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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers at Walleye Game Day Snap Shot

December 11, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


The Hanson Brothers
The Hanson Brothers
(Wheeling Nailers)

A Third Period Winner

The Wheeling Nailers entered Thursday night's game against the Indy Fuel having won just one game when being tied or behind at the start of the third period. Of course, that one was the Education Day Comeback, which featured five goals in 4:10. On Thursday, Wheeling and Indy played to a 1-1 tie until the 9:53 mark of the final frame, when Cody Wydo poked a puck free for Derek Army, who lifted his fifth goal of the season, and third game winner, over Shane Owen's left shoulder. Matt Tabrum was responsible for the Nailers' first goal of the night at the 1:04 mark of the opening stanza, while the Fuel registered a power play marker at 17:54 of the first. Brian Foster made 30 saves for his second consecutive win, as he is 68-for-71 in his last two starts. Owen took the loss with 29 saves - his fifth defeat when allowing two goals or fewer.

Evansville Iced the Streak

The Toledo Walleye carried a ten-game point streak into the week, having gone 7-0-3 in their previous ten tilts, leading into Wednesday's home contest against the Evansville IceMen. Alden Hirschfeld turned on the red light twice to build a 2-0 lead for the Walleye, likely giving the hometown fans a sense of security, as Toledo rarely let leads slip a year ago. However, the IceMen rallied back, pulling within one goal in the second period, before netting two in the third to take a 3-2 lead, which turned out to be the final score. Former Nailer Daultan Leveille scored the deciding goal with 12:46 remaining in the game, after a pair of tallies from Justin MacDonald. Matt Zenzola defeated Jake Paterson in goal, as the Walleye suffered their second regulation loss of the year, when leading after 40 minutes.

Hey Hollywood, How's This Script

Rookie Matt Tabrum made his professional debut in the 23rd game of the season on Thursday night, and in all likelihood, he couldn't have written a better script for himself. Only a few seconds into his first career shift, Tabrum found himself open in the slot, ready to receive a pass from teammate Riley Brace. Matt wasted little time, accepting the pass, then firing a shot, which flew into the top-right corner of the net to give the Nailers a 1-0 lead. Tabrum joins teammates Mike Gunn, John McCarron, Harrison Ruopp, Brett Stern, and Evan Wardley, who also netted their first pro goals this season, but the other five don't have Tabrum's distinction of achieving it on his first ever shot on his first ever shift. Mickael Beauregard, Tanner Burton, and Danny Fick are the only three Wheeling players remaining who are still in search of the memorable first marker.

A Chance to be the Grinches

Every season, teams throughout the ECHL hold a Teddy Bear Toss Night, in which fans hurl hundreds and thousands of teddy bears onto the ice, in celebration of the first goal by the home team. Those bears are then donated to local charities following the contest. The Teddy Bear Toss occurs even if the home side is shutout, as evidenced on Saturday, when Ty Rimmer and the Norfolk Admirals rained on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits' parade. The Nailers barely missed that notion themselves, as Zack Torquato scored with 18.2 seconds left on Saturday. Despite 11 total shutouts in the 50-game all-time series, only two have taken place on the road, so Wheeling will have its hands full, trying to keep the bears in the stands. Those two blankings came on back-to-back nights at the start of the 2010-11 season, as Jordan Pearce stopped 36 shots at WesBanco Arena, and Patrick Killeen denied 33 attempts at Huntington Center.

We've Waited Since April for This

Friday night marks the first of seven head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Walleye this season, as well as the first of four battles at Huntington Center. To say Wheeling is hungry for this contest is an understatement, as the Nailers have been waiting since April 29th, when Toledo got a shorthanded goal from Kyle Bonis at 2:54 of overtime in game seven, to squeak into the second round of the playoffs. As luck has it, the Nailers and Walleye get to start their season series with a home-and-home set, as the sides will travel to WesBanco Arena for an Old Time Hockey Showdown on Saturday night. The two rivals have exchanged season series wins over the last four years, and are even at 25 wins apiece during regular season play. Toledo won six of seven tilts in 2014-15, after a 7-3 advantage in Wheeling's favor during the 2013-14 campaign.

Download the Nailers new smartphone app presented by Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration. Available in theiTunes and Google Play Store. Use promo code "Leader" to receive 100 Nailers points.

In addition to Nailers Rewards, the app also includes:

Notifications and Alerts

News Feed containing team news, photos & videos

Interact Feed containing Nailers posts on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram

Team Summary

Roster

Team Stats and League Standings

View Schedule & Buy Tickets

Venue Information (Map, Directions, Parking, and Seating Chart) Individual tickets, mini plans, and group tickets are on sale now, with prices starting as low as $10 per seat. For tickets and more information, call the Nailers at (304) 234-GOAL or online at wheelingnailers.com.

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Wheeling Nailers (12-9-1-1, 26 Pts.) at Toledo Walleye (11-6-1-3, 26 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(12-9-1-1, 26 PTS, T-1st North, T-3rd East)

68 GF, 69 GA

PP: 15.3% (15-for-98), 22nd

PK: 79.3% (69-for-87), 23rd

23-F-Riley Brace (8 goals, 13 assists, 21 points in 23 games)

20-F-Jarrett Burton (9 goals, 11 assists, 20 points in 23 games)

21-F-Sahir Gill (3 goals, 14 assists, 17 points in 22 games)

15-F-Zack Torquato (10 goals, 4 assists, 14 points in 17 games)

16-F-Derek Army (5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points in 16 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points in 23 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (7-4-0 record, 2.84 GAA, .901 Sv% in 11 games)

TOLEDO WALLEYE

(11-6-1-3, 26 PTS, T-1st North, T-3rd East)

62 GF, 55 GA

PP: 20.0% (15-for-75), 7th

PK: 82.4% (56-for-68), 15th

23-F-Alden Hirschfeld (10 goals, 10 assists, 20 points in 20 games)

26-F-Marek Tvrdon (8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points in 19 games)

10-F-Shane Berschbach (5 goals, 12 assists, 17 points in 20 games)

27-F-AJ Jenks (7 goals, 7 assists, 14 points in 21 games)

16-F-Tyler Sikura (6 goals, 7 assists, 13 points in 21 games)

72-D-Joel Chouinard (3 goals, 9 assists, 12 points in 15 games)

1-G-Jeff Lerg (6-2-2 record, 2.04 GAA, .924 Sv% in 10 games)

Head to Head

2014-15 Regular Season Series: Walleye 6, Nailers 1

2014-15 Regular Season Series at Huntington Center: Walleye 3, Nailers 0

All-Time Series: Nailers 25, Walleye 25

All-Time Series at Huntington Center: Walleye 14, Nailers 7

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics




Images from this story

The Hanson Brothers
The Hanson Brothers
   



ECHL Stories from December 11, 2015


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