ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Stingrays Game Day Snap Shot

Published on May 18, 2016 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Taking it Home Tied

The Wheeling Nailers earned a split in the first two games at North Charleston Coliseum, but the win was far from easy. On Saturday night, Wheeling fell behind the South Carolina Stingrays, 3-0 during the first two periods, and that was the score with six minutes left in regulation. The Nailers started their comeback at the 14:04 mark, when Clark Seymour fired in a shot from the slot, off of a pass by Derek Army. 1:38 later, Paul Cianfrini cut the deficit to two, when he finished off a cross-ice pass from defensive partner Mathew Maione. The equalizer came courtesy of John McCarron, who had Maione's left point shot deflect off of his body and go into the goal with 1:12 remaining. In overtime, Wheeling played a strong defensive game, especially on the penalty kill, as it held South Carolina scoreless on four chances during the extra time. At the 5:03 mark of double overtime, Jarrett Burton was the hero for the Nailers, as he slid in a backhander on the man advantage for the 4-3 final score. Franky Palazzese made 32 saves, giving him a win in each of the first three rounds.

Doesn't Happen to Them Often

The South Carolina Stingrays won the opening game of the series on Friday, and were six minutes away from bringing a 2-0 series lead to Wheeling, but ended up suffering a very rare type of loss. For the second night in a row, Austin Fyten opened the scoring for South Carolina, as he took a long pass from Colton Saucerman, went onto a breakaway, and slipped a backhand shot between Franky Palazzese's legs. In the final five minutes of the second period, the Stingrays upped their lead with a pair of quick markers. Joe Devin netted the second goal, when he slammed in a one-time feed in the right circle, then Caleb Herbert made the score 3-0, redirecting in a Joey Leach drive from the left point. Between the regular season and playoffs, South Carolina was 41-1-1 when leading after two periods, which included a 22-0-1 mark on home ice. Vitek Vanecek suffered his first setback of the postseason in goal, after seeing a shutout streak of 170:24 come to an end.

Another Legend From the Comeback Kids

In all three rounds of the 2016 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Nailers have erased a multiple goal deficit to collect a victory. During the first round, Wheeling trailed game four, 3-0 (while trailing the series, 2-1), before netting five of the night's final six tallies for a 5-4 win, and proceeded not to look back, as it won games five and six to eliminate the Florida Everblades. In round two, the magical comeback came in game seven, as the Reading Royals built a 2-0 advantage, before the Nailers stormed back with three straight strikes. Even though Reading forced the contest into overtime, Wheeling was still able to prevail, thanks to Riley Brace. Saturday marked the 20th time this year that the Nailers have come from behind to earn a win, the tenth third period comeback, the eighth time they have done so when trailing by two, and the fifth time when being down by three. Saturday was the second latest three-goal comeback of the season, as the first goal was scored with 5:56 left and the tying goal came with 1:12 to go. The November 10th rally started with 4:16 remaining (also Clark Seymour), and the tying tally hit the back of the net with 1:07 on the clock.

Beating One of Their Best Assets

The two Eastern Conference finalists enter Wednesday's game ranked first and second in the ECHL on the penalty kill during the Kelly Cup Playoffs, as the Stingrays are first with an 88.9% success rate, followed by the Nailers at 88.0%. In order to come out victorious in game two, Wheeling had to break through against South Carolina's outstanding killers, which it did for the first time in eight chances during the series. In fact, Jarrett Burton's winning goal in double overtime was the first power play tally for either club in the first two tilts, as the two sides had combined to be a perfect 15-for-15 on the PK to begin the series. That is a large accomplishment, as both squads had terrific power plays during the first two rounds, with the Nailers currently holding the fourth best man advantage in the league, and the Stingrays ranking sixth. All four conference finalists (Wheeling, South Carolina, Allen, Fort Wayne) are in the top six in power play and the top seven in penalty kill during the postseason.

A Little Warmer This Time

Wednesday night is game three of the Eastern Conference Final Series between the Nailers and Stingrays, as well as the first of three battles at WesBanco Arena. South Carolina last appeared in town in early December, when it split a two-game weekend series, with Wheeling winning the opener 3-2, before a 6-1 decision the other way the next night. These will be the fifth, sixth, and seventh postseason games played in West Virginia between the two long-time members of the ECHL, which will bring the number very close to their ten matches in regular season play. Some may be surprised by how low that number is, especially considering that the Nailers are playing in their 24th season, and the Stingrays in their 23rd. Wheeling is 6-4 at home against South Carolina during the regular season and 3-1 in the playoffs, including series clinching wins in 2011 and 2014. Saturday is the only possible clinching date in Wheeling for this series, and one team would have to win all three games this week to make that scenario a reality.

Wheeling Nailers (9-6) vs. South Carolina Stingrays (9-5)

WHEELING NAILERS

(9-6)

47 GF, 46 GA

PP: 19.1% (13-for-68), 4th

PK: 88.0% (66-for-75), 2nd

18-D-Mathew Maione (5 goals, 10 assists, 15 points in 15 games)

23-F-Riley Brace (4 goals, 11 assists, 15 points in 15 games)

25-F-John McCarron (6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points in 14 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (6 goals, 5 assists, 11 points in 15 games)

19-F-Shane Bakker (4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points in 15 games)

24-F-Ty Loney (4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points in 15 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (3-2 record, 2.44 GAA, .909 Sv% in 6 games)

(37-26-5-4, 83 PTS, 2nd North, 5th East)

214 GF, 211 GA

PP: 17.8% (48-for-269), 9th

PK: 83.6% (225-for-269), 15th

23-F-Riley Brace (26 goals, 41 assists, 67 points in 56 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (11 goals, 43 assists, 54 points in 70 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (23 goals, 27 assists, 50 points in 59 games)

25-F-John McCarron (14 goals, 17 assists, 31 points in 51 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (9 goals, 20 assists, 29 points in 60 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (7 goals, 17 assists, 24 points in 72 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (20-15-3 record, 2.86 GAA, .906 Sv% in 39 games)

SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS

(9-5)

47 GF, 29 GA

PP: 17.5% (10-for-57), 6th

PK: 88.9% (64-for-72), 1st

8-F-Joe Devin (10 goals, 5 assists, 15 points in 14 games)

21-F-Austin Fyten (6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points in 14 games)

19-F-Kelly Zajac (2 goals, 12 assists, 14 points in 14 games)

23-F-Caleb Herbert (8 goals, 5 assists, 13 points in 14 games)

61-F-David Pacan (1 goal, 10 assists, 11 points in 14 games)

13-F-Derek DeBlois (3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points in 10 games)

30-G-Vitek Vanacek (4-1 record, 1.96 GAA, .925 Sv% in 6 games)

(44-18-7-3, 98 PTS, 1st South, 2nd East)

224 GF, 162 GA

PP: 19.6% (51-for-260), 4th

PK: 87.5% (251-for-287), 1st

61-F-David Pacan (20 goals, 42 assists, 62 points in 69 games)

28-F-Stephan Vigier (24 goals, 26 assists, 50 points in 70 games)

10-F-Brett Cameron (20 goals, 28 assists, 48 points in 61 games)

8-F-Joe Devin (18 goals, 23 assists, 41 points in 55 games)

17-D-Bobby Shea (5 goals, 24 assists, 29 points in 64 games)

20-F-Jared Staal (12 goals, 12 assists, 24 points in 64 games)

30-G-Vitek Vanacek (18-7-6 record, 2.03 GAA, .917 Sv% in 32 games)

Head to Head

Playoff Series: Nailers 1, Stingrays 1

Playoff Series at WesBanco Arena: First Game

Season Series: Nailers 1, Stingrays 1

Season Series at North Charleston Coliseum: Did Not Play

All-Time Series (Regular Season + Playoff): Nailers 19, Stingrays 14

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena (Regular Season + Playoff): Nailers 9, Stingrays 5

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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ECHL Stories from May 18, 2016


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