ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Royals Game Day Snap Shot

Published on April 1, 2016 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Back Home, Time to Get Back on Track

The Wheeling Nailers saw the month of March come roaring in like a lion, as they picked up points in 11 consecutive contests, going 8-0-3 to climb into the Eastern Conference Playoff Structure. Unfortunately, the month went out like a lamb, as Wheeling suffered regulation losses in both of its final two games, falling 6-4 and 5-1 to the Kalamazoo Wings, who have suddenly battled their way into the race with five straight victories. The majority of the damage over the weekend was done over a 51-minute span. On Friday night, Kalamazoo fell behind 3-0, before rallying with six goals in a row to turn a potential defeat into the six four wins. That success carried over into Saturday, as the Wings found themselves ahead 4-0 before the tilt was 20 minutes old. Riley Brace tried to get a comeback going for the Nailers in the third period, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Brace and John McCarron both had two goals last week.

Their Game Caused the Tie

The Reading Royals had an opportunity to grab sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night, however, the result of their game ended up creating a four-way tie. Reading played host to the Elmira Jackals at Santander Arena in a make-up game, as Winter Storm Jonas prevented the two division rivals from clashing in January. Ian Watters scored the lone goal in the first period, as the Royals took a 1-0 lead. Elmira drew even in the middle frame on Justin Bernhardt's marker, before the two squads exchanged two more tallies later in the stanza. Once again, Reading went ahead, courtesy of Yannick Tifu, before Colin Jacobs recorded the equalizer for Elmira. Neither club scored in the third period, and at the 20-second mark of overtime, Jacob MacDonald lifted the visiting Jackals to victory. Shane Owen defeated Adam Morrison in the battle of masked men.

No Room to Breathe in This Bunch

With nine days remaining in the 2015-16 ECHL regular season, the Eastern Conference has one of its best races to the playoffs in recent history, if not all-time. The Wheeling Nailers, Adirondack Thunder, Reading Royals, and Elmira Jackals all enter the weekend with 76 points, while the Kalamazoo Wings (73 points) and Orlando Solar Bears (71 points) are lurking close by on the outside. After playing on Tuesday, the Jackals have the fewest games remaining with four, followed by the Nailers, Royals, and Wings with five, and the Thunder and Solar Bears with six. One scenario that favors Wheeling is its win total in regulation and overtime, which is the first tiebreaker. The Nailers have 34 such wins under their belt, which is the same number as Adirondack, whom Wheeling defeated twice in three head-to-head meetings. Other ROW totals are: Reading 32, Kalamazoo 32, Elmira 28, and Orlando 28. While the Nailers and Royals do battle on Friday, Elmira hosts Brampton, Adirondack welcomes Norfolk to town, Kalamazoo is in Greenville for the second straight night, and Orlando travels to South Carolina.

Looking for a Hat Trick of Sellouts

Tickets for Friday night's game are selling at rate which could land the Nailers with their third sellout of the 2015-16 regular season. With the large crowd expected, Wheeling is expected to pass last season's total attendance mark on Friday, as they need just 2,092 to accomplish that feat. On top of that number, another 47 fans would push the number to 90,000 for the first time since 2011-12. The Nailers could also be looking at their highest single season total in six years, as they would need 7,360 over their final three home games to knock off that accomplishment. Huge crowds have produced positive results for the home team thus far this season, as Wheeling defeated Brampton in front of 5,330 on Opening Night, then came from behind to stun Cincinnati 7-5 in front of 5,511 on Education Day, before a 4-2 triumph over Kalamazoo in front of 4,546 on March 12th. The Nailers have won five straight home games with crowds of at least 4,000 people, dating back to last year.

Three Games With Lots of Meaning

Friday night marks the ninth of 11 head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Royals this season, as well as the fifth of six battles at WesBanco Arena. This is the first of three games in nine days featuring the two long-time rivals, and whoever comes out with at least two wins will nearly secure their position in the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs. After a stretch in which home teams went 17-1 in the all-time series, the road squads have begun to turn the tide back in the other direction. Reading ended a ten-game losing streak in West Virginia during its last visit, which was a 6-0 blanking on February 6th. In early March, Wheeling made sure to return the favor, snatching 7-4 and 4-3 victories at Santander Arena to take a 5-3 lead in the season series. The Nailers are one win away from clinching their second straight triumph in the season series, after failing to do so for seven straight years from 2007-14. The 11-game set will conclude with a home-and-home series next weekend, starting in Wheeling on Friday.

Wheeling Nailers (34-25-4-4, 76 Pts.) vs. Reading Royals (33-24-6-4, 76 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(34-25-4-4, 76 PTS, 2nd North, T-6th East)

202 GF, 199 GA

PP: 17.4% (44-for-253), 9th

PK: 83.8% (212-for-253), 16th

23-F-Riley Brace (25 goals, 36 assists, 61 points in 51 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (9 goals, 40 assists, 49 points in 65 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (22 goals, 26 assists, 48 points in 54 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (8 goals, 20 assists, 28 points in 55 games)

25-F-John McCarron (11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points in 46 games)

6-D-James Melindy (6 goals, 17 assists, 23 points in 64 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (19-14-2 record, 2.86 GAA, .904 Sv% in 35 games)

READING ROYALS

(33-24-6-4, 76 PTS, T-2nd East, T-6th East)

207 GF, 182 GA

PP: 18.7% (47-for-252), 7th

PK: 84.1% (190-for-226), 15th

19-F-Justin Crandall (15 goals, 36 assists, 51 points in 49 games)

28-F-Cam Reid (18 goals, 26 assists, 44 points in 53 games)

10-F-Yannick Tifu (16 goals, 25 assists, 41 points in 61 games)

55-F-Michael Pelech (10 goals, 31 assists, 41 points in 65 games)

26-F-Nikita Kashirsky (12 goals, 23 assists, 35 points in 55 games)

43-D-Kevin Young (6 goals, 23 assists, 29 points in 51 games)

39-G-Adam Morrison (7-6-6 record, 2.71 GAA, .912 Sv% in 20 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Nailers 5, Royals 3

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 3, Royals 1

All-Time Series: Royals 83, Nailers 68

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 38, Royals 36

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 1, 2016


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