Nailers Welcome Spring With Three-Game Home Stand
March 20, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release
WHEELING, W.Va. - The Wheeling Nailers, winners of two straight games and eight of their last 11 games, open up a 3-game home stand tonight when they face the Dayton Bombers at 7:35 p.m.
The Nailers are teaming up with the American Cancer Society on Relay at the Rink to help fight cancer this weekend. The Nailers will wear special purple jerseys tonight that will be auctioned off on Saturday. Tonight is also Buy One Get One Free Night at WesBanco Arena, where all tickets, popcorn, hotdogs and pretzels will be buy one, get one.
Tomorrow night's game, which faces off 7:35 p.m., features B.E. Taylor. The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a free B.E. Taylor bobble head courtesy of OVMC and WTRF, and all fans will get to watch Taylor's 1-hour postgame concert.
Sunday's game, slated for a 4:05 p.m. face off, is also against Reading. Sunday is Pups and Pucks Day. Fans can bring their dog to the game. In addition, at 1:30 p.m. the Wheeling firemen will take on the Youngstown Firemen in Guns and hoses Day.
To purchase tickets call 304-234-GOAL or log onto wheelingnailers.com.
For complete game notes, click here.
2008-09 Records
Wheeling: 33-23-2-5, 73 points (tied for 2nd place, North Division)
Dayton: 28-30-2-3, 61 points (6th place, North Division)
Last Time Out
Wheeling: The Nailers defeated the Johnstown Chiefs 2-1 on Mitch Ganzak's game-winning goal in overtime. Goaltender David Brown turned aside 37 Johnstown shots in the win.
Dayton: The Bombers lost a 4-2 decision to Elmira on Feb. 14. Les Reaney and Ryan Smyth paced Dayton with one goal apiece.
Nailers v. Bombers, Head-to-Head in 2008-09
Wheeling is 5-7-0-0 against Dayton this season. The Bombers have won the last three games, with wins on Feb. 27 (4-2), Feb. 14 (4-2) and Feb. 13 (5-2). Wheeling is 7-10-0-0 in the last five years against Dayton.
Head Coaches
Wheeling: Greg Puhalski (2nd season)
Dayton: Bill McDonald (2nd season)
NHL Affiliate
Wheeling: Pittsburgh Penguins
Dayton: Independent
AHL Affiliate
Wheeling: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Dayton: Independent
Top Scorers
Wheeling: The Nailers are led in scoring by Wheeling product Bryan Ewing, who recently scored his 40th goal of the season. He also has 41 assists on the campaign for a total of 81 points. Jordan Morrison is the team's second leading scorer with 21 goals and 23 assists (67 points).
Dayton: Nino Musitelli and Jarret Lukin lead the Bombers with 44 points apiece. Lukin has scored 21 goals while Musitelli has netted 18 goals.
Nailers Currently With AHL Teams
Nick Johnson (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton); Cliff Loya (Portland); Rob Sirianni (Philadelphia).
Back in First?
A win tonight over the Bombers would put the Nailers back into a first place tie in the North Division.
Newest Nailers
The Nailers signed two players today, forward Tomas Klempa, who will wear jersey No. 16, and defenseman Scott Kalinchuk, who will wear jersey No. 24. Klempa is coming off a collegiate career in which he scored 42 goals with 56 assists with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Kalinchuk also recently completed his collegiate career. He played with the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Ryan's Run
Billy Ryan recorded seven points last week in Wheeling's three games. Ryan's best game last week came against the Johnstown Chiefs in an 8-5 victory on March 14. In that game, he scored two goals and playmaker to finish the game with a plus/minus of +3.
Notes
Nailer Bryan Ewing remains in second place in the league in scoring with 81 points. He is tied for the league lead with six shorthanded goals. ... Ewing and Jordan Morrison have combined for 27 points against Dayton this season. ... Wheeling defenseman Mitch Ganzak, who scored the game-winning goal for the Nailers in their 2-1 overtime win over Johnstown on Sunday, is tied for sixth in the league among defensemen with 38 points (7G, 31A). ... Goaltender David Brown went 2-0 last week with a pair of victories over Johnstown. He allowed six goals on 74 shots and had a save percentage of .910. ... Billy Ryan is currently riding a 7-game point streak (5G, 9A) and a 3-game goal streak (4G). ... Rookies Nino Musitelli and Les Reaney have led the Bombers in the last 10 games with six assists and 10 points apiece. ... Wheeling owns the No. 1 power play in the league at 22 percent while Dayton is 12th at 17.3 percent. The Nailers are 14th in the ECHL on the penalty kill at 81.6 percent while Dayton is 18th at 80.6 percent. ... Wheeling is the highest scoring team in the league with an average of 3.76 goals scored per game. Dayton is tied for 10th in the league in goals scored with an average of 3.19.
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