ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Fall to Bombers 8-4

January 9, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Jordan Morrison scored a pair of goals and Bryan Ewing registered his team leading 20th of the year but it wasn't enough for the Wheeling Nailers as they fell the to the Dayton Bombers 8-4 Friday night at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, WV.

Dayton was led by Nino Musitelli and Tomas Zaborsky who each had a pair of goals for the Bombers.

The 8 goals surrendered equals the most by the Nailers this year who also gave up that many to Dayton in a December 6 loss at the Bombers by an 8-1 final.

Dayton got the jump on the Nailers with a 3-1 lead in the 1st period but Ewing's shorthanded goal on nice work by Morrison on the left-wing wall to win it back to him closed the gap to 3-2 at the first intermission. Ewing's 4 shorthanded goals this year are tied for most in the league and his 20 total goals are 3rd in the ECHL.

Dayton scored early in the 2nd period on a shot from between the circles by Brock Wilson that glided past the left skate of David Brown to give the Bombers a 4-2 lead and prompt Coach Greg Puhalski to pull his netminder in favor of Curtis Darling.

Tomas Zaborsky made it 5-2 a few minutes later on his 8th of the year and 1st of the night but Brock Sheahan quickly got it back for the Nailers just 26 seconds later on a slap-shot from the left point that possibly deflected off Bomber goalie Tyler Plante's stick and into the top of the net. Sheahan's goal made it 5-3 but Dayton would tack on another by Zaborsky at 18:01 of the 2nd and went into the next break with a 6-3 advantage.

The Nailers appeared ready to forge a comeback effort when Jordan Morrison scored his 2nd of the night at 4:00 into the 3rd to close the score to 6-4 when his big slapshot was mostly stopped by Plante but still had enough on it to get through him and into the cage. For Morrison it was his 14th of the year and his 48 total points following his 2 goal and 1 assist night give him the league lead in scoring.

But after the Nailers made it 6-4 the Dayton Bombers responded with back to back goals with the next couple minutes by Musitelli and Ryan Smyth to provide the final margin.

Wheeling played a solid first period even though they were trailed 3-2. They outshot the Bombers 17-14 with some exciting back and forth action. But Wheeling couldn't keep up the momentum and Dayton beat the Nailers for the 3rd time this year. The Nailers power play struggled to get going as they went 0 for 6 but they held the Bombers to 0 for 4 on the night and tacked on a shorthanded goal.

Wheeling is 4-3-0 against Dayton this year. Dayton's record against the Nailers stands at 3-2-2.

Wheeling falls to a mark of 22-7-5 overall with 3 of their 7 regulation losses having come against this Dayton team. The Nailers lead in the North Division over 2nd place Johnstown was trimmed to 3 points as the Chiefs won on the road against Elmira. 3rd place Dayton closed to within 7 points of the Nailers with their victory.

The 8th of the 14 matchups between the Nailers and the Bombers will come in the rematch Saturday night at the Nutter Center in Fairborn, Ohio at 7:30.

Sunday, January 11th the Nailers return home against the Cincinnati Cyclones will begin at 1:05 (a change from the originally announced start-time of 4:05). It's Sunday Family FunDay with a post-game skate with the Nailers after the game. Fans must bring their own skates and gloves to participate. It's also Guaranteed Win Day: If the Nailers and Steelers both win on Sunday then everyone in attendance will receive free admission to a future Nailers game

Wheeling will be at Cincinnati next Wednesday and at Reading next Friday but will come back to WesBanco on Saturday, January 17th for one final matchup with the Cyclones at 7:35. That Saturday game is Knit Ski Cap giveaway night for the first 1000 kids 14 and under courtesy of WesBanco.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 9, 2009


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.

OurSports Central