ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Another One Goal Thriller To Close 2009

December 31, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Wheeling WV - The Wheeling Nailers won a New Years Eve thriller to stretch their win streak to 4 in a row while also ending the 8 game winning streak of the Toledo Walleye in a 3-2 decision at WesBanco Arena. Capraro lead the way with a pair of goals, T.J. Fox contributed his 11thgoal of the season and 5th in the recent win streak and newcomer Zack Sill along with Casey Pierro-Zabotel picked up a pair of assists each.

The Nailers improved to 17-15-2 and bring in the New Year above the.500 mark after a 9-5-0 mark in December.

Michael-Lee Teslak won his 2nd start in a row for the Nailers to improve to 2-1-0 with Wheeling and 7-6-1 overall including his previous stats with Elmira. Teslak made 30 saves on 32 Toledo shots and made several spectacular stops to preserve the win. Wheeling improved to 3-0-0 against the Walleye.

After a nice steal from behind Toledo's net by Colin Power, T.J. Fox cut his way to the slot and slammed in a one timer past the right skate of Toledo goalie Jordan Pearce for his 11th goal of the season giving the Nailers a 1-0 lead with 45 seconds left in the first. T.J. Fox has had 5 goals in his last 4 games. He scored 2 goals Wednesday at Reading and 2 goals Saturday at Kalamazoo.

Malcolm MacMillan slammed one past Michael-Lee Teslak 10:58 in the second and tied the game 1-1 after the Walleye similarly stole it behind the Nailers goal.

Former Wheeling Nailer and reigning ECHL Rookie of the Year Bryan "Boomer" Ewing shot it in over the left shoulder of Teslak on the power play scoring his first goal in WesBanco as a Walleye to put Toledo in front 2-1.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel on a nice steal found newcomer Zack Sill who passed to the center for Chris Capraro who slammed it home for his 4th of the season to tie the game 2-2 at 16:21 in the second.

Midway through the 3rd the same line would connect again as Sill chipped it forward to Pierro-Zabotel up the left-wing who carried it a little deeper before finishing the 2-on-1 rush rifling it across the ice to Capraro who fired it past Pearce for the game deciding goal, his second of the night and 5th of the season to break the tie.

It was an exciting and back-and-forth contest which also saw both teams send bullets of the metal. Zach Sill and Blair Yaworski both hit the post for the Nailers in the 1st and 3rd periods. J.C. Sawyer rang one hard off the metal past Teslak in the 3rd.

Wheeling outshot the Walleye 33-32. The Nailers had their streak of 8 straight games with power play come to close going o-for-4. Toledo was 1-for-6 on the power play.

The Nailers look to make it 5 wins in 8 days as they hit the road and take on the Devils at Trenton Saturday night at 7.

Happy New Year from the Wheeling Nailers. Thanks for coming out and cheering on your hometown team for the first part of the 2009-2010 season!

Nailers Notes:

Brad Thiessen missed the game with the flu but Head Coach Greg Puhalski said the Teslak would have gotten the starting no regardless.

Pierro-Zabotel and Capraro finished tied for the team lead in scoring for December with 15 points each.

Before the game, Mitch Ganzak was named to the ECHL American Conference All-Star squad to be played January 20th in Ontario, California.

Next Friday, January 8 the Nailers host the Cincinnati Cyclones and it is WTRF-Friday Family 4-Pack night. 4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs and a large popcorn all for $44

Saturday January 9 the Nailers host the Johnstown Chiefs and it is Girl Scout and "Go Green" night. Backpacks will be given away to the first 1,000 kids.

Wheeling Hockey Hall of Fame Night is coming January 30th! Before the Nailers tangle with the South Carolina Stingrays we'll honor the newest inductees: Doug Sauter and Nick Bedway. Sauter is the first head coach of the Wheeling Nailers organization and Nick Bedway was a long-time beat-writer for the team before retiring in 2005. Get your tickets for Wheeling Hockey Hall of Fame Night and other great upcoming Nailers games by calling 304-234-GOAL or log on to wheelingnailers.com to purchase your tickets online.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 31, 2009


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