Last weekend was horrendous for the Nailers as they failed to earn a single point against South Carolina and Greenville. What went wrong in those three games for Wheeling?
Well, it’s unfortunate that the Nailers couldn’t capitalize after how well the weekend before went, going 2-0 against Indy and Reading.
The month of February has been rough for Wheeling, with a record of 2-5-0 thus far with four games left in the month. This just goes to show you how important it was that the Nailers got off to such a great start, and that ups and downs can happen to any team at any time, so it’s best to just ride it out and look forward to when you can start extended winning streaks again.
Saturday’s game saw one of the highest penalty totals for both teams combined in a Nailers game this season, as they and the Stingrays came together for 122 penalty minutes, but only seven total power plays, with neither team scoring on the man advantage. In fact, Wheeling got the scoring going in the first with a shorthanded goal with just under eight minutes left in the period by David Jankowski.
Unfortunately, the Stingrays took over from there, with a 30-20 shot advantage over the last two periods, while scoring twice in the second to go along with an empty netter late in the third to earn the 3-1 victory.
Sunday’s game was a little more mellow, with Wheeling and Greenville combining for a total of six penalties, and the Nailers getting the only two power plays in the game but not scoring on either of them. The Swamp Rabbits (what a name) got out to an early lead, scoring just two minutes in, then cashing in again late in the first for a 2-0 lead after the first. One more goal by Greenville made it 3-0 with under five minutes left in the second, but the Nailers finally got on the board 25 seconds later with Gabe Klassen managing to get one through. Another Wheeling goal with less than a minute left in the period by Kyle Jackson made it a one-goal game heading to the third.
Greenville doubled their lead just a minute and a half into the third, and another Swamp Rabbits tally just past the halfway mark gave them a 5-2 victory over the Nailers.
Wheeling came out a little quicker in Monday’s game, trying to get an early lead, but it wasn’t to be as Greenville was able to keep the puck out of their net, and neither team had a lead after 20 minutes. Late in the second period, the Nailers took a penalty to give the Swamp Rabbits their first (and only) power play of the game, and they took advantage to earn the 1-0 lead.
It felt like the period might end that way, but with less than two minutes remaining, Greenville struck again for a 2-0 lead heading to the last period of the weekend. Wheeling was able to get one themselves just under three minutes into the period, as Kyle Jackson was able to bounce on a loose puck and slam it in, but they just couldn’t get the equalizer, and the Nailers were sent north with a 0-3 record against South Division teams.
The Nailers will look to right the ship this weekend with three home games against Tulsa and Reading. What does Wheeling need to do to get back to their winning ways?
After struggling a bit throughout this month, Wheeling has to find a way to right the ship against one of the better teams in not just the Mountain Division, but the whole Western Conference. While Tulsa might currently sit in fourth place in their division, they’re in a virtual tie (points-wise) with the two teams ahead of them for second place. The Oilers will come to town with a record of 6-2-1-1 in their last 10 contests after hanging tough last weekend against a very strong Kansas City team who gave the Nailers all they could handle just last month.
The Oilers power play group on the road is not great, sitting in 24th place in the ECHL with a 16.2% success rate. Their penalty kill is much better than that, currently seventh in the league on the road at 84.1% (ironically enough, one spot behind Wheeling on that list).
The Nailers penalty kill group has slowed a bit at home, now in 18th place in the league, but the power play has more than made up for it. If Wheeling is able to get on the power play, it appears to be strength on strength in these games. But if they can take advantage of those opportunities, I like Wheeling’s chances to come away with some very needed standings points.
Then on Sunday, the Nailers will face Reading for the eighth time this season, currently holding a 6-1-0 record against them. The Royals are struggling a bit on the season, sitting in fifth place in the division, but eight points back of getting into a playoff spot. Reading’s power play overall is not good at 23rd in the league, but on the road it’s much better, with a 23.8% success rate, good for sixth in the ECHL. Their big struggle has been on the penalty kill, where they’re 25th overall in the league and 21st on the road, with a 77.5% success rate.
This is another chance for the Wheeling man advantage group to step up and help bring home a crucial victory for the home team.
As we quickly approach the end of another month, the Nailers find themselves still in second place in the North Division, but in a bit of a race for it. What can Wheeling do to at least keep home ice in the first round of the playoffs as a possibility?
If you’re a true-blue hockey fan, then this is (sort of) what you live for. The Nailers find themselves with a fight on their hands coming down the stretch, with just over a quarter of the season left after this weekend’s contests. Wheeling has slipped to nine points behind Trois-Rivières for the division lead, with both teams having played 47 games to this point.
Just behind Wheeling is Norfolk, with 59 points (three behind the Nailers) in the same number of games played.
I hate to say it, but this stretch of games the Lions have enjoyed against Adirondack (including three more this weekend) might make the division crown very difficult to reach for Wheeling. The Nailers will only play against Trois-Rivières four more times this season, but three of those are the final games of the season on the road up in Quebec, when there may not be anything left to play for in terms of playoff seeding.
Wheeling will have to get on a really huge roll and hope the Lions trip up a bit down the stretch to have any hope of catching them at this juncture, I have a feeling.
As for the Admirals, they also enjoy a relatively easy schedule this weekend, with three games against Maine, before hitting the road next weekend for three in Trois-Rivières. I would really prefer neither team to get any wins in that series, but if Wheeling wants to start the playoffs at home, their best bet might be to root for the Lions. Norfolk has some tough games down the stretch, playing the likes of Florida, Iowa, and ending the season against South Carolina. The Nailers will still need to hold up their end of the bargain and find enough wins down the stretch to keep the Admirals behind them, but it feels like they should be able to at least do that, and welcome Norfolk to town to start the race to the Kelly Cup in April.
When looking over the season stats to this point, is there anything that sticks out to you that are areas that are helping the Nailers to this point, or things they could stand to improve upon down the stretch?
As a self-avowed stat nerd, I know that generally speaking, there isn’t a whole lot of large movements up or down lists once you get to this point in the season. You know who your team is and what they do well, or what they struggle with.
With just over 20 games left in the regular season, the goal is to figure out ways to play to those strengths that will be successful come playoffs, when you’re playing very good teams every single night.
I say generally speaking because there is one area where Wheeling has made a rather massive jump, and not in a good way. At the beginning of last month, the Nailers were towards the bottom of the penalty minutes per game register. They were averaging barely more than nine minutes in penalties per game, and their record spoke for itself. Since then, the Nailers have increased their penalty minutes per game by two full minutes per game to move up to 18th in the ECHL.
When Wheeling gets to their game, uses their speed and tenacity to create turnovers, put pucks on the net and crash for rebounds, and just play like pests, just about every team in the league struggles against them. But when they get into penalty trouble and stick their shorthanded team out there an average of almost six times per game, they can’t play the way they need to in order to succeed. I think Coach Derek Army needs to get the team back under control, playing with discipline, and causing havoc without going over the line so much. It will undoubtedly pay dividends the rest of the way.
That being said, I’m still very impressed with just how well the specialty teams have continued to perform. Both the power play and penalty kill groups remain in the top five of the league overall, with the power play sitting fourth with a 23.3% success rate, whereas the penalty kill is fifth with an 83.0% success rate. While that does give me a little concern that their recent downturn is due to 5-on-5 play (which is where most of the game is played), knowing how well you’re performing when not in that situation gives me some hope.
However, normally referees are known to swallow their whistles a bit come playoffs, so performing strong when at even strength will take you further once you’re into the second season.
One other thing that could be a good thing the rest of the way is just how well Wheeling has performed against both the North and Central Divisions this year. While the Nailers currently have a 0-3 record against the South Division and a 1-2 record against teams from the Mountain Division, they boast a record of 18-5-1 against the Central and 11-5-1 against the North.
And, after these two games against Tulsa, every game remaining on the schedule is against teams from the Central and North Divisions. If Wheeling can continue that trend and clean up against those two divisions, they could be primed to make a bit of a run down the stretch.
This Saturday’s game against Tulsa will be the annual Pups and Pucks night at WesBanco Arena. How excited are you about this event?
It’s no secret that I absolutely love dogs. I find myself watching the websites of different rescue groups to see what dogs they have available and if they have any adoption events coming up in areas I might be close to, just so I can stop in and see the pups.
With two rescues at home already (my lovely boys Nico and Carter), my wife has already warned me that we won’t be getting any more dogs, but I can’t help but think that I can change that tune if she’s standing there, staring them in the eyes. I would love to someday just have a house full of them and get to feel that unconditional love they give every time they see you, from the moment they wake up to when they lay their head down at night.
So, when you tell me I get to enjoy two of my absolute favorite things in this world, hockey and dogs, at the same time, I can’t wait to be there. Watching the puppy parade during the first intermission puts a huge smile on my face every time.
Having a stand set up to give out pup cups to the little furry ones is a wonderful touch by the Nailers and allows your companion a sweet treat they can enjoy. I didn’t get to bring Nico to the game last season (as it was right after he had been neutered), and Carter was still a couple months away from being born, so I look forward to seeing how they react in this environment.
I highly recommend anyone interested in seeing this to get tickets now, and I look forward to seeing you at the rink.
