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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers vs. Wings Game Day Snap Shot

December 27, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


An Unhappy Return From the Holidays

The Wheeling Nailers returned from their six-day holiday break on Saturday night, but they were greeted by the Toledo Walleye, who weren't about to give a cheery welcome into their home building. Scott Czarnowczan drew a slashing call 2:56 into the contest, then put the Walleye ahead 54 seconds later with a power play goal. Josh Shalla potted a goal early in the second, before Tyler Maxwell and Dominic Zombo added insurance in the third period, as Toledo built a 4-0 advantage. The Nailers narrowly avoided being blanked for the first time in 2015-16, as Jarrett Burton slapped in a power play goal with less than one second remaining in the contest. The marker came on Wheeling's 35th shot of the night, as Jeff Lerg had stopped the previous 34, defeating Franky Palazzese, who made 26 saves on 30 shots in the defeat.

K's Capitalize in the Third

The Kalamazoo Wings also came away empty handed on Boxing Day, as the Fort Wayne Komets proved to be rather rude hosts at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. The two clubs played to a 2-2 draw through two periods, as David Gilbert and Justin Taylor lit the lamp for Kalamazoo, surrounding markers by Kyle Thomas and Alex Belzile of the Komets. Mike Embach connected for a power play goal at the 46-second mark of the third period to put Fort Wayne ahead for good, as Shawn Szydlowski and Garrett Thompson added insurance for a 5-2 final score. Pat Nagle needed just 21 saves to secure the win, as he bested Joel Martin, who turned aside 37 of 41 shots in the loss for the K-Wings.

Home Ice Must be Seventh Heaven

For the next two-plus weeks, the Nailers will be able to settle in, without having to play another road tilt, until they return to Toledo to face the Walleye again on January 16th. That leaves plenty of opportunity to capitalize on home ice, as Wheeling will play seven consecutive games at WesBanco Arena, starting with Sunday afternoon's clash with the Wings. While all seven contests will occur on the ice, the importance of the homestand can be seen in the standings, as all five of the Nailers' opponents are currently outside of playoff positioning. Orlando, Kalamazoo, Norfolk, and Brampton are ranked 11th-14th in the Eastern Conference, while Indy is 11th in the Western Conference. Those five squads possess combined road records of 21-45-7, which includes a 10-31-0 mark from Kalamazoo, Brampton, and Norfolk - all of whom will be in town during the next eight days.

Kick Start the Power

With less than a second remaining in Saturday's 4-1 setback, Jarrett Burton put the Nailers on the scoreboard, giving the team its 18th power play goal of the season. Burton and Derek Army are currently tied for the team lead, having earned points on seven of those 18 markers. Although Wheeling has converted on the man advantage in four of its last eight games, two of those tallies came when the score was out of reach. The Nailers enter Sunday afternoon with the 23rd ranked power play in the ECHL, clicking at a 15.1% clip. The Wings can relate to the man advantage struggles, as they have found the back of the net just 15 times on 118 opportunities for a 12.7% success rank, which ranks second to last, ahead of Wichita's 7.7%. Wheeling and Kalamazoo are side-by-side on the penalty kill, as the Nailers rank 17th at 82.0%, followed by the Wings in 18th at 80.2%.

It's a Familiar Match-up

Sunday afternoon marks the second of eight head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Wings this season, as well as the second of five battles at WesBanco Arena. Both teams currently have emergency backup goaltenders on their rosters, meaning Franky Palazzese and Joel Martin will occupy their respective creases against each other for the seventh consecutive time, dating back to last year's five-game set. Martin and Kalamazoo got the upper hand in the opening tilt of 2015-16, coming from behind with two goals in the third period for a 4-3 triumph at WesBanco Arena. The seven-year all-time series has been as tight as can be, with the Wings holding a slim 17-16 edge, heading into Sunday. There will be two more games in Wheeling during the month of January, before a four-game month between the two division rivals in March, including three at Wings Event Center.

Wheeling Nailers (14-11-1-2, 31 Pts.) vs. Kalamazoo Wings (10-16-2-1, 23 Pts.)

WHEELING NAILERS

(14-11-1-2, 31 PTS, 2nd North, T-8th East)

83 GF, 83 GA

PP: 15.1% (18-for-119), 23rd

PK: 82.0% (91-for-111), 17th

23-F-Riley Brace (11 goals, 17 assists, 28 points in 28 games)

20-F-Jarrett Burton (11 goals, 12 assists, 23 points in 28 games)

25-F-John McCarron (7 goals, 11 assists, 18 points in 28 games)

15-F-Zack Torquato (12 goals, 5 assists, 17 points in 22 games)

16-F-Derek Army (6 goals, 11 assists, 17 points in 21 games)

18-D-Mathew Maione (5 goals, 11 assists, 16 points in 26 games)

29-G-Franky Palazzese (8-6-1 record, 2.74 GAA, .909 Sv% in 15 games)

KALAMAZOO WINGS

(10-16-2-1, 23 PTS, 3rd North, 12th East)

69 GF, 95 GA

PP: 12.7% (15-for-118), 27th

PK: 80.2% (85-for-106), 18th

74-F-Dane Fox (8 goals, 12 assists, 20 points in 27 games)

19-F-Alex Mallet (7 goals, 10 assists, 17 points in 29 games)

23-F-Ludwig Blomstrand (5 goals, 9 assists, 14 points in 28 games)

21-F-Lane Scheidl (4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points in 29 games)

10-F-David Gilbert (7 goals, 5 assists, 12 points in 20 games)

7-D-Cory Pritz (2 goals, 9 assists, 11 points in 23 games)

49-G-Joel Martin (10-12-3 record, 2.80 GAA, .924 Sv% in 26 games)

Head to Head

Season Series: Wings 1, Nailers 0

Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Wings 1, Nailers 0

All-Time Series: Wings 17, Nailers 16

All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Wings 9, Nailers 8

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 27, 2015


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