Wheeling Nailers Weekly Report, Oct. 31

Last Week

Fri. 10/28 WHEELING NAILERS 3 @ Kalamazoo Wings 2 (shootout)Quinney (Wydo)Sorkin (Shalla, Wydo)Carr- 45/47Shootout: Sorkin- N, Shalla- Y, Wydo- N, Army- N, Webster- N, McMullan- Y, Carr- 5/6

Sat. 10/29 Kalamazoo Wings 1 @ WHEELING NAILERS 8Army (Shalla, Schulze)Miller (Webster)Shalla (Army, Schulze)Meurs (Stern, Sorkin)Shalla (Army, Miller)Shalla (Stern, Segalla)Army (Segalla, Shalla)Schulze (Wydo)Carr- 22/23

Last week, the Wheeling Nailers had great success on the ice, as they swept a home-and-home series against the Kalamazoo Wings, bringing their record on the season to 2-2-1. Wheeling's first win of the weekend came at Wings Event Center on Friday night, in a contest which saw 92 combined shots on goal. Gage Quinney was the first player to light the lamp, doing so for the first time in his professional career. After Kalamazoo pulled even, the Nailers went back on top, thanks to Nick Sorkin's first with the club. Doug Carr and Joel Martin had outstanding performances in goal, sending the game to a shootout. Josh Shalla and Justin Taylor both scored in the second round, before Ross McMullan decided the match in round six for a 3-2 final score in favor of Wheeling. Saturday's rematch was all about special teams early, as the Nailers converted on three straight power plays, while adding a shorthanded marker. Derek Army, Josh Shalla, and Garrett Meurs scored the three on the man advantage, with Kenton Miller sneaking in the shorty. Wheeling added lots of insurance to its triumph in the third period, as Shalla buried his second and third of the night, Army notched his second, and Kevin Schulze dented the twine for the first time in his career. Carr was the beneficiary of the offense, making 22 saves for the win.

Friday night's shootout win was Wheeling's first since March 20, 2015, ending a string of four straight setbacks. Ross McMullan became the first Nailers defenseman to score a shootout winning goal since Barry Goers on February 15, 2014. Gage Quinney (Friday) and Kevin Schulze (Saturday) were the two players who scored their first professional goals last week, while Michael Webster made his debut on Friday, then dished out an assist on Saturday. Josh Shalla became the first Wheeling player to net a hat trick in 2016-17, which was part of a five-point game on Saturday. The hat trick was the third of his career. Prior to Saturday, the last Nailers hat trick was scored by Cody Wydo on March 4, 2016, and the last time a five-point game occurred was January 29, 2011, when Mickael Bedard and Nick Petersen accomplished the feat in the same contest. Derek Army had four points (2G, 2A) on Saturday, as he, Kenton Miller, Schulze, Ryan Segalla, Shalla, and Brett Stern all accumulated multiple point games. Wheeling's seven-goal victory was its first since February 23, 2014, and the eight-goal output offensively was the most in a regular season game since December 11, 2010. The Nailers have swept their last two home-and-home series, as they won a game in each venue against Reading to close out the 2015-16 regular season.

This Week

Fri. 11/4 Toledo Walleye @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:05Sat. 11/5 WHEELING NAILERS @ Toledo Walleye, 7:15Sun. 11/6 Kalamazoo Wings @ WHEELING NAILERS, 5:05

This week, the Wheeling Nailers will get their first test of three games in three days, as they hit the ice on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The weekend will begin with a home-and-home series against the Toledo Walleye, starting at WesBanco Arena, then moving on to Huntington Center. Toledo is one of the hottest teams in the league, as it carries a six-game winning streak into the week, having opened the season with a 6-1-0 mark. The Walleye lead the ECHL with 4.57 goals per game, having turned on the red light 32 times in seven tilts. Kyle Bonis has been the top individual performer, leading the way with five goals and ten points, although twins Tyson and Tylor Spink are right behind with nine and eight points respectively. Last season, Toledo got the upper hand against Wheeling in five of seven meetings, but three of the five wins for the Walleye came after regulation. After fighting with the fish, the Nailers will do battle with the Kalamazoo Wings on Sunday afternoon for their third head-to-head clash in a ten-day span. Despite taking last Saturday's game on the chin, the Wings were able to rebound and defeat the Allen Americans, 5-3 at Wings Event Center on Sunday. Kalamazoo is 4-2-1 in its first seven games of the campaign.

Upcoming Home Games/PromotionsFri. 11/4- Flat Screen Friday Presented by The Highlands, Frosty FridaySun. 11/6- Family Funday, McDonald's $6 Kids Tickets, Post Game Skate With the Team (Odd Numbered Players)Fri. 11/11- Veteran's Day, Military Appreciation Night, Nailers Wear Camouflage Jerseys, Flat Screen Friday Presented by The Highlands, Frosty FridayTue. 11/15- Education Day Game, 11:05 a.m. Start TimeSat. 12/3- Pittsburgh Pirates Night, Starring Clint Hurdle, the Pirate Parrot, the Cannonball Crew, and Pirates Jerseys

Nailers LeadersGoals: 5, Josh ShallaAssists: 4, Cody WydoPoints: 8, Josh ShallaPenalty Minutes: 14, Brett SternPlus/Minus: +4, Derek ArmyWins: 2, Doug CarrGoals Against Average: 2.34, Doug CarrSave Percentage: .925, Doug CarrShutouts: None

North Division Standings1. Adirondack Thunder 4-0-1-1, 10 pts.2. Manchester Monarchs 4-2-0-1, 9 pts.3. Reading Royals 3-2-0-1, 7 pts.4. Brampton Beast 2-0-1-2, 7 pts.5. WHEELING NAILERS 2-2-1-0, 5 pts.6. Elmira Jackals 2-4-0-0, 4 pts.