ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers at IceMen Game Day Snap Shot

March 21, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


WHEELING NAILERS

(33-24-1-5, 72 PTS, 2nd Atlantic, T-6th East)

183 GF, 178 GA

PP: 15.3% (33-for-215), 13th

PK: 83.8% (212-for-253), 15th

15-F-Zack Torquato (14 goals, 34 assists, 48 points in 41 games)

17-F-Carter Rowney (13 goals, 31 assists, 44 points in 38 games)

21-F-Sahir Gill (10 goals, 33 assists, 43 points in 58 games)

16-F-Cody Sylvester (24 goals, 17 assists, 41 points in 44 games)

2-D-Mike Ratchuk (14 goals, 24 assists, 38 points in 60 games)

7-F-Max MacKay (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points in 51 games)

1-G-Mike Condon (19-11-4 record, 2.35 GAA, .925 Sv% in 34 games)

EVANSVILLE ICEMEN

(27-25-3-7, 64 PTS, 4th North, 10th East)

190 GF, 199 GA

PP: 19.7% (46-for-234), 2nd

PK: 81.4% (192-for-236), 20th

24-F-Matt Schepke (22 goals, 27 assists, 49 points in 61 games)

19-F-Daultan Leveille (17 goals, 22 assists, 39 points in 59 games)

15-F-Nathan Moon (11 goals, 27 assists, 38 points in 41 games)

23-F-Kellan Tochkin (8 goals, 26 assists, 34 points in 47 games)

29-D-Matt Krug (12 goals, 21 assists, 33 points in 60 games)

17-F-Matt Lowry (14 goals, 18 assists, 32 points in 43 games)

35-G-Mike Clemente (16-15-4 record, 2.70 GAA, .907 Sv% in 35 games)

Head-to-Head

Season Series: Nailers 1, IceMen 1

Season Series at Ford Center: First & Only Game

All-Time Series: Nailers 3, IceMen 2

All-Time Series at Ford Center: Icemen 1, Nailers 0

A High Five for That Performance

The Wheeling Nailers dumped the Toledo Walleye, 6-2 on Wednesday night, earning their fifth consecutive victory, while jumping into a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Cody Sylvester continued his torrid pace, racking up two goals and one assist, taking sole possession of the team lead in shorthanded goals (4) and game winning goals (7). Carter Rowney, Shane Bakker, Tyler Fernandez, and Tom Kuhnhackl also turned on the red light, as Wheeling scored at least five goals in a game for the 12th time this season. Eric Hartzell made 28 saves for his third straight win. The Nailers had one other five-game winning streak earlier this season, from November 23rd-30th.

The Home Stretch of Home Games

The Evansville IceMen are playing the fifth of six consecutive games at Ford Center, as they will play their 36th and final home game of the regular season on Saturday night against the Reading Royals. Evansville has been significantly better at home, going 18-12-4 thus far. However, the current homestand hasn't been so successful for the IceMen, who opened with a 7-1 win over Orlando on March 14th, before falling 5-2 to the Solar Bears, then 6-3 and 3-2 to the Florida Everblades. Evansville currently resides in tenth place in the Eastern Conference, and will finish the campaign with eight straight tilts on the road.

Good Things Come in Three's

Over the course of the last six games, the offensive line of Cody Sylvester, Carter Rowney, and Tom Kuhnhackl has been one of the best things to happen to the Nailers, as their instant chemistry has led to a pile of points on the board. Since Kuhnhackl joined the team on March 7th in Reading, he has three goals, nine points, and a +10 rating. Cody Sylvester has earned ECHL Player of the Week during that stretch, while lighting the lamp seven times in his last four games, giving him 13 points in March. Carter Rowney completed a six-game point streak on March 7th, and has 14 points thus far this month, as the three have combined to accumulate 28 points during the last six games.

Opposite Ends of the Specialty Spectrum

A significant amount of pucks have found the back of the net both for and against the IceMen this season, as 289 total goals have been scored in Evansville games. A major reason why is special teams, as the IceMen possess the second ranked power play in the ECHL, while also finding themselves ranked 20th on the penalty kill. 19 different players have accounted for Evansville's 46 power play goals, led by Jeremy Langlois (6), who is currently a member of the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The IceMen have also surrendered 44 power play goals to the opposition, including Scott Zurevinski's tying goal on December 21st.

Long Time, No See, Ford Center

Friday night marks the third of four head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and IceMen this season, as well as the only battle between the two sides at Ford Center. Prior to the holiday break, Wheeling and Evansville split a pair of games at WesBanco Arena, with the IceMen picking up a 6-3 win on December 20th, before the Nailers answered with a 3-2 overtime victory the following night. Despite having played five times over the course of two seasons, this is only Wheeling's second ever visit to Southwest Indiana, as it dropped a 4-3 decision to Evansville all the way back on November 2nd, 2012.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 21, 2014


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