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ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Week in Review

March 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Wednesday, February 25 Wheeling 3 @ Peoria 2 (SO)

This game was the final regular season meeting between the Nailers and the Rivermen. The Nailers won the game 3-2 but never led until the shootout was over. Peoria took a 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 9:56 of the first period. Tyler Rennette scored the goal with Lauri Kinos and Derek Booth assisting. The Nailers tied the game with a power play goal of their own at 5:02 of the second period. J.P. Soucy scored his first goal of the game from Michel Ouellet and Zenon Konopka. Before the second period ended the Rivermen reclaimed the lead at 2-1 on a Brendan Brooks goal. The Nailers tied the game 2-2 on Soucy's second power play goal of the game at 6:29 of the third period. Ouellet and Konopka assisted on the score. The game went to a shootout and the Nailers prevailed in the sixth round after Steve Crampton scored the eventual winning goal. Tyler MacKay made 30 saves on 32 shots for the win. He also stopped five of six Rivermen shots in the shootout.

Friday, February 28 Dayton 4 @ Wheeling 5 (SO) Wheeling ended the month of February with a win against Dayton, it was the final regular season meeting of the season between the teams. The Nailers took a 1-0 first period lead at 4:02 on a Matt Elich goal from Jacques Lariviere and Dmitri Doulebenets. The Bombers responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 first period lead. At 18:24 of the opening period the Nailers got back to within two goals at 4-2 on a Doulebenets goal from Elich and T.J. Reynolds. In the second period the Nailers cut their deficit to one at 4-3. Steve Crampton scored at 17:16 from Mark Major and Arpad Mihaly. The Nailers completed the comeback and tied the game 4-4 with one second remaining in regulation. Bobby Russell scored the goal with Michel Ouellet and Mario Larocque assisting. For the second consecutive game the Nailers went to a shootout and won in the sixth round. Zenon Konopka scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Nailers the 5-4 win. Tyler MacKay made 32 saves on 36 shots for the win. He also stopped four of six shots in the shootout.

Saturday, March 1 Wheeling 2 @ Johnstown 3

The Nailers began the final month of the regular season with a road game in Johnstown. The Nailers had a two game winning streak come to an end with a 3-2 regulation loss. The Chiefs scored the only goal of the first period to take a 1-0 lead. A Wheeling power play goal at 2:09 of the second period tied the game 1-1. Mario Larocque scored the goal from Bobby Russell and Matt Smith. Johnstown scored two second period goals to retake the lead at 3-1. Zenon Konopka got the Nailers back to within one goal at 3-2 at 14:05 of the third period with Michele Ouellet assisting. The Nailers were unable to get the tying goal and lost 3-2. Mike Valley made 28 saves on 31 shots in the loss.

Sunday, March 2 Wheeling 3 @ Toledo 8

The Nailers entered the eighth meeting of the season with a 1-6-0 record against the Storm. Toledo scored four first period goals to take a 4-0 lead on the Nailers. Three of Toledo's goals were on the power play as they went 3-for-3 with the man advantage in the first period and 6-for-7 in the game. The Storm scored twice in the second period to increase their lead to 6-0 over the Nailers. Bobby Russell scored the first of his two goals at 18:56 of the second period to make it a 6-1 game. Michele Ouellet and T.J. Reynolds assisted on the score. Toledo increased their lead to 7-1 with a power play goal in the third period. Dmitri Doulebenets scored a shorthanded goal at 14:57 from Russell to make it 7-2. The Storm scored their final goal of the game 38 seconds later to take an 8-2 lead. Russell scored his second goal of the game, an unassisted goal, at 19:51 to end the scoring in the 8-3 loss. Mike Valley made 12 saves on 17 shots and took the loss. Tyler MacKay made 17 saves on 20 shots in a no decision.

PREVIEW OF UPCOMING NAILERS GAMES March 3-March 9

Wednesday, March 5 Pittsburgh Alumni @ Wheeling Alumni 7:00p.m.

The Nailers will host an exhibition game between the Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni and the Wheeling Thunderbirds/Nailers Alumni. Former Pittsburgh and Wheeling players will play with proceeds from the game to benefit the Golden Spike Association Tickets for Kids charity. The Stanley Cup will be at the Wheeling Civic Center for the game for fans to have their picture taken with the trophy.

Friday, March 7 Wheeling @ Reading 7:05p.m.

The Nailers play the Royals for the final time this season. The Nailers are 0-4-1 against the Royals this season, including 0-2-0 in Reading.

Saturday, March 8 Trenton @ Wheeling 1:00p.m., in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

The Nailers will play their third and final home game away from home of the season. The Nailers played Reading in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on October 27 with the Royals winning the game 3-2. The other home away from home game was a 6-5 shootout win against Peoria on October 20 in Pittsburgh. The Nailers are 0-1-0 against the Titans this season having lost in Trenton on October 30.

Sunday, March 9 Cincinnati @ Wheeling 3:00p.m.

The Nailers are 4-2-0 against the Cyclones this season, including 2-1-0 at home. The first 2,000 fans age 14 and younger will receive an Iceburgh Bobblehead Doll at the game. Iceburgh, the Pittsburgh Penguins mascot will be at the game to entertain the fans.

Player of the Week

The Nailers Player of the Week is Bobby Russell. Russell played in three games for the Nailers and had five points on three goals and two assists. He also played at a +1 in the +/- category.

Goaltender of the Week

The Nailers Goalie of the Week is Tyler MacKay. MacKay went 2-0-0 during the week. Both of his wins were come from behind shootout wins. He made 79 saves on 88 shots for a .898 save percentage and he had a 3.22 goals against average.

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ECHL Stories from March 3, 2003


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