ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Swamp Rabbits Game Day Snap Shot, November 9

Published on November 9, 2018 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Nailers vs. Swamp Rabbits Game Day Snap Shot

Wheeling Nailers (1-5-0-0, 2 Pts.) vs. Greenville Swamp Rabbits (3-7-1-0, 7 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(1-5-0-0, 2 PTS, 6th Central, 13th West)

13 GF, 25 GA

PP: 17.2% (5-for-29), 11th

PK: 83.9% (26-for-31), T-15th

NHL Affiliate: Pittsburgh Penguins

AHL Affiliate: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

27-F-Zac Lynch (3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points in 6 games)

10-F-Troy Josephs (3 goals, 1 assist, 4 points in 4 games)

21-F-Cam Brown (4 assists, 4 points in 6 games)

22-D-Kevin Spinozzi (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points in 5 games)

12-F-Renars Krastenbergs (2 assists, 2 points in 5 games)

14-F-Cedric Lacroix (2 assists, 2 points in 6 games)

1-G-John Muse (1-3-0 record, 3.47 GAA, .883 Sv% in 4 games)

GREENVILLE SWAMP RABBITS

(3-7-1-0, 7 PTS, 7th South, T-12th East)

26 GF, 41 GA

PP: 14.3% (8-for-56), T-16th

PK: 71.4% (35-for-49), 27th

NHL Affiliate: Independent

AHL Affiliate: Independent

12-F-Johno May (7 goals, 4 assists, 11 points in 11 games)

17-F-Austen Brassard (4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points in 11 games)

23-F-Michael Pelech (3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points in 11 games)

16-F-Chris Izmirlian (5 goals, 1 assist, 6 points in 11 games)

15-D-J.C. Brassard (6 assists, 6 points in 9 games)

9-F-Jordan Sims (2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points in 9 games)

33-G-Garrett Bartus (3-5-1 record, 3.30 GAA, .908 Sv% in 9 games)

Head-to-Head

2017-18 Season Series: Nailers 2, Swamp Rabbits 0

2017-18 Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Did Not Play

All-Time Series: Swamp Rabbits 15, Nailers 12

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Swamp Rabbits 9, Nailers 6

A Feisty Effort, but Cincinnati Prevails

The rivalry is starting to heat up between the Wheeling Nailers and Cincinnati Cyclones, as Wednesday night's tilt saw a couple of scraps. Cedric Lacroix duked it out with Arvin Atwal, and Robbie Hall dropped the mitts with Spencer Dorowicz. When it came to scoring, Wheeling got on the board first at the 13:54 mark of the opening stanza. Lacroix's shot missed wide to the right, but the rebound came flying off the end wall to Zac Lynch, who dribbled it home. The score stayed 1-0 until late in the second period, when the Cyclones tallied twice in a span of 27 seconds. Pascal Aquin's rebound goal was the equalizer, and that was followed by Justin Vaive, who had Jesse Schultz's pass bank off his skate and into the twine. Brady Vail struck shorthanded at the 4:20 mark of the third frame, and Mike Marnell added an empty netter for a 4-1 final. Michael Houser made 22 saves in the win, defeating John Muse, who stopped 23 of 26 shots for the Nailers.

Bolton Blasts in Two

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits have had a slow start to the 2018-19 season, but on Monday night, they took the first place Norfolk Admirals down to the final buzzer in a one-goal contest. After a scoreless opening frame, the Admirals converted for a pair of goals within a three-minute span to start the second. Former Nailer Jake Bolton put Greenville on the board during the opening minute of the third period, trimming his squad's deficit to one. Domenic Alberga's unassisted tally with 10:26 to go gave Norfolk a two-goal lead again, and that turned out to be a critical marker, as Bolton struck for his second of the contest with 4:41 left on the clock. Goaltenders Ty Reichenbach of the Admirals and Garrett Bartus of the Swamp Rabbits both turned in excellent performances, as each side racked up over 40 shots. Reichenbach came away with 39 saves in the win, while Bartus stopped 42 in the loss.

Special Teams Put to the Test

Three of Wheeling's first six games have seen the two teams combine to go on the power play at least ten times, with the most recent two contests featuring 13 and 14 combined man advantages respectively. After starting the year by allowing three power play goals in their first two games, the Nailers have seen a drastic improvement on their penalty kill, as they have held the opposition off the scoreboard in 22 of the last 24 chances, which includes a pair of perfect performances in Reading. Wheeling's power play has found the back of the net five times in the first six matches, which accounts for 41.7% of the club's overall offense (not including the shootout goal in Reading). On the other side of the ice, the Swamp Rabbits are in the middle of the pack when it comes to power play efficiency, but come to town with the worst penalty kill in the ECHL (71.4%), and have surrendered the most shorthanded goals in the league (5).

Adding on Will be Key

With the exception of one game, the Nailers have been a strong starting team in 2018-19, as they have outscored the opposition 5-3 in the first period, and have scored the opening goal in four of their first six contests. Despite that, Wheeling has only been able to increase its lead on one occasion, as it built a 2-0 advantage against Indy in last Saturday's home opener. In an odd twist, the first period is the only period in which the Nailers have a negative shot differential, while the second period, which has produced the biggest shot differential in the positives, has also been the most difficult one in terms of goal differential. Greenville has a negative goal differential in all three periods of regulation thus far, with its biggest struggles also coming during the middle frame - the period of the long change.

Both Venues on the Slate This Year

Friday night marks the first of three head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Swamp Rabbits this season, as well as the first of two battles at WesBanco Arena. Both of the last two sets have resulted in sweeps, which have gone in favor of the visiting squads. Wheeling opened up the 2017-18 campaign with 5-4 and 7-6 victories at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, while Greenville was victorious 3-2 and 5-3 in Nail City during November of 2016. The 7-6 decision last October featured a four-goal game from Hunter Fejes and the overtime winning tally by Garrett Meurs. Eight of the last ten regular season tilts and 13 of the last 16 games overall between the two cross-conference opponents have been won by the road side. All three games this year will take place during a ten-day span, as the Nailers travel to Greenville on November 18th. This will be the first season set since 2013-14 that both teams will play at least once at home.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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