The Nailers’ winning streak hit nine as they swept the three-game set over the weekend with Orlando. How did Wheeling keep their hot streak intact against a good Solar Bears team?
(Will Ferrell voice) We’re going streaking! What a time to be a fan and get to see the Nailers do something they haven’t done in 20 years. Three times in their existence, Wheeling has had winning streaks hit seven games before coming to an end. But this team was able to push through that wall, and to do it against a team that gave them such fits just a month ago is quite impressive.
The Nailers began the series strong, scoring less than a minute into the game as Tanner Laderoute tipped a Davis Bunz shot into the net for a 1-0 Wheeling lead just 53 seconds into it. That was the ninth time this season Wheeling has found a way to score a goal less than a minute into a period. The Nailers would go on to put two more in the net in the period, thanks to Cedric Desruisseaux and a short-handed goal by Matt Koopman, to take a huge 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Wheeling controlled play in the first, with a 15-6 shots advantage and not many chances by Orlando in good scoring areas.
In the second period, Wheeling once again capitalized quickly, this time just three and a half minutes into the frame as David Drake got his second of the season to give the Nailers the 4-0 lead, which is where the score stood for over 13 minutes as the teams exchanged chances. Eventually, the Nailers luck ran out and the Solar Bears found a way to crack Taylor Gauthier and get on the board, then did so once more to make it 4-2 heading to the final period of action.
As the game progressed in the final frame, both teams worked hard to try to earn one more goal. You had to get the feeling that if the Nailers could just find a way to put one more on the board, Orlando wouldn’t be able to get back into it. Unfortunately, the Solar Bears did find a way to get one more behind Gauthier, this one with less than a minute left on the clock and with their goaltender pulled to give them six skaters. From there, the Nailers held tight over the final 38 seconds on the clock to earn the 4-3 victory.
As the second game of the set began, both the Nailers and the Solar Bears worked hard to take advantage of every opportunity they got before Orlando found a way to get on the board just over eight minutes into the period. A strong passing play set up a shot from right in front that made its way through Jaxon Castor to give Orlando a lead that would last all of three minutes in game action before Jordan Martel sent a strong wrister on net that got through the goalie to lead to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes of action.
In the second period, Wheeling found themselves in a position they haven’t been in very often during this streak, as Orlando scored twice to put the Nailers down by multiple goals. At certain times during this season, that would’ve led to a lot of concern for Wheeling fans, as just one more goal could’ve spelled the end of the streak. But with how they’ve been playing lately, you knew it would just take a little spark to turn things around and put Wheeling right back in the game, and that spark came off the stick of Justin Addamo with just over two minutes left in the period to make it a one goal differential heading to the last period and giving Wheeling all the momentum.
In that third period, Wheeling came out hard and tried to push for the tying goal quickly, but it just wasn’t happening. Orlando did a good job of forcing the Nailers to stay outside of the danger zones while trying to get an insurance goal themselves. Finally, with just under nine minutes left in regulation, Matt Koopman found the back of the net and got the fans whipped into a frenzy as everyone thought they were going to complete the comeback. Late in the period, Dillon Hamaliuk got called for what one might think was a ticky-tack penalty that gave Orlando that chance to finish it off in regulation, but a strong penalty kill group found a way to keep them off the board and eventually force overtime. In said overtime, Lukas Svejkovsky drew a penalty from Orlando and, after calling their timeout, Wheeling earned the victory just 10 seconds later with a goal by Justin Addamo.
With how poor the results had been for them to this point, you had to figure the Solar Bears would come out flying for the third and final game of the weekend. Orlando played some strong defense, holding the Nailers to only three shots for the period, while taking nine of their own. At just under six minutes into the period, the Solar Bears found a way to get one past Gauthier on the power play, something that would become a running storyline in this game and kept playing tough to keep the score 1-0 after one period of action.
The second period turned out to be much of the same, although Wheeling did manage to earn nine shots on goal in the period compared to 12 for Orlando. Things got a little chippy, as both teams combined for six penalties in the period, with five of those penalties called on the Nailers. During one of those penalties, the second against Desruisseaux in the frame, the Solar Bears found the back of the net once more to put Wheeling down 2-0 heading to the last period of the weekend, and possibly of the winning streak.
Early in the third period, while on yet another power play (this time of the 5-on-3 variety), Orlando found a way to cash in yet again to put Wheeling down 3-0 and in need of a major spark to have any hope of getting back into it. This time, Matthew Quercia provided that needed goal just nine seconds after that goal, while shorthanded, to pump some life into the crowd and into the home team. The Nailers found a way to kill off the rest of that penalty and shortly after found the back of the net again, this time thanks to Lukas Svejkovsky, to make it 3-2 and really give hope to everyone in the building that they could pull off the comeback.
Wheeling was given plenty of chances to pull off the tying goal, as Orlando was called for three penalties in a row in the period, including one with just over three minutes remaining. On that final penalty, with just seconds left on the advantage, Tanner Laderoute finally popped one into the net to tie the game. Wheeling held on from there and forced overtime, and just under two minutes into the extra frame, Laderoute cashed in once more to keep the streak alive and send the fans home happy seeing a big-time comeback from the good guys.
The Nailers then hit the road for an education day game in Reading, defeating the Royals to get their streak to 10 wins. What did Wheeling do well in that game?
And just like that, we’re still streaking! Only two other times in team history have they found a way to have a winning streak hit double digits, the last one being 12 wins in a row back in the 2003-04 season. This time, to maintain the streak, the Nailers would have to go into enemy territory and play early in the morning in front of 4,700 screaming kids. As someone who isn’t much of a fan of screaming children, or children overall for that matter, the thought of going into that environment as the away team is somewhat terrifying.
Even worse, despite a very back and forth effort in the first period, Reading found a way to cash in for the game’s first goal, and the only one of the period. What hurts even more is that the Royals managed to do so with only six seconds left in the frame, getting the crowd even more riled up and allowing them to have the momentum heading to the second period. In an early game in front of such an unruly crowd, it becomes important to play well early and keep them in check, and the Nailers weren’t able to do that.
The second period played out quite a bit like the first, with a lot of back-and-forth action and both teams having chances, but neither were able to cash in early in the period. Eventually, the skill of Wheeling began to shine a bit, and with just over three minutes left in the period, Dillon Hamaliuk found the back of the net to make it a 1-1 game, which is where things sat heading to the third and final period of regulation. Despite being outshot in the period 11-6, Wheeling managed to get a number of good scoring chances in those shots and was able to use one of those chances to make it a whole new game heading towards the finish.
In said third period, the Nailers upped the pressure game and Reading just couldn’t keep up. Wheeling managed to outshoot the Royals in the period 14-6, and just over six minutes into the frame, Jordan Martel broke the deadlock and put Wheeling ahead 2-1. Just under five minutes later, Martel scored on a spectacular individual effort to give the Nailers an insurance goal to give them the 3-1 advantage. Wheeling took a tough penalty with just over two minutes remaining in the game, but the shorthanded group was able to bounce back from such a poor effort on Sunday to preserve the advantage and earn the win. With this victory, Wheeling hits the double-digit streak mark and catapults themselves into second place in the division, only six points behind Toledo.
The Nailers have two more home games this weekend with Reading before going back on the road next week. How can they push their winning streak to 12 before leaving Wheeling?
With a game like the one they played on Tuesday; you have to expect Reading to come into Wheeling ready to snap the streak. They were in the driver’s seat through the first half of the game before the Nailers’ skill became too much and simply forced them back on their heels. The Royals are having a tough season, currently sitting in last place in their division and 12th in the 14 team Eastern conference. Despite that, Reading is having a decent year away from home, with an 8-9-3 record on the road this season.
The biggest issue for the Royals this year is scoring first. In their 43 games to this point, they have only scored first 21 times, with an 11-6-0-1 record in such games. By comparison, the Nailers have scored first in 24 of their 44 games thus far, with a record of 18-5-0-1 when they do. Also, the Reading power play is sitting near the middle of the league on the power play on the road at 16th, but their penalty kill group is seventh in the entire ECHL on the road. Wheeling’s power play has improved slightly at home, but still sits in 22nd, while their home penalty kill is in 18th, so this is an area where Wheeling needs to be careful against the Royals. Despite being 6-0 against the Royals this season, the Nailers can’t afford to overlook these two games against a scrappy Reading team at Wesbanco Arena.
Throughout this extended winning streak, a number of players have stepped up their games to keep things rolling for the team. Who has impressed you the most during this time?
It really does feel like a different player is coming through for the Nailers each weekend during this spell. And that’s really how it should be, as not just one player needs to come through to help a team see this level of success in a long season. With the amount of player movement that can happen at this level, due to injuries happening to the teams above them or players getting chances to advance if their skill level calls for it, everyone on the roster has to be ready to go on any given night to provide the team with whatever is called for to help them earn another win and keep it rolling.
I’ve personally been most impressed by this point by both goaltenders, Taylor Gauthier and Jaxon Castor, who have had to work hard at times in the crease to keep the team in games. There have been a few games where the offense exploded, scoring six or more goals in a game three times during the streak. Despite the strong offensive showing, these guys have played tough, kept their heads in the game even if they give up goals, and have done what they could to make sure games stay at a level where the guys in front of them can push hard and score the goals needed to win the games.
And for the guys in front of them, there have been a lot of great performances. Jordan Martel has had some very strong showings and even earned the player of the week award during this period with his game. Last weekend against Orlando turned into the Justin Addamo and Taylor Laderoute show, with Addamo earning two goals and three assists in the series and Laderoute getting three goals and two assists of his own. And that’s not even speaking of the play of a Lukas Svejkovsky or a Cedric Desruisseaux, who have been leading the way for the team the entire season. With the play they’ve been getting from everyone as a whole, the Nailers should be able to stay in a strong position as we get later in the season and approach playoff time.
The Nailers head the furthest out west they go this season next weekend, with a trip to West Valley City to face the Utah Grizzlies. What’s the furthest west you’ve ever gone and how far would you go to see your favorite teams play?
I will say, it has long been a dream of mine to be able to visit every NHL arena and see the Penguins play their team. So far, I’ve found a way to make it to Toronto, Columbus, Nashville, and Carolina (not to mention Pittsburgh, of course) to see the Pens. My personal favorite has been Toronto, where my wife and I have gone a total of 11 times thus far to see the game and to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is always a blast. I look forward to us finally finding a way to push towards the west, as I’ve never been west of the Mississippi River personally. The furthest west I’ve ever gone was to Madison, WI to see the West Virginia Mountaineers football team get completely squashed by the Badgers when I was in college down there.
As for the Nailers, it’s rather rare they make their way that far west, so this would be a fun trip to go on. Based on what I can see, as of right now, Utah is the second furthest west team in the league, and Wheeling had a home series against the only team further west than them, the Idaho Steelheads, already this year. Next season, with the Tahoe Knight Monsters joining the league, there will be a few teams out that way, and if the Nailers find themselves with road series in any of those cities, I think it would be a really fun getaway from home to see Wheeling take on those teams.
