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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers at Royals Game Day Snap Shot

March 4, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Maybe We Should Pretend We're Away

The Wheeling Nailers played three games at WesBanco Arena last weekend, and while the stretch started on a very positive note with a 5-1 win over Greenville on Friday, the rest of the weekend didn't exactly go down as planned. The Elmira Jackals picked up a 7-4 victory on Saturday night, followed by a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon, climbing three points ahead of Wheeling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Nailers have three games in hand on Elmira. The clubs played to a 1-1 tie in the first period, with Matt Tabrum notching his fifth goal of the season for Wheeling. However, a late tally in the second and another in the third made for the difference, while CJ Motte made 29 saves in goal for the Jackals. The back-to-back losses dropped the Nailers one game under .500 on home ice this season at 12-13-3. Wheeling will look to continue its success on the road, where it has gone 14-10-2, including an 8-1-1 mark in the last ten tilts away from the Ohio Valley.

Attempting to Pull Away From the Pack

The Reading Royals are also involved in the fight for the final few playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, but they currently reside on the inside track of the race, as they enter the weekend in seventh place, leading Elmira by two points and Wheeling by five points. The Royals have cranked things up over the past month or so, having earned at least one point in 12 of their last 17 contests, compiling a 9-5-3 record over that timeframe. Last weekend, Reading hit the road for three games, ultimately putting the wraps on a four game stretch away from Santander Arena. The trip started with three consecutive victories over divisional opponents, as the Royals edged Manchester 4-3, Elmira 5-3, and Adirondack 5-4 in a shootout. However, there was no exclamation point at the end of the journey, as the Thunder salvaged the finale, 3-1 at Glens Falls Civic Center on Sunday. Nikita Kashirsky was the leading scorer on the trip with three goals and five points, while Martin Ouellette and Connor Knapp each saw two games in the crease.

Thank You, Affiliates

The team that will take the ice on Friday night for the Nailers will have a significantly different look than the one from Sunday afternoon, as six players have been added over the course of the week. On Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Dan O'Donoghue and defenseman James Melindy, as part of a four-player trade with the Arizona Coyotes. Both players were members of the Rapid City Rush at the time of the deal. Then, on Friday, Wheeling received four players from its AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Harrison Ruopp, Clark Seymour, and John McCarron are all returning players to the team, while Tyler Biggs will wear the Nailers logo for the first time in his professional career. Biggs is in his first season with the Pittsburgh organization, after playing two full seasons in the Toronto organization. O'Donoghue, Melindy, Ruopp, Seymour, and McCarron have combined for 67 points in 165 ECHL games this season. In order to make room for the additions, Massimo Lamacchia and Louis Belisle were released, while Mike Slowikowski was traded to Toledo.

The Fourth Quarter Begins

54 games have been completed by the Nailers thus far this year, leaving 18 to be played over the final six weeks of the 2015-16 regular season. Wheeling is 26-23-5 at the three-quarter poll of the season, having accumulated 57 points. Last year's squad was 27-26-1 in the first 54 games, which was good for 55 points in the standings. This season's club started the year with a 10-7-1 mark in the opening quarter, dropped to 5-10-3 in the second quarter, then rallied to post their best record during the third quarter at 11-6-1. Over the course of the last two seasons, the Nailers have needed strong finishes to reach the postseason, as the 2013-14 club went 11-3-0 in the final 14 games to lock up the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, while the 2014-15 edition closed out the year with a 7-3-0 mark to earn a fourth place position in the North Division. Only Orlando and Brampton have played fewer games in the Eastern Conference than Wheeling to this point, as the Nailers hold games in hand against both Reading (2) and Elmira (3), who are ahead of them in the standings.

Half Way to Another Century

Friday night marks the seventh of 11 head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Royals this season, as well as the third of five battles at Santander Arena. Last month, the two clubs clashed for a two-game weekend series in West Virginia, with Wheeling winning the opening game, 3-2 in comeback fashion, before a 6-0 whitewash by Reading the following evening. The win was the Royals' first at WesBanco Arena in nearly two full years, with their previous triumph taking place on March 1, 2014. Since the start of the 2014-15 season, home dominance has told the story between the two opponents, as each team has one once on the road in the last 18 meetings. The 15-year rivalry will also reach a milestone on Friday, as the Nailers and Royals will play each other for the 150th time in history. That number is the highest for any Reading opponent, and the third highest for any Wheeling opponent (Johnstown 173, Dayton 155). Following the two games this weekend, there will still be three games left in the season series - all of which will take place in April.

Wheeling Nailers (26-23-2-3, 57 Pts.) at Reading Royals (27-21-5-3, 62 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(26-23-2-3, 57 PTS, 2nd North, 9th East)

162 GF, 169 GA

PP: 16.8% (35-for-208), 14th

PK: 83.7% (174-for-208), 15th

23-F-Riley Brace (19 goals, 25 assists, 44 points in 38 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (7 goals, 33 assists, 40 points in 52 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (14 goals, 16 assists, 30 points in 41 games)

25-F-John McCarron (8 goals, 12 assists, 20 points in 34 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (6 goals, 14 assists, 20 points in 54 games)

26-F-Adam Krause (12 goals, 7 assists, 19 points in 33 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (16-14-2 record, 2.91 GAA, .903 Sv% in 32 games)

READING ROYALS

(27-21-5-3, 62 PTS, 3rd East, 7th East)

171 GF, 152 GA

PP: 19.0% (40-for-210), 6th

PK: 82.9% (160-for-193), 17th

7-F-Robbie Czarnik (23 goals, 22 assists, 45 points in 48 games)

14-F-Mike Pereira (17 goals, 23 assists, 40 points in 43 games)

28-F-Cam Reid (12 goals, 22 assists, 34 points in 42 games)

10-F-Yannick Tifu (12 goals, 22 assists, 34 points in 52 games)

26-F-Nikita Kashirsky (11 goals, 19 assists, 30 points in 44 games)

43-D-Kevin Young (3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points in 41 games)

31-G-Connor Knapp (10-9-1 record, 2.85 GAA, .903 Sv% in 21 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Nailers 3, Royals 3

Season Series at Santander Arena: Royals 2, Nailers 0

All-Time Series: Royals 83, Nailers 66

All-Time Series at Santander Arena: Royals 47, Nailers 28

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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