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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Walleye Game Day Snap Shot

March 22, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Four Straight Winning Trips

The Wheeling Nailers have had a phenomenal run of winning hockey in the second half of the season, and last week, that success continued with a fourth consecutive winning road trip. Wheeling is 7-0-2 in its last nine games overall and 12-1-2 in its last 15 away from WesBanco Arena, where it collected five out of six possible points against the Cincinnati Cyclones and Kalamazoo Wings. The Nailers and Cyclones started off the week by splitting overtime decisions, with Wheeling winning 2-1 on Thursday, and Cincinnati answering with a 3-2 result on Friday. The Nailers then made their way to Kalamazoo, where they potted five goals on 41 shots in a 5-2 triumph. Riley Brace, Andrew Cerretani, Jordan Kwas, Connor Leen, and John McCarron were the five players who lit the lamp in support of JP Anderson, who made 22 saves for his second win between the pipes. Kwas joined Mathew Maione as the two players to record points in all three tilts last week.

Should Have Saved a Few

The Toledo Walleye had their offense clicking for the first two games of last week, as they filled the opposition nets with 11 goals. Josh Shalla and Kyle Bonis both had two tallies in the opening contest, and were joined in the goal column by Dominic Zombo and Michael Leone, as Toledo took down the Indy Fuel, 6-2 on the road. The red light continued to shine for the Walleye the following night at Huntington Center, when they blanked the Brampton Beast, 5-0. Bonis led the way once again with two more markers, while Tyler Sikura, Tyler Maxwell, and Tylor Spink chipped in with one each. Perhaps Toledo should have save a few of those goals for Saturday, when Leone netted the lone tally in a 3-1 setback against the Evansville IceMen. Jeff Lerg played all three games in net for the Walleye, making 45 saves against the Fuel, shutting out the Beast on 32 attempts, and coming up with 26 stops against the IceMen.

That's Some Serious Power

One area of success over the last two games for the Nailers has been the performance of their power play. Prior to Friday night, Wheeling had scored just once in its previous 11 opportunities with the man advantage in five contests, looking for a spark. That spark came in the form of Clark Seymour, who helped the Nailers battle back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point in Cincinnati, as he drilled in his third and fourth markers of the season on the power play. One night later, the man advantage picked up right where it left off, as Andrew Cerretani needed only 1:16 of power play time to build Wheeling's lead to two over Kalamazoo. Jordan Kwas ended up breaking a 2-2 deadlock in the second period and John McCarron added one more in the third, as the Nailers scored three power play goals in one evening for the first time in 2015-16. Wheeling now possesses the seventh best percentage in the league on the man advantage, with third ranked Toledo and second ranked Fort Wayne on the docket in the next two contests.

First Eastern Dance Ticket

The first team to punch its postseason ticket in the Eastern Conference was Toledo, who did so over the weekend. For the second straight year, the Walleye find themselves with the best record in the conference, as they enter play this week with three and four-point leads over fellow division leaders South Carolina and Manchester. Unlike last season, the Brabham Cup is all but out of reach for Toledo, who trails Missouri by 14 points for the best record in the ECHL. While the Walleye battle their way around the top, the Nailers are in quite the cluster in the middle of the grouping, as eight teams are separated by 13 points for the final five positions. Wheeling has climbed within three points of Adirondack for fifth place, while remaining tied with Reading, one point ahead of Elmira, and five points clear of Orlando, who is the first team sitting on the outside of the top eight. The Nailers enter the week with a magic number of 14 in order to clinch their 14th playoff appearance in 24 seasons.

Rubber Match in the Wheel

Tuesday night marks the sixth of seven head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Walleye this season, as well as the third and final battle at WesBanco Arena. Both sides have won once in West Virginia thus far this year, as Wheeling took a convincing 6-2 decision on December 12th, while Toledo slipped away with a 2-1 shootout win on March 11th. Two of the wins by the Walleye have come via the shootout, where they have gone 5-1 against the Nailers since the ECHL returned to Northwest Ohio in 2009. Thanks to a perfect 3-0-0 record at Huntington Center, Toledo has already wrapped up the season series for the second consecutive campaign. Riley Brace, Paul Cianfrini, and Scott Czarnowczan have each piled up four points in the first five clashes to lead their respective squads in scoring. Following Tuesday, Wheeling and Toledo will play once more during the regular season, with the Walleye opening their doors at home on April 3rd.

Wheeling Nailers (33-23-3-4, 73 Pts.) vs. Toledo Walleye (41-17-2-3, 87 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(33-23-3-4, 73 PTS, 2nd North, T-6th East)

193 GF, 187 GA

PP: 17.9% (42-for-235), 7th

PK: 84.3% (204-for-242), 13th

23-F-Riley Brace (23 goals, 35 assists, 58 points in 47 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (9 goals, 39 assists, 48 points in 61 games)

11-F-Cody Wydo (21 goals, 24 assists, 45 points in 50 games)

17-F-Jordan Kwas (7 goals, 18 assists, 25 points in 51 games)

25-F-John McCarron (9 goals, 14 assists, 23 points in 42 games)

27-D-Brett Stern (6 goals, 16 assists, 22 points in 63 games)

31-G-Brian Foster (9-7-3 record, 2.68 GAA, .908 Sv% in 19 games)

TOLEDO WALLEYE

(41-17-2-3, 87 PTS, 1st North, 1st East)

196 GF, 148 GA

PP: 20.1% (42-for-209), 3rd

PK: 83.8% (165-for-197), 16th

10-F-Shane Berschbach (23 goals, 38 assists, 61 points in 54 games)

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

16-F-Tyler Sikura (14 goals, 25 assists, 39 points in 59 games)

25-F-Josh Shalla (16 goals, 14 assists, 30 points in 58 games)

9-D-Ralfs Freibergs (2 goals, 26 assists, 28 points in 57 games)

72-D-Joel Chouinard (6 goals, 20 assists, 26 points in 43 games)

1-G-Jeff Lerg (26-8-3 record, 2.06 GAA, .930 Sv% in 37 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Walleye 4, Nailers 1

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 1, Walleye 1

All-Time Series: Walleye 29, Nailers 26

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 19, Walleye 12

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 22, 2016


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