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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Jackals Game Day Snap Shot

February 27, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Stellar Start to the Homestand

The Wheeling Nailers came into WesBanco Arena on Friday night, riding the high of winning five of six games on their recent road trip. That success continued, as they played host to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in their lone clash of 2015-16. Greenville opened the scoring in a slow first period, as Kodie Curran banked a shot in off of a Wheeling defender. The Nailers pulled even during the early stages of the middle frame, when Adam Krause redirected in Mathew Maione's point shot for his third goal in two games. With the score deadlocked 1-1, the home team exploded in the third period, lighting the lamp four times to take control of the contest. Chris Ciotti, Maione, Brett Stern, and Riley Brace were the goal scorers, lifting Wheeling to the 5-1 victory. Brian Foster was the winning netminder, as he made 27 saves on 28 shots, including a shorthanded breakaway attempt by Josh Nicholls.

Royal Troubles at Home

The Elmira Jackals have had their struggles on their home ice this season, particularly when the Reading Royals come knocking on the door of First Arena. On Friday night, the Jackals suffered their fifth loss in six home contests against the Royals, as they fell four games under .500 in their own back yard. Reading grabbed a stranglehold of the tilt early, scoring three times in the first period, including a shorthanded marker by Scott Tanski. Elmira attempted a comeback early in the middle stanza, as Chris Langkow dented the twine at the 50-second mark. However, the Royals had a quick answer to regain the three-goal advantage. Mark Bennett and Langkow scored in the second and third periods respectively, but the Jackals were unable to overcome Reading's powerful start, as the Royals prevailed, 5-3. CJ Motte was pulled after giving up four goals on 20 shots, giving way to Alain Valiquette, who turned away 22 of 23 shots in his professional debut.

Don't Count Out the Comeback Kids

The 2015-16 Nailers have faced a plethora of adversity during the course of the season, from loads of roster moves, to a stretch which saw them win one of 11 games. Now Wheeling has climbed back to its high water mark of the campaign, as it currently sits five games over .500 at 26-21-5. While the wins have been coming at a phenomenal pace as of late, they haven't all been dominant performances from start to finish. In fact, each of the last four wins for the Nailers have occurred in comeback fashion. They erased a 1-0 deficit for a 3-2 overtime win last Wednesday in Elmira, fell behind Brampton 2-1, before rallying for three straight goals last Friday, were down 3-0 in Brampton the following night, which was a 5-4 overtime triumph, and on Friday, Greenville opened the scoring, before five unanswered goals by the home team. A lot of the damage has been done in the third period and overtime, when Wheeling has outscored the opposition, 14-3, over the course of the last five games.

One is In, One is Out

For the second straight night, positioning in the Eastern Conference Standings will be at the forefront of both teams' minds, as the Nailers and Jackals take the ice in Downtown Wheeling. Thanks to a Wheeling win and an Elmira loss on Friday, the Nailers have hopped over the Jackals into the eighth and final playoff spot in the conference, carrying a 57-56 lead in points into Saturday night's affair. In addition to that, Wheeling currently holds three games in hand against Elmira - the first of which will take place on March 8th, when the Nailers play their make-up game against the Brampton Beast. While Reading was victorious on Friday to remain three points ahead of Wheeling, the Nailers and Jackals received help from other places, as Greenville (two points behind the Nailers) and Orlando (four points behind the Nailers) suffered regulation losses. The Royals will play two road games against Adirondack this weekend, the Swamp Rabbits travel to Toledo and Brampton, and the Solar Bears have one home tilt against Kalamazoo. Wheeling enters Saturday with 20 games left in the regular season.

Second Time in Ten Days

Saturday night marks the fifth of six head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Jackals this season, as well as the second of three battles at WesBanco Arena. Elmira is making its first visit to West Virginia since December 6th, when it jumped out to a 2-0 lead, watched the Nailers rally back to tie the score, before the visitors ultimately skated away with a 3-2 shootout win. Since then, the two squads have collided on three occasions at First Arena, with Wheeling posting a 2-0-1 record. The Nailers have the lone regulation victory, which came via a 4-1 score on January 29th. The Jackals prevailed 4-3 in a shootout the following night, but Wheeling took the rubber match in New York, 3-2 in overtime on February 17th. Extra hockey is nothing new for these two Eastern Conference rivals, who have seen 22 of their 89 all-time matches require more than 60 minutes to play. The season series is currently deadlocked 2-2, and will come to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon.

Wheeling Nailers (26-21-2-3, 57 Pts.) vs. Elmira Jackals (26-25-3-1, 56 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(26-21-2-3, 57 PTS, 2nd North, 8th East)

157 GF, 159 GA

PP: 16.8% (34-for-202), 15th

PK: 83.8% (171-for-204), 16th

23-F-Riley Brace (18 goals, 24 assists, 42 points in 36 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (7 goals, 31 assists, 38 points in 50 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (14 goals, 14 assists, 28 points in 39 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (6 goals, 14 assists, 20 points in 52 games)

4-D-Paul Cianfrini (3 goals, 16 assists, 19 points in 51 games)

26-F-Adam Krause (11 goals, 7 assists, 18 points in 31 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (16-12-2 record, 2.80 GAA, .906 Sv% in 30 games)

ELMIRA JACKALS

(26-25-3-1, 56 PTS, 4th East, 9th East)

149 GF, 169 GA

PP: 15.0% (31-for-207), 22nd

PK: 80.5% (161-for-200), 24th

10-F-Cason Hohmann (16 goals, 24 assists, 40 points in 43 games)

9-F-Allan McPherson (16 goals, 20 assists, 36 points in 30 games)

11-F-Chris Langkow (8 goals, 24 assists, 32 points in 52 games)

17-F-Mike Seidel (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points in 52 games)

18-F-Colin Jacobs (11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points in 49 games)

23-D-Jacob MacDonald (10 goals, 14 assists, 24 points in 55 games)

30-G-CJ Motte (14-20-2 record, 2.83 GAA, .910 Sv% in 39 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Nailers 2, Jackals 2

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Jackals 1, Nailers 0

All-Time Series: Nailers 45, Jackals 44

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 26, Jackals 16

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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