The Nailers took two of three last weekend in Reading, losing on Friday before earning wins Saturday and Sunday. What did Wheeling do to prevail in those contests?
While it would have been nice to sweep a series against their potential first round opponent, I’m sure the Nailers are more than happy with how things turned out and what came out of last weekend’s games. Thanks to the results from these games, Wheeling officially went 7-7-0-1 against the Royals for the 2025-26 regular season but found ways to win the games when they mattered.
The first period of Friday’s game saw both teams have plenty of chances to open the scoring, as they combined for 24 total shots on net. Reading opened the scoring with just over eight minutes remaining in the period, but Matty De St. Phalle managed to get one of his own through the Reading goalie with slightly more than three minutes left, and the game went to the intermission tied.
Only one goal was scored in the second period, 1:37 into the period, by a Royal, and the game went to the third period with a 2-1 advantage for the home team. Reading doubled their lead just before the halfway point of the third period, but a Matthew Quercia goal after Wheeling pulled the goalie brought the Nailers back to within a goal. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get one more before the horn, and Reading came away with the victory.
Things started much better for the Nailers on Saturday, as De St. Phalle, Ryan McAllister, and Alexander Kuqali managed to stake them out to a 3-0 lead within the first five minutes of the contest. The Royals did manage to turn things around and score a goal of their own just past seven minutes into the period, but that was the end of the scoring in the period, and Wheeling took a 3-1 lead into the second.
The second period started almost as well for Wheeling as the first did, as McAllister and Brent Johnson were able to both score, also within the first five minutes of the period, which caused Reading to change goalies down 5-1. The Royals managed to pocket a goal of their own with six minutes remaining in the period, and the game went to the third with a 5-2 advantage for the visitors.
The Nailers didn’t rest on their laurels with such a big lead, outshooting the Royals 17-7 in the third period. Tiernan Shoudy managed to score his first professional goal for Wheeling eight minutes into the frame, which ended up being the end of the scoring, giving Wheeling the 6-2 victory and moving their magic number down to one to clinch the division.
Then on Sunday, Reading came out pushing hard to get an early lead, which they managed to do with less than eight minutes left in the first to take a 1-0 lead into the second. The Royals continued their assault on the Wheeling goal in the second, firing 13 shots on Gabriel D’Aigle compared to four for the Nailers, but neither team was able to change the score, and it remained a lead for Reading into the third.
The game ended up going end-to-end throughout the final period, with shots in the period going 18-15 in favor of Wheeling. Then, with just under a minute left in regulation, Ryan McAllister scored his third goal of the weekend to push the game into overtime and officially make the Nailers the North Division champions, but they weren’t done yet. In the extra frame, Blake Bennett scored, once again with less than a minute remaining on the clock, and the Nailers came away with the extra point with the win.
The Nailers will finish their regular season this weekend, traveling to Toledo on Friday before a final home game on Saturday against Indy. What does Wheeling need to do to come out on top in these contests?
These games are make-up games from back in December, and while it would have been nice to play them then as the team came back from the Christmas break, having these games now when they might have major implications for our opponents while we’re just waiting for the start of the postseason is nice. Toledo still has a chance to win the Central Division, while Indy is fighting for their playoff lives, so the Nailers will go out there looking to play spoiler to both, knowing they’re already assured a spot in the postseason.
With Toledo winning against Fort Wayne on Thursday, then a win against the Nailers gives a chance for the Walleye to jump up into first place by virtue of the first tiebreaker, while still waiting for the Komets to play against Kalamazoo on Sunday afternoon. Any points by Fort Wayne in that game will lock Toledo in second place.
With the Walleye entering Friday’s game with a chance, it would be a dream come true to see Wheeling be the team that ends that hope for them, while also clinching a regular season sweep of the games between these two teams (the Nailers won 5-2 on November 28 and 4-2 on April 4). Earning the sweep against possibly your biggest rival, while also dashing their hopes of a division title, would be sweeter than sugar for Wheeling, so I look for them to come out pushing hard and bring home a win.
Then on Sunday, the Nailers will have their final tune-up to get ready for the postseason to start the following weekend by welcoming the Fuel to town. Indy sits just inside the playoff line in the Central Division, holding fourth place with 77 points, two points ahead of Cincinnati (who have a game in hand) and three points ahead of Kalamazoo (who have two games in hand). Depending on how things go in the game between the Cyclones and the Wings on Friday, the Fuel might have a lot to play for in their final game of the season.
The good news for Indy is they do hold the tiebreaker over Cincy, so the Cyclones would have to find a way to outright beat them to get into the playoffs. However, Kalamazoo holds both the first and second tiebreakers currently over the Fuel, so if they find a way to get up there, they can jump Indy just by tying them.
Having the possibility of holding Indy’s playoff future in our hands is a great feeling. We have played them quite a few times in recent seasons when we shared the Central Division with them, and it has always been a bit of a dogfight between them. Going into this game, Wheeling holds a 2-0-0-1 record against the Fuel this year. Getting one more win over them right at the end of the year and forcing them to sit at home and watch the playoffs will be a real bittersweet feeling, and I hope the Nailers have the chance to do just that.
The Nailers have officially won the North Division championship for this season, with 98 standings points on the year with two games left to play. How special is it for these guys to bring home Wheeling’s first division win in 20 years?
As someone who has played a number of sports but never had a chance to win a division title growing up, it has to be a great feeling to know you are the best of what your division has to offer. Plus, with how well the Nailers have played at home this season, earning a record of 24-7-2-2 at WesBanco Arena this year with one game to go, it’s a great feeling knowing they’ll have the advantage of getting each series to start at home within the divisional rounds. This division victory is the fourth one for the Nailers in their 34-year history.
However, they can’t allow this win to make them become complacent come playoff time. Wheeling has done relatively well against two of the teams they could face, going 3-1-0-0 against Adirondack and 3-1-0-1 against Maine this season. But this is the postseason. Regular season records can be thrown out the window. Teams up their game once they get there, especially when they’re playing one of the best teams in the league. The Nailers will have to focus their energy on preparing for either the Royals or the Thunder starting next weekend and work hard to stay alive for as long as they can.
Looking around the league, are there any surprises that stand out to you for where things stand heading into the final weekend of the season? Which teams, if any, do you think pose the greatest challenge for the Nailers, should they meet up in a future playoff round?
I don’t know if it’s fair to say it’s surprising but seeing Kansas City and Florida both eclipse the 100- point mark for the season (with Wheeling and Fort Wayne both having the chance to get there themselves this weekend) is very impressive. In order to get there, teams can’t have very many regulation losses in a 72-game season, as that point total is the equivalent of 50 wins, and for each win a team is below that, they need two overtime or shootout losses. So, for a team with 46 wins (as the Nailers currently have entering the weekend), they would need at least eight losses beyond regulation to hit 100 points on the dot, which would mean they only had 18 regulation losses over their entire year.
On the other side, seeing the defending Kelly Cup champions from Trois-Rivières fail to make the playoffs and defend their championship is rather shocking as well. The Lions didn’t have a terrible season and were within striking distance until the last couple weeks and will most likely finish just outside the playoff line in fifth place in the North Division. But to see a team go from the highest of highs to not even getting that chance definitely qualifies as surprising.
As for potential matchups, you don’t want to look too far forward beyond your current possible opponent. But seeing as how the Nailers don’t know who that will be, this is really the only time we can do that. I believe Wheeling is good enough to come out of the North Division and get to the conference finals, where their most likely opponent would be Florida out of the South Division. The Everblades have had a fantastic season to this point, with a record of 47-13-7-3 overall and a 6-0-2-1 record against teams from the North.
The other teams from the South that could find a way through would be Atlanta and South Carolina. The Nailers didn’t play any games against teams from the South Division this season, so whomever it would be, it would represent a brand-new experience, and Wheeling would have a chance to come out strong against them and move on to play for the Kelly Cup.
Out in the Western Conference, the best team pretty much all season has been Kansas City, a team the Nailers have seen in recent years, but not this season. The Mavericks have a record of 55-11-2-2 on the year thus far and have not faced much in the way of competition throughout the year. But if Wheeling were to get to that point, I fully believe they can take it all the way and bring home the franchise’s first Kelly Cup in that matchup.
The ECHL announced on Wednesday that Brent Johnson of the Nailers has been named to the 2025-26 All-Rookie Team. How deserved was this accolade?
Brent Johnson has had one of the best rookie campaigns by a Wheeling Nailer, possibly of all time. The 23-year-old from St. Louis, MO joined the team down the stretch last season after finishing his collegiate career at The Ohio State University, scoring one goal and one assist in three games last year, then followed that up with 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points so far this season in 70 games played. He has shown fantastic skill in bringing the puck up ice through all three zones, great decision making at the blueline in the offensive zone, while not lacking on his duties in the defensive zone, as his +21 rating is tops for all defensemen on the team. I would love to see Brent continue his career here in Wheeling in coming years, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he was given a chance at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season.
While I definitely laud Brent for earning that achievement, I also want to call out the league for leaving Taylor Gauthier off their All-ECHL teams that were announced on Thursday. Goalie Cam Johnson of Florida was named first team, while Kansas City’s Jack LaFontaine was added to the second team. However, when looking at the stats, Gauthier has better numbers than both of them in a number of areas. “Goat” has a better save percentage than both (0.931 to 0.929 for LaFontaine and 0.922 for Johnson) while making more saves than LaFontaine on the season (1,027 to 760) and having less goals against for the year than Johnson (71 to 88). LaFontaine only played in 28 games this season for Kansas City, compared to 35 for Gauthier and 47 for Johnson. If you want to give first team to Johnson, I can see an argument, but not putting Gauthier on at least the second team is a travesty, and I think the ECHL needs to review their voting process and figure out a way to do it so the best players are truly represented on these awards.
