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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Monarchs Game Day Snap Shot

April 2, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Unfortunately, Not an April Fool's Joke

The Wheeling Nailers returned home for a key game on Friday night, as they and the Reading Royals took the ice with a 76-76 tie in the standings, giving the winner the chance to better their positioning. Unfortunately for the Nailers, the contest got a sour taste very early on, as Kevin Sundher opened the scoring, batting in the rebound of a Jesper Pettersson point shot. Reading went ahead by two on Michael Pelech's power play goal, before Wheeling got on the scoreboard with Brett Stern's seventh tally of the campaign. The Nailers proceeded to ring two posts, as they searched for the equalizer, but couldn't quite get that second puck to find the twine. In the third period, the Royals added two insurance goals on odd-man rushes, completing a 4-1 win in front of the third sellout crowd of the season at WesBanco Arena, as 5,295 fans came out to support their local hockey team. Adam Morrison got the positive decision between the pipes, ending Franky Palazzese's three-game winning streak in his first contest back from the AHL.

A Tight Tussle of Top Teams

The Manchester Monarchs were involved in a game featuring two division leaders on Friday night, as they locked up with the Eastern Conference leading Toledo Walleye. Nearly 6,000 fans got their money's worth at Huntington Center, as it turned out to be a game in which the last goal would decide the victor. Toledo jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before the game was four minutes old, and ended up never trailing, as it also went ahead 3-1 and 4-3. The Monarchs battled back to tie the score twice, as Joe Diamond lit the lamp for a pair of markers, joining Michael Boivin and Matt Fornataro in the goal column. With less than five minutes to go in regulation, the Walleye broke the deadlock for good, as Tyson Spink netted the game winner at the 15:56 mark of the third. Tyson's twin brother Tylor scored earlier in the tilt. Jeff Lerg defeated Doug Carr in goal.

We're in Crazy Eighth

In addition to coming up empty in their own game on Friday night, the Nailers received very little help out of town, as they woke up on Saturday morning in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, leading the Kalamazoo Wings by only one point. Kalamazoo continued its red hot streak, winning for the sixth consecutive time, as it bounced Greenville, 5-2. Additionally, all three times tied with Wheeling entering Friday earned at least one point. Adirondack scored five unanswered goals to take down Norfolk, 5-1, Reading won 4-1 at WesBanco Arena, and Elmira rallied back from a 3-0 deficit, before losing in a shootout, 4-3 at Brampton. One bright spot was a 2-1 loss by Orlando on the road against South Carolina. Six of the seven teams ranked fifth through 11th will be in action on Saturday, as Adirondack hosts Brampton, Reading welcomes Norfolk to town, Kalamazoo completes its three-game set in Greenville, Orlando is in South Carolina again, and Atlanta faces Florida in Estero, while the Nailers take on Manchester. Elmira has the night off, which will even the games played total at 69-69 between the Nailers and Jackals.

Just Pretend it's a Penalty Shot

One area where the Nailers have struggled in 2015-16 is shootouts, as they are one of only two teams in the ECHL (Colorado Eagles) who have yet to win a game in the skills competition. Wheeling shooters have converted on three of 13 attempts, while the goaltenders have surrendered eight goals on 13 shots by the opposition. While those numbers may seem alarming, it may come as a surprise to some that the Nailers have had good success in fending off penalty shots. On Friday night, Kevin Goumas became the third opposing player to be awarded with a penalty shot in the last four weeks, and all three tries have had the same end result. Brian Foster denied Justin Taylor, JP Anderson stoned Shawn Szydlowski, and Franky Palazzese denied Goumas. Penalty shots have typically gone the way of the netminders, who are 24-for-31 this season in the ECHL. The last time a Nailer scored on a penalty shot was Alex Smigelski on October 30, 2010 - 420 regular season games ago.

Welcome to Our Jungle

Saturday night marks the second and final head-to-head meeting between the Nailers and Monarchs this season, as well as the first and only battle at WesBanco Arena. Manchester will be making its first ever trip to West Virginia, after joining the ECHL over the summer, when the Monarchs and Ontario Reign switched leagues. Wheeling never had the opportunity to face Ontario, meaning that Manchester will be the first Los Angeles Kings affiliate to come to town since the Reading Royals during the 2007-08 campaign. The first clash between these two new Eastern Conference opponents took place on February 14th in New Hampshire, when the Monarchs rolled out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, never looking back, as they ultimately collected a 6-2 victory. Manchester is one of four possible first round playoff opponents for Wheeling if it is able to secure a spot in the dance.

Wheeling Nailers (34-26-4-4, 76 Pts.) vs. Manchester Monarchs (38-22-4-5, 85 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(34-26-4-4, 76 PTS, 2nd North, 8th East)

203 GF, 203 GA

PP: 17.2% (44-for-256), 11th

PK: 83.7% (215-for-257), 17th

23-F-Riley Brace (25 goals, 36 assists, 61 points in 52 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (9 goals, 40 assists, 49 points in 66 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (22 goals, 26 assists, 48 points in 55 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (8 goals, 20 assists, 28 points in 56 games)

25-F-John McCarron (11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points in 47 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (7 goals, 17 assists, 24 points in 68 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (19-15-2 record, 2.89 GAA, .904 Sv% in 36 games)

MANCHESTER MONARCHS

(38-22-4-5, 85 PTS, 1st East, 3rd East)

213 GF, 203 GA

PP: 19.5% (45-for-231), 3rd

PK: 80.9% (207-for-256), 22nd

48-F-Maxim Kitsyn (26 goals, 25 assists, 51 points in 62 games)

32-F-Joe Diamond (20 goals, 28 assists, 48 points in 54 games)

13-F-Gasper Kopitar (8 goals, 23 assists, 31 points in 54 games)

28-D-Michael Boivin (8 goals, 23 assists, 31 points in 59 games)

41-D-Alex Roach (6 goals, 24 assists, 30 points in 63 games)

7-D-Yann Sauve (7 goals, 22 assists, 29 points in 51 games)

30-G-Colin Stevens (15-7-2 record, 2.71 GAA, .911 Sv% in 26 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Monarchs 1, Nailers 0

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: First Game

All-Time Series: Monarchs 1, Nailers 0

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: First Game

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from April 2, 2016


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