ECHL Wheeling Nailers

Nailers Win 5-4 at Trenton Devils

February 22, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wheeling Nailers News Release


Kelly Miller slid it home past the right skate of Charlie Effinger in the 6th round of the shootout to give the Nailers a 5-4 victory at the Trenton Devils Sunday night. It was the 7th game of a season long 8 game road-trip for the Nailers.

Bryan "Boomer" Ewing led the attack with a pair of goals to increase his team-leading total to 35. His former high-school teammate and newest Nailer Billy Ryan scored his first professional hockey goal on a nice assist by Ewing.

Jordan Alford played a fine game in net as he made 46 saves on 50 Devils shots to pick up his first win as a Nailer. Trenton blasted him with 19 shots in the 3rd, mostly on the power play, and 5 more shots in the overtime but Alford steered away 23 of the 24 total drives he saw. It is Alford's 3rd win as a professional hockey player as he was 2-3 in 7 games with the Flint (Mich.) Generals of the IHL earlier this year.

The Nailers penalty kill and some timely big saves by Alford were the keys to the victory. Trenton had 6 power plays through the 3rd and into overtime but only lit the lamp once. Trenton was held to 2-for-10 on the power play. They entered the game with the top power play in the league at 22.7%.

Ewing started the scoring at 10:46 of the 1st period as he appeared to take a rebound off a Gerald Coleman save and perhaps smartly bank it in off the back of the Devils goalie and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later Ewing would race up the right-wing and dodge two Devils defenders. As he rushed past the goal-line he dropped it on the doorstep for Billy Ryan whose shot appeared to bounce through the glove of Coleman and across the line for his first ever pro goal.

Jordan Morrison opened the 2nd period with a big slapshot up the right wing that he blasted top shelf for his 19th of the year just 25 seconds into the middle frame to give the Nailers a 3-1 lead.

Ewing made it 4-1 at 2:57 of the 2nd as he and Andrew Lord dug the puck away on the left-wing wall. Ewing carried it past the left dot and lined the shot over the right shoulder of Coleman for a top-shelf goal to give the Nailers a 4-1 lead. Gerald Coleman, the top goalie in the league, was removed from the game in favor of backup Charlie Effinger.

Trenton cut the margin to 4-3 before the 2nd period concluded. Scott Bartlett's 4th at 10:55 and Jeremy Akeson's 13th at 15:13 made it a 1 goal game again.

Wheeling had a tough time staying out of the box at that point. For the last 33 minutes of the game the Devils had 9 power plays but the Nailers penalty kill did a fantastic job killing them off with several timely intercepts and clears as well as face-off wins that ld the long drives out even when they were down by two men.

Trenton was finally able to tie it at 13:13 of the 3rd on yet another power play as Matt Cohen kept on digging on Jordan Alford on a couple of rebounds and was able to stuff in his 11th of the year to equalize the count at 4-4.

Wheeling hit the post 2 different times in the 3rd period as they were denied game-winners. Ganzak hit the post early in the 3rd against his former college teammate Effinger as he raced out of the box with a 2-on-1 rush. Andrew Lord clanged it off the metal late in the 3rd as the Nailers were on the power play trying to break the 4-4 deadlock.

In the shootout both team's first shooters would light the lamp. Eric Castonguay for Trenton followed by Jon Grecu for Wheeling made it 1-1 after the 1st round.

Jordan Alford made a fine save with the left leg to deny Brad Snetsinger and keep it knotted at 1-1. Aaron Clarke scored for Wheeling in the 4th round to give the Nailers a 2-1 lead. Jim Henkel opened the 5th round with a tying goal to keep the shootout going. After Jeremy Akeson of Trenton had the puck slide off his stick and he lined the shot wide to begin the 6th round that set up Kelly Miller to race back the other way with the game winner as he carried it over to his left past the sprawled Charlie Effinger and was able to slide it home.

The Nailers a 4-2-1 against the Trenton Devils this year. This was Wheeling's first win at Sovereign Bank Arena in 3 tries. This was game 2 of essentially a 5 game series between the two North Division playoff contenders over a 10 day stretch. Wheeling plays again here Tuesday night at 7pm to wrap up their season-long 8 game road swing.

Wheeling is only 2 points back of 4th place Elmira in the playoff race and they are only 6 points behind first place Johnstown and Cincinnati in the extremely tight North Division with 20 games remaining on the regular season. The top 4 teams in the North Division qualify for the post-season.

Wheeling's next home games are Friday, Feb 27 through Sunday, March 1. The Feb 27 game against the Dayton Bombers is Friday Family Four-Pack night. Get 4 tickets, 4 sodas, 4 hot dogs and a large popcorn all for only $44. The Nailers are also featuring a pre-game party across the street from WesBanco Arena at River City Ale Works prior to the game beginning at 5pm. River City Ale Works will feature free appetizers and $1.50 drafts up until game-time.

The Saturday, Feb 28 game against the Trenton Devils is City of Wheeling night at WesBanco Arena. The first 2500 fans in attendance get a Coal Miner Spike Bobblehead courtesy of Consol Energy. The game start Saturday is 8:05.

The Sunday, March 1st homestand finale is also against the Trenton Devils at 4:05 featuring a post-game skate with the Nailers players on another Sunday Family Funday.

Post-game playoff packages are available now. Purchase your 6-game playoff package that is good for the entire post-season. You get a discount vs. the gate price and any unused playoff credits are forwarded to the following season.

For more information contact the Nailers at 304-234-GOAL (that's 234-4625) or log on at wheelingnailers.com.

Check out the Wheeling Nailers Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 22, 2009


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