ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Lose to Spoiler Reading Royals 4-2.

March 11, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Reading, Penn. - The Wheeling Nailers raced out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Jordan Morrison and Billy Ryan but weren't able to hold it as the Reading Royals rallied with 4 unanswered goals to defeat the Nailers 4-2. Reading scored 3 goals in just over 3 minutes in the comeback.

Wheeling had several chances in their comeback effort throughout much of the 3rd but hit the post two different times and couldn't convert on several good centering passes that appeared to bounce over the stick or handcuff the Nailers trying for the chip in.

Reading has been playing the role of spoiler in the North Division. The Royals are out of playoff contention but are coming off a stretch in which they defeated the first place Cincinnati Cyclones a couple times and now have done the same to the 2nd place Wheeling Nailers.

Wheeling looked great in the 1st period as they converted right away on both of their power play opportunities to take a 2-0 lead. Jordan Morrison's 22nd of the year came just 14 seconds into the Nailers first man advantage as Tommy Goebel centered out in front after Reid Cashman fired it in behind the goal. Goebel and Cashman were contributing right away in their first game back with Wheeling to help give Wheeling the 1-0 lead at 5:56. They were reassigned to the Nailers by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL and arrived in Reading just a couple hours before game-time.

Billy Ryan's 4th of the year at 15:13 of the 1st came just 7 seconds into Wheeling's 2nd power play. Bryan "Boomer" Ewing got the assist for his former high school teammate at the Cushing Academy outside of Boston for his team leading 77th point on his 38th helper. Ewing is the top rookie scorer in the league and is a leading candidate to win ECHL Rookie of the Year honors. Ewing is 2nd overall in scoring trailing only Florida's Kevin Baker who is 8 points ahead of him.

Wheeling looked great on the penalty kill throughout the 1st period as they held Reading to 0-for-4 on the power play including several clears down ice. Curtis Darling made some fine saves when necessary and the Reading team looked somewhat disorganized as their players recently acquired in a trade from Cincinnati were still getting familiar with their new teammates.

The 2nd period would be a different story as the Royals looked much improved. Reading scored 3 goals in just over a 3 minute stretch of the 2nd period to take a 3-2 lead. Goals by Tyler Doig (12), Mike Curry (4) and Chris Stevens (17) between 8:22 and 11:42 of the middle stanza turned the tables on the Nailers.

David Nimmo's 11th of the year at 7:43 of the 3rd on the power play gave the Royals a little breathing room with a 4-2 lead shortly after the Nailers had some good opportunities to tie the score.

Several Nailers centering passes with 1 or even 2 forwards between the circles or posted at the top of the crease just missed hitting the mark in the Nailers efforts to comeback as it appeared they just couldn't get the bounces to go their way. Tommy Goebel raced to the right dot on one rush and blasted a shot off the tip of the glove of Reading goalie Michael Ouzas. After getting through his mitt it glances off the cross-bad and pinged away for yet another Nailers close call.

Wheeling had a power play with 17:09 into the 3rd when David Nimmo took a boarding minor and they later were able to pull Curtis Darling to get a 6-on-4 attack in the Reading end but still weren't able to narrow the margin.

Wheeling is 4-4 against Reading this year and had their two game win streak stopped with the setback but they have still won 4 of their last 6 games as well as 6 of their last 9. This was the Nailers last game at Reading this season but they still meet the Royals for two more games at WesBanco on March 21 and 22. Wheeling is 3-0 at home against the Royals this year.

The Nailers are still tied for 2nd place in the North Division with the Johnstown Chiefs and trail first place Cincinnati by only 2 points.

Wheeling continues their 5 game series of games with the Johnstown Chiefs this weekend with a Saturday night game at Johnstown followed by a Sunday afternoon finale at WesBanco Arena.

The Saturday night game at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown is at 7:05.

The Nailers return home at 4:05 on Kids Day at WesBanco Arena. All kids get free admission when accompanied by a guardian with a coupon available at the Nailers office and online at wheelingnailers.com. It's also Sunday Family Funday at WesBanco featuring a post-game skate with the Wheeling Nailers. Fans should bring their own skates and gloves to participate in the skate and get autographs and photos of the players but there will also be a limited number of skates available for rental courtesy of Wheeling Parks.

The Nailers have a big homestand Mar 20-22 as they team up with the American Cancer Society on Relay at the Rink to help fight cancer. The Nailers will be wearing special purple jerseys which will be auctioned off Saturday. Relay at the Rink Weekend is sponsored by Consol Energy, Ogden Newspapers and Whitesides.

Friday, March 20th vs. the Dayton Bombers is Buy One Get One Free night. All tickets, popcorn, hotdogs and pretzels will be Buy One Get One Free for the Friday night game.

Saturday. March 21st vs. the Reading Royals. is B.E. Taylor Night. The Nailers will be giving away B.E. Taylor bobbleheads for the first 2500 fans courtesy of OVMC and WTRF. And B.E. Taylor will be performing a post-game concert to benefit Relay for Life.

The big weekend homestand wraps up for the Wheeling Nailers on Sunday, March 22nd with a 4:05 game vs. the Reading Royals on another Sunday Family FunDay featuring a post-game skate with the players who will also be available for autographs and photos.

Post-game playoff packages are available now. Purchase your 6-game playoff package that is good for the entire post-season. You get a discount vs. the gate price and any unused playoff credits are forwarded to the following season.

Season tickets are on sale now for the 2009-10 campaign. Reserve your season ticket for as low as $50. There are some great incentives to reserve your season ticket ahead of time. If you pay for your season ticket in full by May 1 the Nailers will give you free parking in the back lot for the season. Those who deposit $100 by May 1 will have the $18 arena fee waived.

For more information contact the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL (that's 234-4625) or log on at wheelingnailers.com.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 11, 2009


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