Fast Start Not Enough for Nailers against Elmira
March 14, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release
WHEELING, WV- For the better part of the last two seasons, the Wheeling Nailers have dominated the Elmira Jackals, as they entered Saturday night with wins in 19 of the previous 23 head-to-head meetings. Unfortunately for the home crowd of 3,632 at WesBanco Arena, the Nailers were unable to secure two more points over their former division rivals. Elmira erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight tallies, while Sam Marotta made 33 saves for a 4-1 victory.
Defenses creating offense turned out to be the story in the first period, as both teams connected with goals from their blueliners. The Nailers struck for the first marker, needing just 93 seconds to do so. Zack Torquato and Derek Army entered into the offensive zone, with Army ultimately dropping a pass to Mike Ratchuk, charging in from behind. Ratchuk walked into the slot, ripping a shot over Sam Marotta's right shoulder. Elmira knotted the score a few minutes later. Taylor Stefishen broke down the left side of the ice, before slipping a pass through the middle, which gave Zach Tolkinen a tap-in on the right side of the crease.
One goal was scored in the middle frame, and it went to the visitors, who took their first lead of the night at the 10:38 mark. After Wheeling came up empty on an offensive chance, the Jackals busted back the other way on an odd-man rush. The play resulted in Joe Houk connecting with Ryan Rashid on the left side of the crease for a slam dunk of a shot into a wide open net.
With less than five minutes to go in regulation, Elmira picked up a power play goal to push its lead to two. Steven Shamanski's slap shot from the top of the circle was whipped wide of the net, but the rebound off of the end wall kicked out to Taylor Stefishen, who quickly swatted home the loose puck from the right circle. Mike Seidel added an empty netter with under a minute left, finishing the 4-1 win for the Jackals.
Sam Marotta was the winning goaltender for Elmira, as he stopped 33 of the 34 pucks sent his way. Eric Hartzell was saddled with the defeat for Wheeling, as he made 32 saves on 35 shots.
The Nailers will conclude their three-game homestand on Tuesday night at 7:05 against the Toledo Walleye.
Tuesday the 17th is a 7:05 clash with the Toledo Walleye on St. Patrick's Day. Kids tickets will be $5.
The following homestand will take place with four games in five days from March 25th-29th. NASCAR Night on March 28th will be the highlight game of the week, as the Nailers will wear special jerseys as part of CORE Weekend, while a NASCAR race car will be at the game. March 29th will be the final Family Funday and Post Game Skate, while March 27th is a Flat Screen Friday, Frosty Friday, and Player Poster Giveaway.
Wheeling Nailers 2015-16 season tickets, as well as flex tickets, group tickets and single-game tickets for 2014-15 are on sale now. For more information, call 304-234-GOAL or visit wheelingnailers.com.
Listen to all Nailers regular season and post-season games live on the Valley's rock station EAGLE 107.5 FM, on www.iheartradio.com or watch live on www.echl.tv. Catch every road game live on WLUTV on Comcast Cable 14.
ECHL Stories from March 14, 2015
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