ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Week In Review

February 2, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Wednesday, January 28

Wheeling 4 @ Atlantic City 3 (SO)

The Nailers entered this game 1-1-0 against the Bullies with this being the first game played in Atlantic City. The Nailers took a 1-0 first period lead on a Bogdan Rudenko goal from Mario Larocque and J.C. Ruid at 10:28. Ben Blais gave the Nailers a 2-0 lead at 6:51 of the second period. The Bullies scored the next three goals, one in the second period and two in the third, to take a 3-2 lead. Jake Ortmeyer tied the game 3-3 at 9:05 of the final period and the Nailers would eventually win in a shootout. Nick Boucher made 39 saves on 42 shots during the game and three saves on five shots in the shootout for his 19th win of the season.

Friday, January 30

Greensboro 3 @ Wheeling 7

This game was the third and final game outside the Northern Division for the Nailers. The win improved the Nailers record to 3-0-0 in non-divisional games. Wheeling took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Drew Fata at 1:04 and Jake Ortmeyer at 8:00. The Generals scored a power play goal at 11:49 to get to within one goal at 2-1. Both teams scored one goal in the second period. Brendon Hodge scored the Nailers goal from Eddie Pershin and Stefan Brannare at 1:13. The Nailers and the Generals traded goals in the first half of the third period with Mark Kosick getting the Nailers goal. Eddie Pershin scored two goals 23 second apart midway through the third period to put the Nailers ahead 6-3. Bogdan Rudenko scored the final goal of the game from J.F. Dufour and J.C. Ruid at 14:54. Tyler MacKay made 26 saves on 29 shots for the win.

Saturday, January 31

Dayton 2 @ Wheeling 8

The Nailers entered this game 6-0-0 against the Bombers on the season, outscoring them 26-5 in four games in Wheeling. J.F. Dufour gave the Nailers a 1-0 lead at 4:58 of the first period with Drew Fata and Bogdan Rudenko assisting. Dayton answered with a pair of first period goals, the second while on a power play, to take a 2-1 lead. Steve Crampton and Brendon Hodge added late first period goal to give the Nailers a 3-2 lead. Mario Larocque scored a power play goal at 1:11 of the second period and Bogdan Rudenko scored twice in the second period to increase the Nailers lead to 6-2 at the end of two periods. A Jake Ortmeyer power play goal and a Dan Ennis even strength goal in the third period ended the scoring. Tyler MacKay made 23 saves on 25 shots for the win.

Record for week: 3-0-0, 6 points

Record for season: 32-11-2, 66 pts.

(1st in Northern Division, Eastern Conference, ECHL)

Player notes:

The Nailers have four players in the top 20 in scoring in the ECHL...J.F. Dufour leads the league in scoring with 60 points on 20 goals and 40 assists, his 40 assists also leads the league...Jason Jaffray is tied for sixth in the league with 54 points on 23 goals and 31 assists, J.C. Ruid is tied for 13th with 48 points on 17 goals and 31 assists and Eddie Pershin is tied for 15th with 47 points on 11 goals and 36 assists.

Team notes:

By going 3-0-0 last week, the Nailers have surpassed their win and point total from last season when the team had 28 wins and 59 points...The Nailers are on a 10 game home winning streak and 14 game home unbeaten streak which is second in both categories to the 17 game home winning streak and 20 game home unbeaten streak set by the 1994-95 team...This season the Nailers are 24-1-0 when scoring the first goal, 14-0-0 at home...The Nailers are 15-0-0 when leading after the first period, 10-0-0 at home, and 23-0-1 when leading after two periods, 15-0-1 at home...The Nailers are also 29-5-1 when outshooting the opposition.

Nailers Player of the Week:

The Nailers Player of the Week is Bogdan Rudenko. Rudenko had seven points on four goals and three assists in three games last week. He also played at a +5 for the week. He had one goal in a 4-3 shootout win in Atlantic City on Wednesday, one goal and one assist in a 7-3 win at home against Greensboro on Friday and two goals and two assists in an 8-2 win against Dayton on Saturday.

Nailers Goaltender of the Week:

The Nailers Goaltender of the Week is Tyler MacKay. MacKay went 2-0-0 in two games last week. He beat Greensboro 7-3 on Friday and Dayton 8-2 on Saturday. He made 49 saves on 54 shots for a .907 save percentage and had a 2.50 goals against average.

PREVIEW OF UPCOMING NAILERS GAMES February 2-February 8

Wednesday, February 4

Wheeling @ Johnstown 7:00p.m.

The Nailers play their first of five consecutive road games with a trip to Johnstown. The Nailers are 1-3-0 against the Chiefs this season, 0-2-0 in Johnstown. These teams have not played each other since November 26 when the Nailers won 6-1.

Friday, February 6

Wheeling @ Dayton 7:00p.m.

The Nailers are 7-0-0 against the Bombers this season, 2-0-0 in Dayton. The Nailers have outscored the Bombers 43-12 in the first seven games of the ten game regular season series.

Saturday, February 7

Wheeling @ Cincinnati 7:30p.m.

The Nailers are 3-2-0 against the Cyclone this season, 1-2-0 in Cincinnati. The Nailers travel to Cincinnati only one more time after this game, the Cyclones play in Wheeling three more times.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 2, 2004


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