ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Walleye Game Day Snap Shot, November 13

Published on November 13, 2018 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Wheeling Nailers (2-5-1-0, 5 Pts.) vs. Toledo Walleye (9-1-1-0, 19 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

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

20 GF, 29 GA

PP: 18.4% (7-for-38), 9th

PK: 82.5% (33-for-40), 18th

NHL Affiliate: Pittsburgh Penguins

AHL Affiliate: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

27-F-Zac Lynch (3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points in 8 games)

10-F-Troy Josephs (5 goals, 2 assists, 7 points in 6 games)

21-F-Cam Brown (1 goal, 4 assists, 5 points in 8 games)

13-F-Nick Saracino (2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points in 8 games)

23-F-Michael Phillips (1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points in 8 games)

22-D-Kevin Spinozzi (1 goal, 2 assists, 3 points in 7 games)

1-G-John Muse (2-3-0 record, 2.98 GAA, .891 Sv% in 5 games)

TOLEDO WALLEYE

(9-1-1-0, 19 PTS, 1st Central, 1st West)

46 GF, 31 GA

PP: 20.4% (11-for-54), 5th

PK: 85.1% (40-for-47), 10th

NHL Affiliate: Detroit Red Wings

AHL Affiliate: Grand Rapids Griffins

10-F-Shane Berschbach (8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points in 11 games)

17-F-TJ Hensick (5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points in 11 games)

27-F-A.J. Jenks (5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points in 10 games)

43-D-Matt Register (2 goals, 9 assists, 11 points in 11 games)

86-F-Greg Wolfe (3 goals, 5 assists, 8 points in 11 games)

7-F-Tyler Spezia (3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points in 9 games)

33-G-Kaden Fulcher (3-1-0 record, 2.46 GAA, .915 Sv% in 4 games)

Head-to-Head

2017-18 Season Series: Walleye 4, Nailers 2

2017-18 Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Walleye 2, Nailers 1

All-Time Series: Walleye 40, Nailers 33

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 24, Walleye 16

Three Out of Four on the Weekend

The Wheeling Nailers are starting to heat up like their schedule, and over the weekend, they earned three out of four possible points from a two-game home set against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. After a convincing 5-1 win on Friday, the Nailers fell behind early in Saturday's re-match, as Greenville scored two goals in 4:20, including Jake Bolton's fourth marker of the week to get the offense on the scoreboard. Wheeling cut its deficit to one with 2:38 left in the first period, as Troy Josephs continued to sizzle with his fifth goal in six games. Midway through the second frame, Nick Saracino brought the Nailers even, and the match stayed deadlocked through the final buzzer of regulation, as both teams collected a point. The winning goal was scored at 1:19 of overtime, and it was the Swamp Rabbits who prevailed 3-2 on Austen Brassard's strike. Garrett Bartus made 27 saves for Greenville, while Matt O'Connor thwarted 18 attempts for Wheeling.

Success in a Slugfest

The Toledo Walleye and Brampton Beast played the highest scoring game of the young season on Sunday afternoon, as the two powerful offenses combined to turn on the red light 14 times. Toledo never trailed in the game, and only had its lead trimmed to one on two occasions. Charlie O'Connor was the only member of the Walleye with two goals in the contest, and it was his goal that got the snowball rolling at the 3:18 mark of the first period. Bryan Moore's first goal in a Toledo uniform made the score 2-0, before Shane Berschbach's team-leading eighth of the year put the visitors ahead, 3-1 at the break. O'Connor was joined on the scoreboard in the middle frame by former Nailer Daniel Leavens, as the Walleye lead became 5-3. Third period goal scorers TJ Hensick, Greg Wolfe, and Jordan Topping gave Pat Nagle lots of support, as he improved to 6-0-1 with 27 saves. Former Toledo netminder Jake Paterson suffered the loss for Brampton, giving up all eight goals on 40 shots.

Tops of the Morning

Morning games have been spectacular news for the Nailers in recent seasons, and they hope that 2018-19 will bring similar success. Last year, Wheeling posted a 3-0-0 record in games that started before noon, knocking off the Adirondack Thunder and Worcester Railers in the two Education Day games at WesBanco Arena, while also coming away with a rare Sunday morning triumph in Orlando. The Nailers are 9-0-2 in their last 11 morning games, and each of the last three home Education Day games played in November have produced sellout crowds of over 5,000 local school children. This will be the first morning game for Wheeling against Toledo, who will play a scholastic special of its own on Thursday at home against Kalamazoo. This season once again features three morning tilts on the docket, as the Nailers travel to Brampton for one on February 26th, before the Indy Fuel visit Nail City for Education Day #2 on March 12th.

Big Catches in the Pond

Two players on Toledo's roster will roll off the tips of tongues, as Shane Berschbach and AJ Jenks both return for their fifth full seasons with the club. This summer, after winning their fourth straight division title, but falling in the second round of the playoffs, the Walleye hit the free agent market hard, and came away with some significant players. The first is defenseman Matt Register, who has been a Kelly Cup Champion three years in a row - once with the Allen Americans and twice with the Colorado Eagles. The 6-foot-2 blueliner has also been named ECHL Defenseman of the Year three times. Another notable signing by Toledo was forward TJ Hensick. The 32-year old appeared in 112 games over parts of four seasons in the National Hockey League, suiting up with the Colorado Eagles and St. Louis Blues. Other new faces for the Walleye with previous pro experience include Brenden Kotyk, Daniel Leavens, Bryan Moore, Ben Storm, and Greg Wolfe.

We Get to Go Fish a Crazy Eight Times

Tuesday morning marks the first of eight head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Walleye this season, as well as the first of four battles at WesBanco Arena. Since Toledo went on its run of winning division titles in 2014-15, it has also grabbed the upper hand against Wheeling, skating away on top in four straight season series. Last year, the Walleye won two out of three matches in each venue, clinching the set with a 4-1 decision at Huntington Center on March 30th. Unlike some of the other clubs in the Central Division, the rivalry between Wheeling and Toledo has stayed relatively strong in recent seasons, as the teams played an epic seven-game playoff series in 2015, then were division rivals the following year. This will be the 207th tilt between the two cities, with the another clash coming up later in the month on November 24th in West Virginia. The Nailers will make their first visit to T-Town on December 8th.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics

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