ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Game Preview - Reading Royals Vs. Wheeling Nailers

December 17, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Wheeling Nailers (14-8-0-0 28 Pts) vs Reading Royals (9-12-3-2 23 Pts)

On Saturday night, the Wheeling Nailers and Reading Royals will meet up for the fifth time in 16 days, with the scene shifting to Sovereign Center.

The Nailers and Elmira Jackals both fell short on Friday night, meaning that the two teams remained tied atop the Atlantic Division with 28 points each. Wheeling currently owns a record of 14-8-0-0, while Elmira is 14-11-0-0. Meanwhile, with their win on Friday, the Reading Royals moved passed the idle Trenton Titans, and into sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division. Reading's record currently stands at 9-12-3-2, which is good for 23 points. In the conference standings, the Nailers and Jackals are tied for third, thanks to the division lead, while the Royals trail Florida by three points for the final playoff spot.

In Friday night's game for the Nailers, Zack Torquato continued his solid play in the month of December, as he has scored at least one point in six of his last seven contests. Also, Paul Crowder lit the lamp twice in the game, giving him seven goals on the season, which leads Wheeling's active roster, with Chris Barton (15 goals) currently on recall to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Denver Manderson added a goal, while Cody Chupp, Adam Ross, Christiaan Minella, and Kyle Bushee each had assists. Bushee has points in three of his last four games since returning from the St. John's IceCaps, while Ross' helper was the first of his professional career. Peter Delmas and Patrick Killeen split the goaltending duties, with each facing 11 shots. Delmas stopped eight, while Killeen denied nine.

On the other side of the ice, the Royals got their first two goals from Todd Griffith, who was playing in just his second game with the franchise. Yannick Tifu also found the twine a pair of times for Reading, scoring on a penalty shot in the second period, before an empty net tally sealed the game in the final minute. Pittsburgh native Denny Urban chipped in with a couple of assists, while Louis Liotti, and Olivier Labelle picked up the other two goals for Friday night's victors. However, the biggest story for the Royals was the performance of goaltender Joe Palmer, who became the second Reading netminder in as many weeks to post a 50-save performance in a win over the Nailers. Palmer turned aside 51 of the 54 shots he faced, evening his season record at 5-5-3.

This will be the fifth meeting of the season between the Nailers and Royals, with the road team having won each of the first four. That statistic shouldn't come as much of a surprise, when one considers the season numbers for the two clubs. Wheeling is 8-3-0-0 on the road and 6-5-0-0 at home, while Reading is 7-4-2-1 on the road, and 2-8-1-1 at home. In the 13-game season series, the Royals will be the home team for seven of the tilts, and the Nailers will be the home team for six of the battles. In the previous four games, Wheeling has won by scores of 5-1 and 4-2 on December 2nd and 11th, while the Royals have taken their wins by scores of 4-2 and 6-3 on December 9th and 16th. Dale Mitchell and Yannick Tifu lead the way in the season series with five points each for Reading, while Chris Barton, Paul Crowder, Patrick Johnson, and Zack Torquato have all scored four points for Wheeling. Patrick Killeen has all four decisions in goal for the Nailers, while Mark Owuya and Joe Palmer are each 1-1 for the Royals.

The Nailers return to WesBanco Arena on Sunday at 4:05, when they welcome the Chicago Express to WesBanco Arena. For tickets call 304-234-GOAL.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Wheeling Nailers

14-8-0-0, 28 points, T-1st Atlantic Division, T-3rd Eastern Conference

77 GF, 61 GA

PP: 14-for-94 (14.9%), 19th

PK: 72-for-91 (79.1%), 16th

Active Leaders

Goals: Crowder (7)

Assists: Hansen (13)

Points: Johnson, Torquato (17)

Penalty Minutes: Torquato (52)

+/-: Chupp (+11)

Wins: Killeen (8)

GAA: Delmas (2.40)

Sv%: Delmas (.902)

Reading Royals

9-12-3-2, 23 points, 3rd Atlantic Division, 9th Eastern Conference

73 GF, 91 GA

PP: 22-for-113 (19.5%), 7th

PK: 94-for-114 (82.5%), 9th

Active Leaders

Goals: Labelle (12)

Assists: Tifu, Urban (12)

Points: Labelle (20)

Penalty Minutes: Labelle (61)

+/-: Tifu (+4)

Wins: Palmer (5)

GAA: Owuya (2.96)

Sv%: Owuya (.926)

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 17, 2011


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