The Nailers had a rough first series of 2024, losing two of three in Orlando to the Solar Bears. What did they do well, and where did things go wrong throughout the series?
On Friday, both teams came out firing, combining for 35 total shots on goal in the period and even more opportunities than that, but only one goal, scored by the Solar Bears to take a 1-0 advantage into the break. Coming into the series, Orlando was 12-1 on the season in games where they scored first, but from how they returned to the ice for the second, you could tell that was the furthest thing from the minds of the Nailers. Wheeling pushed hard and managed to tie the game with just over four minutes left in the frame thanks to a big tip-in off the stick of Matt Koopman.
Heading to the third, you had to think momentum was on the side of the Nailers, but that was quickly dashed, as Wheeling played one of their worst periods of the season. Orlando was able to score what would eventually be the game winner just over two minutes into the third before allowing two more goals, including one on the power play and, despite registering eight shots in the third, Wheeling never seemed like much of a threat as the Solar Bears took the first of three by a 4-1 score.
After such a poor final frame the night before, Wheeling had one of their best periods of the season coming back out on Saturday, outshooting Orlando 12-2 en route to a 2-0 lead after the first frame after goals by Jordan Frasca and Davis Bunz, with the latter coming with just eight seconds remaining in the period. The second was a little more competitive, as both teams found the back of the net, with the Solar Bears getting a power play goal just six minutes into the period. However, just over a minute later, Tanner Laderoute returned the Wheeling advantage to two heading to the third.
In the third, Jordan Martel extended the Wheeling lead to three before Orlando scored their second power play tally of the night to bring the score back to 4-2. Late in the game, Orlando pulled their goalie while they were on yet another power play, but Matthew Quercia would put the puck into the empty net while shorthanded to give Wheeling the 5-2 victory heading into the series finale on Monday.
Heading into that game, you had to expect a tight checking game, and that’s what we got, as the two teams combined for five penalties in the first period, including offsetting penalties twice in the period.
The problem is, Orlando was able to get loose and made Wheeling pay to earn a 1-0 lead after one, and as I said in the first game, that’s a deathly formula for opponents of the Solar Bears so far this year. Things loosened up considerably in the second period, as the two teams combined for 30 shots on goal, but every single one got turned away by the goalies, leading to the 1-0 lead continuing to the third period.
Halfway through the final frame, Orlando was able to find the back of the net once again, giving them what seemed like an insurmountable 2-0 lead in the game. The Nailers didn’t seem to think so though, as Jordan Martel was able to squeeze one in behind the Solar Bears goalie to cut the lead to 2-1, but Wheeling couldn’t find the equalizer as they fell to Orlando by that score.
Despite the result for the series not being what we wanted, I still think the Nailers played some good hockey outside of the third period on Friday. The power play might’ve been held off the scoresheet in eight chances in the series, but they were able to create a number of good chances against the best home penalty-kill group in the entire league.
At no point over the weekend did you truly believe the Nailers were completely out of the game, which gives me a lot of hope that they can remain competitive the rest of the way.
The Nailers will play their only home games for January this weekend, with two against Indy followed by Kalamazoo on Sunday. How can the Nailers maximize their standings points they earn this weekend?
It’s hard to believe a league like the ECHL would want a team to be stuck on the road as much as the Nailers will be the rest of the month, but between the OVAC wrestling tournament the weekend of January 18-20 followed by Disney on Ice the weekend after, we will only see the Nailers at Wesbanco Arena for these three games this month.
That’s why it’s so important that we fans find a way to get down to the arena this weekend, to show our support for the team and remind them what they’ll be coming home to in February when they’re finally back playing in the Friendly City.
As for these games, it feels as if the Fuel has been the opponent for the Nailers every other game they’ve played so far, so these two teams should be very aware of what the other is going to try and do. The Nailers are 2-3-1 against Indy this season, but only one of those games has been played in Wheeling, a 4-1 victory back on December 15.
Going by the statistics, Wheeling and Indy are very evenly matched, with both teams having 34 standings points, but Wheeling gets the tiebreaker as they’ve played one less game this season than Indy has. One place the Fuel has the advantage is when shorthanded, as their road penalty kill is 15th in the league, whereas the Nailers home power play is the worst in the entire ECHL.
If Wheeling wants to see success in these two games, they may need to have the power play group find a way to take advantage when given a chance.
As for Kalamazoo, the Nailers have only faced them twice so far this year, both victories by Wheeling. The Nailers have outscored the K-Wings by a combined score of 11-2 in those two games, so I think the key will be to jump on them early and not let them stay in the game. They may be near the bottom of the division standings, but they are only three points behind Wheeling, that’s how close things are in the division (aside from Toledo, who is running away with things).
Kalamazoo’s road power play is rather putrid, next to last in the league, but their road penalty kill sits in third in the ECHL, so yet again, the Nailer man advantage group has to find a way to break through. The Wings have only scored first in their games 13 times in 31 tries, so if Wheeling can find a way to break through first, they can keep the pressure going and hopefully take it to the finish line.
Despite the results last weekend, Wheeling still finds themselves sitting in third place in the Central Division. What do they need to do to hang tough and stay in a playoff spot as we approach the dog days of the season?
As I said in my previous answer, aside from the Walleye up in first place, the entire Central Division is clustered together, with second place Fort Wayne and last place Iowa being separated by only eight points. Wheeling technically only sits one point into a playoff spot, as Cincinnati is in fifth, but just like with Indy, the Nailers have a game in hand over them as well. When things are tight like they are now, one small slip-up like an extended losing streak can wreck a team’s chances of staying in the race long-term.
One place the Nailers really need to improve quickly is getting wins (or at least points) on the road. Wheeling’s record at home this year is 10-5-0-1, but on the road, they are 6-8-1-0. The better teams in the league, or at least ones more securely in a playoff spot, tend to be closer to .500 on the road, while having very similar home records to what the Nailers currently have. With Wheeling playing six in a row on the road after this small homestand, they really can’t afford to remain below .500 in that area after that stretch. If they can’t find a way to improve their win record on the road, they will need to be even better at home to make up for it when they return to Wesbanco Arena.
Another key for the Nailers is improving on their record against division opponents. They currently are 10-8-1-0 against other Central foes, which isn’t too bad, but there are definitely areas to improve that. The Nailers have a 2-1 record against Toledo, but with how they’ve been playing lately, it’ll be tough to maintain that the rest of the way. On the other hand, Wheeling has an 0-2 record against Fort Wayne and a 2-3-1 record against Indy. Considering how many times the Nailers have to play their division opponents, they will need to have a good record in those games to have a chance at the playoffs later. Last year, it was those division opponents that sank their chance at the postseason, so that should show just how important this will be as we enter the second half of the season.
Coming out of this weekend’s series, the ECHL All-Star Game will be played on Monday, with Dillon Hamaliuk representing the Nailers. What do you think of this selection, and what can fans expect to see in this game?
As I said a couple weeks ago, I’m really not a fan of this format for the All-Star Game. I think it’s really unfortunate for teams with multiple players who are worthy of the opportunity that only one player is selected from each team aside from the home team. I also learned this week during my discussion with Coach Derek Army on the Derek Army coaches show that voting for the game is done back at the beginning of December, which is barely over a month into the season and hasn’t allowed all of the players to settle into their game fully to show what they can do. My personal preference would be for the vote to happen later in December, especially considering they didn’t even announce the roster until last week and that should still give them plenty of time to put everything together for those players.
With that being said, it makes sense that Hamaliuk is the choice for the Nailers. He’s having a very strong season thus far, leading the team in points (26) and tied for the team lead in assists (15) in 24 games played. He also has four of the Nailers’ 19 goals scored on the power play this season and has been a very strong player in all areas of the ice. He missed most of last season with an injury but has managed to bounce back very well, something that isn’t necessarily easy to do when you miss such extensive time and haven’t played in actual game action, so I think he’s a good choice from Wheeling.
As for the game itself, the question is how quickly a team of the best random players from all of the other teams in the league can come together to create a team to challenge the Ghost Pirates on their home ice. Overall, I would say the team of all-stars will have the advantage of having more skill than Savannah does, but the advantage for the home team is they are already a team and can already work together (despite how things have gone for them thus far in the season). I fully expect a lot of offense in that game and just hope for a good showing by Dillon before he comes back to Wheeling to prepare for the second half of the season.
Before those festivities in Savannah, the Nailers will host Super Nailers World night on tonight against the Fuel. How excited are you about this fun event?
Boy, as a child of the eighties (being born in 1984), this promotion speaks to me. When I was growing up, my first video game system was an Atari 2600, which then upgraded into a classic Nintendo and the original Mario game. I would spend hours trying to get to Bowser, and anyone who played games at the time knew just how hard that was, as well as the fact that there were no save points, meaning if you lost all of your lives, you had to start from scratch. As I got older and was able to leave the house to spend time with friends, we would find our way to the local mall and into the arcade, spending considerable time and money (or tokens) just playing all of the games, so I’m really personally invested in this event.
The Nailers are planning to have a video game arcade set up out in the concourse, which will bring back so many memories for me personally. There will be question mark blocks set up around the arena with prizes available at them, which for those of us who have played any of the Mario games, we know exactly what that means.
They will also host a special Nailers Kart race on the ice during intermission, so named after another memorable Mario franchise. Anyone who is a video game nerd like me should be able to find something to enjoy at this game, so I really hope to see a lot of you down at the arena on Saturday to have fun with the event and to cheer the team on.
