ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Darling Makes 24 Saves in 3rd Period to Down Devils

Published on February 24, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Curtis Darling knocked away 24 of Trenton's 25 shots in the 3rd period as the Wheeling Nailers hung on for a 4-3 win at the Trenton Devils Tuesday night in the finale of their season-long 8 game road-trip. It was Wheeling' s 2nd in a row both coming against the Devils.

The Devils only had 17 shots through the first period but got buzzing in the Wheeling zone in the 3rd in a frantic comeback effort but only Justin Coutu's shot off a rebound found the back of the net.

Wheeling never trailed in the game. Andrew Lord and Reid Cashman scored 1st period goals to give the Nailers a 2-1 lead in the first. Bryan Ewing assisted on the Lord goal by stealing it away in the Devils zone and getting it to Lord who circled around Trenton goalie Gerald Coleman and sliding it in for his 12th goal of the year and his first since January 24th.

With the score tied at 1-1 Reid Cashman snapped on a shot from the right point that appeared to deflect off Coleman and into the net. Andrew Lord was stationed on the doorstep to help on the goal by blocking Coleman's view of the shot.

Aaron Clarke broke a 2-2 tie with an unassisted power play goal in the 2nd. The high clearing attempt by Trenton took a funny bounce off the glass and bounced towards the middle instead where Clarke jump on it and carried it over towards the left dot. When he got Coleman to come out of the net Clarke was able to continue with it further and circle around to get a better angle on what became an almost open net situation for his 11th of the year.

Later in the period Jordan Morrison smartly batted a centering feed from Billy Ryan for a cutting Erik Johnson who was able to bury his 15th of the year with a big one-time blast.

Trenton cut the score to 4-3 in the 3rd but couldn't get the equalizer even after pulling their goalie for an extra attacker and getting several shots on Darling in the closing minutes of the game.

Wheeling moved into a 4th place tie with Elmira in the ever-tightening North Division race and the Nailers are only 2 points back of 3rd place Trenton and only 4 points behind 1st place Cincinnati and Johnstown.

The Nailers have only 18 games remaining in the 72 game regular season schedule. The top 4 teams in the division qualify for the Kelly Cup playoffs.

The Nailers a 5-2-1 against the Trenton Devils this year and 2-2-0 at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. The team had been camped out at their ‘home away from home' at the hotel in Trenton since last Thursday playing a 4 game road trip that included 3 matches at Trenton and one game at Reading. This was game 3 of essentially a 5 game series between the Nailers and the Devils in something of a playoff showdown series over a 10 day stretch. The 5 game series wraps up this weekend when the Devils come to WesBanco Arena on Saturday and Sunday.

Wheeling's finaly comes back to WesBanco Arena for their first home games in nearly 3 weeks with home games Friday, Feb 27 through Sunday, March 1. The Feb 27 game against the Dayton Bombers is Friday Family Four-Pack night. Get 4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs and a large popcorn all for only $44. The Nailers are also featuring a pre-game party across the street from WesBanco Arena at River City Ale Works prior to the game beginning at 5pm. River City Ale Works will feature free appetizers and $1.50 drafts up until game-time.

The Saturday, Feb 28 game against the Trenton Devils is City of Wheeling night at WesBanco Arena. The first 2500 fans in attendance get a Coal Miner Spike Bobblehead courtesy of Consol Energy. The game start Saturday is 8:05.

The Sunday, March 1st homestand finale is also against the Trenton Devils at 4:05 featuring a post-game skate with the Nailers players on another Sunday Family Funday.

Post-game playoff packages are available now. Purchase your 6-game playoff package that is good for the entire post-season. You get a discount vs. the gate price and any unused playoff credits are forwarded to the following season.

For more information contact the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL (that's 234-4625) or log on at wheelingnailers.com.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 24, 2009


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