ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Walleye Game Day Snap Shot

March 11, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


That Win Was Worth the Wait

The Wheeling Nailers played a rare Tuesday night game earlier this week, when they took the ice for a clash from the Brampton Beast, which was originally slated for January 24th. While there's no telling what would have happened in January, the Nailers certainly capitalized on the new game date, limiting Brampton to a season-low 14 shots on goal. That left lots of room for Wheeling's offense to operate, which it did, clicking for one goal in each of the three periods. Riley Brace opened the scoring at the 17:01 mark of the first period, potting his team-leading 21st goal of the season off of an assist from Mathew Maione, who now leads all ECHL defensemen in scoring by nine points. Adam Krause doubled the advantage at the 51-second mark of the middle frame, then took even less time in the third period, needing just 31 seconds to put the home team ahead by three. Franky Palazzese was perfect for the fourth time this season, and has since notched his first career AHL win, which he earned on Wednesday. The Nailers ended up snagging 15 of 18 possible points against the Beast in 2015-16.

Good Weather and Good Results

The Toledo Walleye are coming off of a week that the Nailers could relate to early in the season, as they made their way to Estero, where they took two of three games against the Florida Everblades. The opening contest was tied 2-2 heading into the third period, which is when Scott Czarnowczan played the role of hero, breaking the deadlock and lifting the Walleye to the 3-2 triumph, despite a 39-26 shots advantage for the Everblades. Jeff Lerg made 37 saves in the win, setting the stage for Jake Paterson, who wound up being perfect on 32 shots in the second game for Toledo. The visitors received goals from three different players on 19 total shots for the 3-0 win. Sweeping is a tall task at Germain Arena, which the Walleye realized in the last tilt, as Florida scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead, before Toledo rallied within one, ultimately falling 4-3. Saturday's defeat ended a season-long seven-game winning streak for the Walleye.

They Got Nothing, and Didn't Like It

The play of Wheeling's defense on Tuesday was one of its best performances in recent memory, if not in the entire 24-year existence of hockey in the Ohio Valley, as the Nailers' tight play in their own zone resulted in a 3-0 victory and a 26-14 advantage in shots on goal. Fans got a glimpse of the stellar defense early in the contest, as Wheeling spent seven of the game's first 12 minutes with a player in the penalty box, following a major penalty for kneeing and a minor call for tripping. Not only did the Nailers successfully kill all seven minutes, but they did so without surrendering a single shot on goal. In fact, Wheeling's 5-for-5 penalty kill on Tuesday only gave up one shot on net over the course of 13 minutes. Brampton only mustered two shots in the first period - the lowest total for a Nailers opponent since last February 8th, when Elmira was limited to one. The 14 shots allowed in the game were Wheeling's fewest in over five seasons.

Dipping Into Last Year's Dominance

Wheeling's Derek Army and Toledo's Kyle Bonis both had magnificent seasons in 2014-15, as Army led the Nailers with 29 goals during his rookie season, while Bonis topped all Walleye players by finding the back of the net 36 times. It should come as little surprise that both players have been rewarded with time at the next level, due to their efforts. Army returned to Wheeling earlier this week, after his third AHL stint of the season with his third different team. Derek posted two goals, two assists, and four points in 13 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and has now played in more AHL games (29) than ECHL games (26) this season. Bonis returned to Toledo last week, promptly turning on the red light twice, after appearing in 32 games with the San Diego Gulls. There, he accumulated four goals, six assists, and ten points. Since they were last in action on Tuesday, the Nailers have also received forward Anton Zlobin from their AHL affiliate. On the other side of the ice, the Walleye will have the services of Zach Nastasiuk against Wheeling for the first time.

Lots Has Happened Since You Last Visited

Friday night marks the fifth of seven head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Walleye this season, as well as the second of three battles at WesBanco Arena. Toledo is making its first visit to West Virginia since December 12th, when Wheeling exploded for four goals in the second period to toast the Walleye, 6-2, for its lone victory of the season series. That day was Mike Sullivan's first as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, which has ultimately led to David Gove taking charge for the Nailers. Wheeling has traveled to Northwest Ohio twice under their new bench boss, falling 4-1 on December 26th and 4-3 in a much tighter affair on January 16th, and is 1-2-1 in the season series, which has been won entirely by the home squads. John McCarron and Josh Shalla have each tallied three goals in the previous four games, but Wheeling will be without McCarron on Friday night, due to a one-game suspension. The two teams won't have to wait nearly as long for another night of fun, as the Walleye will return to the Friendly City on March 22nd, and the Nailers will make their final regular season trip to Huntington Center on April 3rd.

Wheeling Nailers (29-23-2-3, 63 Pts.) vs. Toledo Walleye (37-15-2-3, 79 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(29-23-2-3, 63 PTS, 2nd North, 9th East)

176 GF, 176 GA

PP: 16.7% (36-for-215), 15th

PK: 83.9% (187-for-223), 14th

23-F-Riley Brace (21 goals, 31 assists, 52 points in 41 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (8 goals, 37 assists, 45 points in 55 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (17 goals, 20 assists, 37 points in 44 games)

26-F-Adam Krause (15 goals, 8 assists, 23 points in 36 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points in 45 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (6 goals, 14 assists, 20 points in 57 games)

31-G-Brian Foster (7-7-1 record, 2.97 GAA, .903 Sv% in 15 games)

TOLEDO WALLEYE

(37-15-2-3, 79 PTS, 1st North, 2nd East)

177 GF, 137 GA

PP: 21.3% (42-for-197), 3rd

PK: 83.0% (151-for-182), 19th

10-F-Shane Berschbach (23 goals, 35 assists, 58 points in 50 games)

27-F-AJ Jenks (22 goals, 23 assists, 45 points in 54 games)

16-F-Tyler Sikura (12 goals, 24 assists, 36 points in 53 games)

25-F-Josh Shalla (14 goals, 12 assists, 26 points in 52 games)

72-D-Joel Chouinard (6 goals, 19 assists, 25 points in 38 games)

22-D-Scott Czarnowczan (5 goals, 19 assists, 24 points in 36 games)

35-G-Jake Paterson (13-8-2 record, 2.19 GAA, .925 Sv% in 24 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Walleye 3, Nailers 1

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 1, Walleye 0

All-Time Series: Walleye 28, Nailers 26

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 19, Walleye 11

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 11, 2016


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