. Instead, Coach Army got the team focused and ready for the last period, and they proved they’re ready to play a full 60 every time out on the ice. I want to see that fight out of this group all year and, if they can do that, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be near the top of the standings come April.
The Nailers come home again this weekend with two games against Trois-Rivières. What do they need to do to come away with two wins over the Lions?
Trois-Rivières (which translates to Three Rivers in English which, as a Pittsburgh fan, I have to say … Come up with something original! … LOL!) joined the ECHL for the 2021-22 season, so they’re a relatively new franchise in the league. As such, the games this weekend represent the first time the Nailers will have a chance to face the Lions. I say we all go down to the arena and show them some true Wheeling hospitality and let them know why our moniker of the Friendly City doesn’t extend to outsiders like them.
Trois-Rivières comes to town with a 3-2-1 record, but they have won their last three games in a row, so they’re on a little bit of a hot streak. The Lions have only played one road game this season (as opposed to the Nailers, who have only played one home game this year, but more on that shortly), a 2-0 loss to the Adirondack Thunder. As a team, they have managed to score exactly as many goals (14) as they have given up so far this year, but of those, four have been scored on the man advantage.
That gives them 10 even strength goals through six games, for an average of 1.67 even strength goals per game, which tells me that if we can stay out of the box, their offense isn’t quite as strong (for comparison, the Nailers have 15 even strength goals through seven games, for an average of 2.14 goals per game at even strength).
One other thing to note about this team is how badly they’re being outshot, especially in the second period. They’re actually outshooting their opponents in the first period this season 56-53, but the middle frame goes to their opponents 79-46, and the third is more of the same, being outshot 70-48, so I really hope these two games turning into a shooting gallery for Wheeling.
The only thing keeping Trois-Rivières in most of these games is their primary goalie, Zachary Èmond, who comes in with a 1.42 goals-against average and a 0.961 save percentage in 127 minutes played. If the Nailers can find a way to get him off his game, maybe with some strong netfront play or maybe some snow in the face, they might be able to tee off on this team.
The Nailers have played six of their first seven games on the road. Is there an advantage to that and how could that play to Wheeling’s advantage?
I personally like the fact that they’ve had to play so much on the road this early in the year. It gives the team a chance to see what road life is like in a league like the ECHL and gives the players the opportunity to get a feel for some of the other cities they’ll be playing in this year. Sometimes, playing too much at home too early places a lot of pressure on a team to perform quickly when, for some of these guys, this might be their first taste of professional hockey.
Being on the road and being seen as the invading enemy keeps that pressure off their shoulders.
Also, the league keeps schedules balanced in terms of games at home and on the road in a season, meaning getting that many road games out of the way early will give them an extended home streak some time later in the year.
For example, the two games this weekend are the beginning of five straight at home, and in late February into March as well as late March into April, the Nailers will get to enjoy a couple six-game home stretches. That’s a much more advantageous time to be at home for Wheeling, when they could be in the heart of a playoff push (or trying to keep the teams behind them as they vie for a division crown), so getting a little home cooking is definitely preferential.
So, for me, I would say keep those long road streaks towards the beginning so we’re able to watch the more important games on the back end of the schedule here at Wesbanco Arena.
After this weekend’s games, the Nailers will be nine games into the season. Is there anything in particular you’ve noticed about this team so far that really catches your eye?
It’s hard to believe we’re already this far into the season. While it may be helpful to have this many games on the road to start the year, it means it takes a little longer for the fans at home to get into the swing of things with hockey season. One thing that jumps off the page for me when looking at the Nailers stats for the season so far is how many guys have contributed goals to the offense. Last season, it felt like you saw the same three or four names in the goal column every night early in the year. So far in the 2024-25 season, 13 different players have scored at least one goal, with five players scoring multiple goals on the year already.
Getting contributions from that many contributors, along with five of your 20 goals this year coming from defensemen, tells me you’re very strong up and down the lineup. If Wheeling is able to continue spreading the wealth like that, it thins out the teams across from them, or it allows guys who can score to go up against weaker lower lines from the opponents, which is always the hope.
I also want to point out the strong performances given thus far by Jaxon Castor again. I honestly thought, coming into this year, that there would be a little bit of a drop from what we saw last year out of Taylor Gauthier, who had a career year here in Wheeling. However, Castor has shown up this year to the tune of a 1.70 goals-against average and a 0.940 save percentage through three games played. I really do believe, if given the reins as the primary starter this season, Jaxon has a chance to show he’s the man for the job for the Nailers.
I look forward to getting into the building this weekend and seeing him play first-hand.
