ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Game Preview: Wheeling Vs. Toledo

January 13, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Nailers (19-12-1-1, 40 points) vs. Toledo Walleye (13-18-1-1, 28 points)

On Friday night, the Wheeling Nailers will play their first road game in exactly two weeks, when they make their first visit of the season to Huntington Center, where they will face the Toledo Walleye in the back half of their home-and-home series.

The Nailers have begun the month of January with four wins in five games, and have been able to maintain their sixth place position in the Eastern Conference Standings. Wheeling enters the weekend with a record of 19-12-1-1, which is good for 40 points, as well as second place in the Atlantic Division. With Wednesday night's victory, the Nailers briefly jumped into fifth place in the conference, and could finish Friday as high as fourth, depending on the results of other games. Despite picking up one point on Friday, the Walleye remain in the basement of both the North Division and the Eastern Conference, as they enter the weekend at 13-18-1-1, which is good for 28 points. Trenton leads Toledo by two points in the conference standings, with both teams having played 33 games, while Cincinnati leads the Walleye by four points in the division standings, despite having played in four fewer games than their in-state rivals.

On Wednesday night, the Nailers continued their strong start the 2012 calendar year, when they concluded a five-game homestand with a visit from the Walleye. After Toledo took a 1-0 lead, Matt Lombardi became the second player on the roster to reach double digits in goals, when he tied the score with a wrist shot from the right circle. Lombardi now has a goal in four of his last five games. The Walleye retook the lead in the third, but once again, Wheeling had an answer, as Peter Lenes netted his first goal in his Nailers debut, playing with teammate Jordon Southorn, who produced three shots on goal. With the game tied at two, Zack Torquato was the hero in overtime, as the former Toledo forward picked up his second overtime goal of the year, following up after linemate Chris Barton's initial shot. Peter Delmas earned his ninth win of the season in goal, as well as his third win in four tries since returning from injury. One day later, Delmas was recalled to Hamilton of the AHL, while Patrick Killeen returned to the Nailers from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The Toledo Walleye saw their winless streak run to six games with Wednesday's overtime loss, but the fact that the game took longer than 60 minutes to complete ensured the Walleye of their first point in the skid. Paul Zanette and Joey Martin both had one goal and one assist for Toledo, as Martin pulled into a tie for the team lead in both goals (9) and points (20). Martin is tied with Bryan Rufenach for the active lead in goals, and he is tied with Kyle Rogers for the lead in points, as both players picked up their 20th points of the season. Rob Nolan made his fourth start with the Walleye since being dealt to Toledo from Chicago, but came up on the short end of the equation, as his overall record fell to 6-11-2, while his record with the Walleye dropped to 0-3-1.

This is the second of nine meetings between the Nailers and Walleye, as well as the first of four games at Huntington Center between the two former division rivals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Wheeling Nailers

19-12-1-1, 40 points, 2nd Atlantic Division, 6th Eastern Conference

110 GF, 93 GA

PP: 24-for-138 (17.4%), 11th

PK: 111-for-135 (82.2%), 10th

Active Leaders

Goals: Barton (19)

Assists: Torquato (19)

Points: Barton (35)

Penalty Minutes: Ross (72)

+/-: Bushee (+15)

Wins: Killeen (10)

GAA: Killeen (2.86)

Sv%: Killeen (.880)

Toledo Walleye

13-18-1-1, 28 points, 4th North Division, 12th Eastern Conference

92 GF, 108 GA

PP: 22-for-140 (15.7%), T-14th

PK: 119-for-143 (83.2%), 6th

Active Leaders

Goals: Martin, Rufenach (9)

Assists: Rogers (12)

Points: Martin, Rogers (20)

Penalty Minutes: Krug (66)

+/-: Estoclet (+11)

Wins: Nolan (6)

GAA: Nolan (3.10)

Sv%: Nolan (.893)

The Wheeling Nailers play next on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 7 p.m. when they take on the Toledo Walleye at the Huntington Center. All Nailers road games can be heard live on the MIX 97.3 FM and www.wheelingnailers.com, or seen live on RTV 9 and America One Networks at b2livetv.com.

The Wheeling Nailers return to WesBanco Arena on Sunday Janaury 15th at 4 p.m. when they host the Cincinnati Cyclones. Fans can purchase the Sunday Family Four Pack for just $54. The Four pack includes four game tickets, hotdogs, sodas and large popcorn. Following the game fans can skate with the team.

Single game tickets for the 2011-2012 season are available at the Nailers Office in Downtown Wheeling, the WesBanco Arena Box Office, any Ticketmaster Outlet, online at shop.wheelingnailers.com or through charge-by-phone at 304-234-GOAL.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 13, 2012


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