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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers at Wings Game Day Snap Shot

March 26, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


All Good Things Must Come to an End

The Wheeling Nailers enjoyed a phenomenal run in the first four weeks of March, as prior to Friday night, they hadn't lost a single game in regulation, accumulating at least one point in 11 consecutive contests. The way Friday's tilt started, it looked like a 12th straight game was going to be in the cards, as Wheeling stormed out to a 2-0 lead in goals and a 16-6 advantage in shots. John McCarron buried a shot on a 2-on-1 to open the scoring, and James Melindy followed with a slap shot off of an offensive zone face-off. Anton Zlobin upped the Nailers lead to three, when he wired in a one-timer at the 5:50 mark of the second period, but things turned sour from there. Kalamazoo netted six consecutive goals to take a 6-3 lead, before Riley Brace closed the gap to one with just over five minutes to play, as Wheeling fell, 6-4. Brian Foster's had two streaks get stopped, as the first goal ended his shutout streak of 89:29, while the regulation loss was his first in seven starts.

Three Straight Against Playoff Teams

The Kalamazoo Wings entered the week knowing that they had a lot of ground to make up in a short amount of time if they had any hopes of reaching the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Thus far, Kalamazoo has made the most of its opportunity, as it won back-to-back games in Adirondack and Reading on Tuesday and Wednesday, before returning home for Friday's clash with the Nailers. The Wings fell behind 3-0 on Friday, but rallied within one, as Eric Kattelus and Ludwig Blomstrand found the net in the second period. Blomstrand's tally ended up being the key, as it helped Kalamazoo drive forward with four more goals in the third period, jumping ahead, 6-3. Justin Taylor tipped in the equalizer for the team's second redirection goal of the contest, then Alex Mallet gave the home squad its first lead, finishing off an odd-man rush after a successful penalty kill. Lane Scheidl got the fifth marker by tapping in a pass at the side of the crease, and Blomstrand's second of the game completed the Wings' remarkable run of goals. Joel Martin was the beneficiary of all of the offense, as he recorded his 30th win of the season in net.

11 Games is a Long Time

Even though Wheeling's 11-game point streak was ended on Friday night, when the team looks back at that particular run, there will be lots of positives and great memories to take away from it. The streak itself was the sixth longest in club history, and the ten straight games with at least one point on the road is a new team record. When the stretch began with a 7-4 win at Reading, the Nailers were on the outside of the Eastern Conference Playoff Race in ninth place. They are now tied for fifth. Defense and goaltending were downright dominant during the run, as Wheeling went ten straight games allowing three goals or fewer, while limiting the opposition to 30 shots or fewer in nine of the 11 contests. Leads were also a big part of the success, as the Nailers opened the scoring on seven occasions, while trailing in regulation during just three of the 11 affairs. Wheeling ended up outscoring the opposition, 35-19, for an average of 3.18 goals for per game and 1.73 goals against per game. When the Nailers return to WesBanco Arena next weekend, they will attempt to build on their season-high five-game home point streak and three-game home winning streak.

Race Tightens, Even With One on the Edge

The race for the final four playoff spots in the Eastern Conference got even tighter on Friday night, as seven teams are now separated by just seven points. In 12th place, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits are winless in their last three games, putting them in danger of realistically falling out of the race, as they are nine points out of eighth place with seven games remaining (14 possible points). Although the Nailers were unable to add to their leads on Friday, they remained in a tie for fifth place, as the Adirondack Thunder had the night off. The Reading Royals and Elmira Jackals were both victorious, creating a two-point difference between fifth and eighth. The Orlando Solar Bears got one point in Norfolk to close within three points of the top eight, while the Kalamazoo Wings and Atlanta Gladiators are both on the outside by five points. Reading is the only team with Saturday off, which could create even more shuffling of the deck with everyone else in action.

Best We Can Do is a Tie

Saturday night marks the eighth and final head-to-head meeting between the Nailers and Wings this season, as well as the third battle at Wings Event Center. Kalamazoo jumped back on top in the season series with its 6-4 win on Friday, which was its first triumph of the year in two contests on home ice. Prior to that, Wheeling had won two straight and three of the last four, rallying back from a 3-1 deficit to square the set at three all. The Nailers' point total has been .500 over better in each of the last four regular seasons in Southwest Michigan, as they went 1-0-0 in 2011-12, 1-0-0 in 2012-13, 0-0-1 in 2013-14, and 2-2-0 in 2014-15. During that time, the two North Division rivals have alternated wins in the season series, with Wheeling coming out on top in 2012-13 and 2014-15, and Kalamazoo taking the honors in 2011-12 and 2013-14. The Nailers and Wings have played each other twice in the playoffs, but that is unlikely to happen in 2016.

Wheeling Nailers (34-24-4-4, 76 Pts.) at Kalamazoo Wings (32-28-4-1, 69 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(34-24-4-4, 76 PTS, 2nd North, T-5th East)

201 GF, 194 GA

PP: 17.7% (44-for-248), 8th

PK: 84.3% (210-for-249), 14th

23-F-Riley Brace (24 goals, 36 assists, 60 points in 50 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (9 goals, 40 assists, 49 points in 64 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (22 goals, 26 assists, 48 points in 53 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (8 goals, 20 assists, 28 points in 54 games)

25-F-John McCarron (11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points in 45 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points in 66 games)

29-G-JP Anderson (2-0-1 record, 1.32 GAA, .945 Sv% in 3 games)

KALAMAZOO WINGS

(32-28-4-1, 69 PTS, 3rd North, T-10th East)

206 GF, 217 GA

PP: 14.4% (37-for-257), 24th

PK: 84.5% (207-for-245), 13th

23-F-Ludwig Blomstrand (25 goals, 30 assists, 55 points in 64 games)

19-F-Alex Mallet (19 goals, 32 assists, 51 points in 65 games)

21-F-Lane Scheidl (13 goals, 24 assists, 37 points in 65 games)

93-F-Justin Taylor (20 goals, 16 assists, 36 points in 63 games)

10-F-David Gilbert (15 goals, 15 assists, 30 points in 55 games)

7-D-Cory Pritz (3 goals, 26 assists, 29 points in 50 games)

49-G-Joel Martin (30-21-5 record, 3.08 GAA, .915 Sv% in 57 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Wings 4, Nailers 3

Season Series at Wings Event Center: Nailers 1, Wings 1

All-Time Series: Wings 20, Nailers 19

All-Time Series at Wings Event Center: Nailers 9, Wings 9

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 26, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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