ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Breaks Go Against Nailers In 3-2 Loss At Cincy

Published on February 24, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Cincinnati, OH - Wheeling thought they had tied their game at Cincinnati early in the 3rd period but the goal was disallowed due to either the cage coming dislodged or the puck deemed not across the goal-line and the Nailers ended up falling 3-2 at Cincinnati in a hard fought contest Wednesday night.

Billy Ryan scored his 1st goal of the season in his 4th game back since returning from off-season surgery and Andrew Lord fired one home on a breakaway for his 13th of the year while Michael-Lee Teslak made several fine saves in the losing cause while keeping the Nailers in the game.

Mark Van Guilder returned to Cincinnati from the AHL and tallied a pair of goals in his first game back.

The Nailers had three breakaways in the latter half of the 2nd period to try to break the 2-2 deadlock but Aaron Clarke's drive was poked away, Thomas Beauregard never got his shot off as a diving Maxime Lacroix was able to dive from behind and poke it away, and T.J. Fox's shot was deflected high by Cincinnati goalie Jeremy Smith.

Mark Voakes (8) and Mark Van Guilder (2) scored back to back a little over a minute apart late in the 1st period to stake the home team to a 2-0 lead.

Wheeling knotted the score early in the 2nd period. Billy Ryan recorded his first goal of the season by carrying the puck from the right point to the high slot and firing a shot over the right shoulder of Smith at 3:54.

Then Billy Ryan hit Andrew Lord with a nice pass as Lord was rushing out of the penalty box and sneaking in behind the Cyclones defense and Lord converted on the breakaway as his blast trickled off the glove of Smith and into the goal to tie the score at 2-2 on his 13th goal of the season.

But Mark Van Guilder blasted a sharp angle drive at the base of the left-wing circle into the net on a cross-ice feed by Kilpatrick for a power play goal at 1:20 into the 3rd. And a few minutes later Thomas Beauregard's attempt to tie the game off a rebound of a Billy Ryan shot was not ruled a goal despite the animated protests of Nailers Head Coach Greg Puhalski and Wheeling would fall by the 3-2 final.

Wheeling went 1-for-4 on the power play while Cincinnati was 1-for-5. The Cyclones outshot the Nailers 32-26 on the game including 13-2 in the 3rd period. Wheeling is 4-7-0 against their North Division rivals this season with one game remaining in the regular season finale on April 3rd at WesBanco Arena.

The Nailers remain in 8th place in the American Conference and hang onto the last playoff spot but had their advantage trimmed to 2 points by the 9th place Gwinnett Gladiators who earned one point in an overtime loss at Kalamazoo earlier in the day.

The Nailers are 27-26-4 while the Cyclones lead the North at 36-17-3 and stretch their unbeaten-in-regulation streak to 12 games at 10-0-2.

The Nailers wrap up this busy stretch of travelling Friday and Saturday with back to back games at Reading and Elmira. That closes the 7 game road trip which is Wheeling's longest of the season.

Wheeling's next home games are March 5th through 7th on a 3-in-3 weekend including a WTRF Friday Family Four Pack night on March 5th and an O.V. McBear Bobblehead giveaway night on Saturday, March 6th and finishing with a Sunday Family FunDay and post-game open skate on March 7th with the Nailers as part of every Sunday home game.

Call the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL or toll-free at 1-877-NAIL-TIX. Get your tickets online at the team's website at wheelingnailers.com

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ECHL Stories from February 24, 2010


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