The Nailers only played one of their two scheduled games last weekend, getting a 6-0 victory over Cincinnati up in Cranberry. What did they do to come away with the victory?
It’s very fortunate that the Nailers were able to play at least one of their games, even if they did have to go over an hour away to the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex to do so. It turned out to be even more fortunate when it came to playoff seeding, as Kalamazoo (the fourth seed) managed to earn three out of a potential four points on the weekend to finish with 80 points in the standings, but with this win, Wheeling skated away with 81 points to clinch the third seed without having to play the extra game against Toledo.
While it would’ve been nice to have that game and hopefully put it in the Walleye’s mind that we can beat them, sometimes having an extra day off can help when your team is a little banged up.
The first period was a back-and-forth affair, as each team was afforded power play opportunities. Both sides had chances to get the first goal of the game, but both goaltenders played strong and kept the scoreboard clean. When the period ended, it didn’t really feel like either team was able to get to the game they wanted to play, but it could’ve changed with just one rush up the ice or one weird bounce of the puck.
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As I said in last week’s edition of On the Nail, the Cyclones were one of the worst second-period teams in the league, with the Nailers being one of the best, and it didn’t take long into the period for that to prove itself. At just 34 seconds in, Matt Koopman took a strong pass from Justin Addamo and broke the deadlock. Wheeling managed to continue the onslaught until Cincinnati took two penalties within just over a minute from each other, and the Nailers capitalized on the 5-on-3 off the stick of Justin Lee to double the lead.
But Wheeling wasn’t done there, as they managed to score two more goals in the period only 30 seconds apart.
Jordan Martel netted a goal with about four minutes left in the frame before Jared Westcott capped the scoring for the period with his fourth goal in six games in a Nailers jersey, and when the horn sounded to end the period, Wheeling had a 15-4 shot advantage in the period and a 4-0 lead on the scoreboard with 20 minutes left to go.
The third period wasn’t quite as tilted in the Nailers favor as the second was, but they still earned a 12-6 shots advantage in the period. Six minutes into the period, Martel scored his second of the night, his team leading 35th of the season, to extend the Wheeling lead to five.
Later, with just under eight minutes left in the game, Koopman managed to net his second of the game as well, this time while shorthanded, and the Nailers skated away with the 6-0 victory. Thanks to that win, Wheeling will face Indy, while Kalamazoo will take on Toledo for the right to go to the conference semifinals.
The Nailers will now begin their run for the Kelly Cup as the three seed in the Central Division, facing Indy in the first round. What does Wheeling need to do to move on in this best-of-seven series?
Despite finishing the season higher than Wheeling, not a whole lot about Indy’s season stands out much statistically. One thing that could’ve helped Indy in that respect is the fact that they played 58 games against divisional opponents, earning a record in those games of 29-23-4-2, whereas Wheeling only played 46 games within the division, amassing a 22-20-4 record.
Of course, Indy’s best record against one division opponent was against the Nailers, but we’ll talk about that here in a little bit.
Indy’s leading scorer on the season was Cameron Hillis, with 61 points (18 goals) in 54 games played for the Fuel this season. Their leading goal scorer was Kyle Maksimovich, who netted 26 goals and 59 points with 67 games played. Aside from their top line, their offensive statistics weren’t overly impressive, with only three other players getting over 40 points on the season.
One number that does stand out is the fact that the Fuel earned 1,055 penalty minutes for the year, so if Wheeling’s power play continues to play as strong as they have in the last few weeks, that could turn into a definite advantage for the Nailers.
As for between the pipes, once again, nothing really stood out for the Fuel. Zach Driscoll and Mitchell Weeks split the goaltending duties for the most part, playing in 36 and 33 games, respectively. Driscoll had the better performance record-wise, ending with a 22-12-0 record, but had a 2.82 goals against average with an 0.893 save percentage.
Weeks was a little worse, amassing a 15-10-6-1 record, but his goals against average and save percentage were slightly better at 2.75 and 0.898. Neither of those screams dominance in the net, and if Wheeling is able to create and maintain pressure, these goalies are liable to crack and give up a game or two that Indy might’ve won in the regular season.
The Nailers struggled against the Fuel in the regular season. What did Indy do well against them, and how can Wheeling neutralize their strengths?
Wheeling and Indy met each other 11 times during the regular season, with the Fuel coming away with a record of 8-2-1 in those games (the Nailers record in those games was 3-6-2). That’s obviously not quite what you want for your season stats against your first-round opponent.
By comparison, Wheeling only ended up playing four games with Toledo this season, but earned a 2-2-0 record in those games, and historically have been a much stronger opponent against the Walleye. If they had dropped to fourth, they could have delayed a matchup with Indy (or possibly ended up with Kalamazoo in the second round if the K-Wings could’ve pulled it off), but things fell into place for this matchup, so no use worrying about what could’ve been, and just focus on the Fuel.
Six of the games between the Nailers and the Fuel were played out in Indy, with 1-3-2 record in those games, and their record out at Indiana Farmers Coliseum over the last five years is 8-15-5.
For Wheeling to win this series, they will need to win at least one game out there in four tries, so that must be the focus right off the bat. If the Nailers can find a way to take one of the first two games on the road, they could find a way to avoid going back out there at all just by holding serve on their home ice.
As I mentioned in the last question, I believe the key for this series will be specialty teams. With how often Indy takes penalties (averaging 14.7 PIM per game this season), the Wheeling power play has to be able to take advantage. Conversely, the Fuel power play group has been about as effective as the Nailers unit has been, scoring on 20.9% of their chances on the season (the Nailers success rate was 20.5% for the 2023-24 season).
Of course, Wheeling will also hope to have the advantage in the net if Gauthier is ready to go (more on him in a minute). If that happens, and the man advantage group is up to the task, there’s no reason Wheeling can’t reverse their fortune from the regular season and take it to Indy and advance to the next round.
The Nailers got some exciting news this week, as Taylor Gauthier was named the Nick Vitucci ECHL Goaltender of the Year. What did Goat do to earn this very prestigious recognition?
As I’ve said a few times this season, I really do think Taylor Gauthier is one of the best goalies I’ve ever seen put on a Nailers uniform. Now he has the honors to prove it, becoming the first Wheeling goaltender to ever win the ECHL Goaltender of the Year award, and the first Nailers player to win an ECHL award since Mathew Maione won Defenseman of the Year for the 2015-16 season.
Goat also managed to be named to the All-ECHL First Team for this season, and won goaltender of the week four times, also well-deserved honors.
He led the league in save percentage (0.923), tied for first in shutouts (four), second in the league in goals-against average (2.23), and fourth in wins (24). All that despite spending considerable portions of the year up in the AHL. I know we’ve had some really good players man the blue paint in Wheeling, one of the most successful of which being Tomas Vokoun.
But if you ask me, I really feel like Taylor can reach that level or better during his time playing, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see him make his way to the AHL full time and possibly up the NHL before he hangs up the skates someday way down the line.
The Nailers will begin their postseason journey on the road in Indy but return home for at least two games next Monday and Tuesday, and possibly one more next Saturday. How important will those games be when they come back to Wheeling?
Boy, the schedule makers didn’t exactly do these two teams many favors, scheduling them for four games in the next five days (their only day off during this part of the series is on Sunday). And to have the only two guaranteed home games for this series by on weeknights isn’t exactly optimal, as people who want to attend the games may have to rush from work to get ready in time for puck drop.
But this is the playoffs. This is when the games really matter, and that knot in your stomach doesn’t let up until the final horn sounds and your team manages to come away with the win.
Obviously, the hope is they only have the two home games in this series, after winning both games in Indy and then taking care of business at Wesbanco Arena. But like I said, it’s highly unlikely with how the schedule played out. The important thing will be getting fans in that arena and making Indy uncomfortable with just how loud the building gets. As the season winds down and we start to run out of chances to see the Nailers on home ice, it becomes that much more important to be in the building as much as you can to give that energy to the team.
I look forward to seeing some playoff hockey once again in the Friendly City, and I hope to see you all there as well.
