ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers at Beast Game Day Snap Shot

February 19, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Win Number Three Comes in OT

The Wheeling Nailers collected their third win in four tries during their season-long six-game road trip on Wednesday night, as they played their final game of the campaign in the Empire State against the Elmira Jackals. Wheeling fell behind on a first period goal by Justin Bernhardt, but battled back to take the lead in the middle frame. Riley Brace deadlocked the score when he banked a shot in off of goaltender CJ Motte, and Andrew Ammon put his team ahead with a snipe from the bottom of the left circle. The Jackals stormed the net with 19 shots in the third period, getting the equalizer from Spiro Goulakos, ultimately forcing overtime. At the 51-second mark of the extra session, Cody Wydo won the contest for the Nailers, batting the rebound of Clark Seymour's shot out of the air. The tally made a winner out of Casey DeSmith, who shined in goal for Wheeling with 38 saves on 40 shots.

Plagued by the Road Games

The Brampton Beast have been off since Sunday afternoon, when they completed a three-game weekend all against North Division opponents. The weekend started in promising fashion on Friday night against the division leading Toledo Walleye. Even though Brampton blew a 4-2 lead, it still managed to come out with the victory, as Joe Zarbo scored at 3:21 of overtime for a 5-4 final score. With a sour taste in their mouths, the Walleye were more than ready to even the score the following night, as they blasted the Beast, 6-1 at Huntington Center. Brampton's weekend concluded with a see-saw match against the Kalamazoo Wings. Kalamazoo led 1-0 and 3-2, while the Beast held a 2-1 advantage, as the game eventually entered the third period all square 3-3. The lone tally in the third came from Dane Fox, as he propelled the Wings to the 4-3 triumph. Drew Fielding was the goaltender of record in the two games against Toledo, while Jordan Ruby suffered the loss in Kalamazoo.

Goalies Always Lending a Hand

Casey DeSmith earned his second straight win on Wednesday night, turning in one of the best performances of his young career, as he made 38 saves on 40 Elmira shots, including 18 stops during a busy third period. However, that wasn't the only area that DeSmith's name appeared on the scoresheet, as his blocker save in the second period allowed Ty Loney to set up Andrew Ammon for Wheeling's second goal of the night. That was Casey's second helper of the season, tying him with Franky Palazzese for the team lead. Three of the four assists by Nailers goaltenders have occurred at First Arena - one in each of the three visits. While points are always fun, the job of the goalies is to stop the puck, which they have done with great success on the road trip. In the three wins in New York, Palazzese and DeSmith combined to make 103 saves on 107 shots.

Their Crease is a Revolving Door

On the other side of the ice, the Nailers are expected to see a different face take the crease for the Beast, as newly signed Kenny Reiter could make his first appearance of 2015-16. If he does so, Reiter will be eighth netminder to face game action for Brampton this season, joining Sean Bonar, Trevor Cann, Drew Fielding, Andy Iles, Edward Pasquale, Bryan Pitton, and Jordan Ruby. Wheeling has faced four of those other seven in the six previous games between the two clubs, with Pasquale starting four of the six and Iles coming in off of the bench. Cann is the only one with a winning record, and his 2.97 goals against average is tops for all that have played in at least five games. Ruby's .899 save percentage leads the way, while Pitton only played in the season opener, before suffering an injury that has forced him to miss 47 consecutive contests. Reiter played in four games with the Reading Royals last season, following a 25-game slate with the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers the year before.

We're Here a Little Longer This Time

Friday night marks the seventh of nine head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Beast this season, as well as the third of four battles at Powerade Centre. Both of Wheeling's previous visits to Canada were quick ones, as it played in another city on the Saturday night, before locking up with Brampton on a Sunday afternoon. The Nailers were victorious both times, winning 4-3 on October 25th in the back end of a home-and-home set, then rallying behind for a 3-2 overtime triumph on January 31st. Dating back to last season, Wheeling is 5-1 in the home province of six of its current players, where it will conclude the road portion of the season series this weekend. The Beast will make one more trip to West Virginia for a make-up game on March 8th from the previously postponed clash on January 24th.

Wheeling Nailers (23-21-2-3, 51 Pts.) at Brampton Beast (15-23-6-4, 40 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(23-21-2-3, 51 PTS, 2nd North, 11th East)

143 GF, 152 GA

PP: 16.3% (31-for-190), 17th

PK: 83.7% (159-for-190), 15th

23-F-Riley Brace (15 goals, 20 assists, 35 points in 33 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (6 goals, 29 assists, 35 points in 47 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (14 goals, 10 assists, 24 points in 36 games)

4-D-Paul Cianfrini (2 goals, 15 assists, 17 points in 48 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points in 49 games)

10-F-Chris Ciotti (7 goals, 8 assists, 15 points in 37 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (14-12-2 record, 2.86 GAA, .905 Sv% in 28 games)

BRAMPTON BEAST

(15-23-6-4, 40 PTS, 4th North, 14th East)

124 GF, 168 GA

PP: 17.3% (34-for-197), 13th

PK: 78.5% (164-for-209), 27th

22-F-Brandon Marino (11 goals, 27 assists, 38 points in 37 games)

16-F-Chris Auger (16 goals, 12 assists, 28 points in 40 games)

57-F-Jonathan Parker (11 goals, 17 assists, 28 points in 48 games)

11-F-Luke Pither (9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points in 25 games)

36-D-Travis Brown (7 goals, 13 assists, 20 points in 48 games)

3-F-Joe Zarbo (11 goals, 6 assists, 17 points in 41 games)

34-G-Kenny Reiter (First Game of the Season)

Head to Head

Season Series: Nailers 4, Beast 2

Season Series at Powerade Centre: Nailers 2, Beast 0

All-Time Series: Nailers 7, Beast 3

All-Time Series at Powerade Centre: Nailers 5, Beast 1

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 19, 2016


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