Nailers at Mallards Game Day Snap Shot

WHEELING NAILERS(8-4-1-0, 17 PTS, T-3rd North, T-5th East)45 GF, 36 GAPP: 21.3% (13-for-61), 8thPK: 82.4% (42-for-51), T-16th

25-F-Josh Shalla (8 goals, 5 assists, 13 points in 13 games)26-D-Kevin Schulze (2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points in 13 games)8-F-Nick Sorkin (5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points in 13 games)17-F-Jordan Kwas (5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points in 13 games)23-F-Garrett Meurs (5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points in 13 games)11-F-Cody Wydo (3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points in 13 games)30-G-JP Anderson (3-0-0 record, 1.33, .955 Sv% in 3 games)

QUAD CITY MALLARDS(7-5-0-1, 15 PTS, 4th Central, T-6th West)31 GF, 34 GAPP: 21.3% (10-for-47), 9thPK: 86.0% (43-for-50), 10th

10-F-Justin Kovacs (5 goals, 8 assists, 13 points in 13 games)11-F-Sam Warning (4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points in 13 games)8-F-Alex Petan (5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points in 13 games)12-F-Chris Francis (4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points in 11 games)4-D-Mike Monfredo (1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points in 11 games)9-F-Brady Brassart (2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points in 12 games)30-G-CJ Motte (5-2-0 record, 1.92 GAA, .943 Sv% in 8 games)

Head to HeadSeason Series: Nailers 1, Mallards 0Season Series at iWireless Center: Nailers 1, Mallards 0All-Time Series: Nailers 3, Mallards 1All-Time Series at iWireless Center: Nailers 2, Mallards 1

A Hero Steps Up LateThe Wheeling Nailers rebounded from an ugly loss and got right back into the win column on Saturday night, as they ran their record to 8-2-0 in the last ten games. Wheeling fell behind very quickly on a power play goal by the host Quad City Mallards, but managed to tie the game with a man advantage marker of its own. Adam Krause flipped in the rebound of Brett Stern's point shot, giving the Nailers at least one power play goal in seven straight games. After a scoreless second period, the visitors went ahead in the third, when Krause drove to the net, setting up Garrett Meurs. Quad City came back to even the score, producing a thrilling finish. With 3:04 remaining, Wheeling regained its lead, when Brett Stern found the twine with a shot from the left side of the blueline. The Nailers clinged to their 3-2 lead late, thanks to a 33-save effort from JP Anderson, who backstopped his third victory of the campaign.

Denied by the CrossbarThe Quad City Mallards have experienced back-to-back losses for the first time since opening weekend, when they were swept in a home-and-home series by the Fort Wayne Komets. Fort Wayne got the better of the Mallards on Friday night, before Wheeling arrived in town, and dealt the home team a 3-2 defeat. Quad City netted the opening goal at the 1:24 mark of the first period, when Michael Parks finished off a pass by Chris Francis, while the team was playing on the man advantage. The second goal of the evening for the Mallards came a while later, at 8:11 of the third period. Pavel Jenys sent Justin Kovacs on a breakaway, and Kovacs proceeded to rip a shot into the top-right corner of the net. After the Nailers pulled back ahead 3-2, Kovacs had a remarkable opportunity to force overtime, but his attempt at the buzzer rang off of the crossbar, closing out the Wheeling win. Despite the loss, CJ Motte turned in a great effort in goal for Quad City, turning aside 45 of the 48 shots he faced.

A Big Guy With Big NumbersA little more than a week ago, the Nailers received a familiar face, as Adam Krause joined the squad from the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Krause had strong offensive numbers with Wheeling a year ago, and appears to be on track to better those statistics in 2016-17. Adam netted the opening goal in his first game back with the club last Friday, then scored the winning marker, as well as an insurance tally two days later, as the Nailers took a pair of decisions against the Reading Royals and Brampton Beast. Despite coming up empty in the goal column in the next two tilts, the Hermantown, Minnesota native still found his way onto the scoresheet, by dishing out a couple of assists. On Saturday night, Krause extended his point streak to five, factoring in on all three Wheeling goals against Quad City. After scoring the first one, he had the primary assists on each of the last two, helping the Nailers to the triumph. Fellow Minnesotan Brett Stern also had multiple points on Saturday, as he assisted on Krause's tally, before scoring the game winner with 3:04 left to play.

Followed Their Usual PaceGoal scoring hasn't been an incredibly frequent happening in games involving the Mallards in the 2016-17 campaign, so a 3-2 final score on Saturday night pretty much followed that trend. Quad City is in the rare position of ranking in the bottom five of the ECHL in goals scored per game, while ranking in the top five in the ECHL in goals against per game. The Mallards have scored 31 goals in 13 contests for an average of 2.38 per game, which puts them 23rd. On the other side, Quad City has allowed 34 goals in 13 games for a 2.62 team GAA, which sits 4th. The Nailers have excelled in both departments this season, as they rank eighth in both goals for and goals against. In 13 matches, Wheeling has turned on the red light 45 times (3.46 per game), while surrendering 36 tallies to the opposition (2.77 per game). Fort Wayne and Wichita are the only two teams who are ahead of the Nailers in both categories. Brampton and Atlanta are the two teams on the opposite side of the spectrum from Quad City, as their games typically result in crooked goal totals.

One More in the Central Time ZoneSunday afternoon marks the second of five head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Mallards this season, as well as the second of two battles at iWireless Center. Wheeling got the upper hand in the opening clash on Saturday, picking up a 3-2 triumph on enemy ice. The win was the Nailers second in three visits to Moline, Illinois, and third four games against Quad City over the course of two seasons. The three games played on home ice for the Mallards have all resulted in different score margins, as Wheeling has won by one and three goals respectively, while Quad City's lone victory was achieved with a two-goal gap. The Nailers lone home game against the Mallards was a 2-1 win last Halloween. Quad City is the lone road opponent for Wheeling in the Central Time Zone in 2016-17, but the Nailers will leave the Eastern Time Zone once more, when they travel to Boise, Idaho in February, which is part of the Mountain Time Zone. The Mallards will play three games at WesBanco Arena to close out the season series on January 27th, March 10th, and March 11th.