Nailers at Royals Game Day Snap Shot

WHEELING NAILERS(19-14-3-0, 41 PTS, T-4th North, T-8th East)126 GF, 109 GAPP: 18.9% (31-for-164), 10thPK: 75.5% (117-for-155), 27th

26-D-Kevin Schulze (6 goals, 23 assists, 29 points in 33 games)17-F-Jordan Kwas (14 goals, 14 assists, 28 points in 36 games)8-F-Nick Sorkin (10 goals, 17 assists, 27 points in 31 games)9-F-Christian Hilbrich (10 goals, 16 assists, 26 points in 36 games)23-F-Garrett Meurs (13 goals, 12 assists, 25 points in 35 games)11-F-Cody Wydo (10 goals, 14 assists, 24 points in 35 games)31-G-Doug Carr (8-8-1 record, 3.49 GAA, .884 Sv% in 18 games)

READING ROYALS(22-13-1-1, 46 PTS, 2nd North, T-3rd East)136 GF, 107 GAPP: 20.9% (27-for-129), 7thPK: 81.8% (108-for-132), 20th

3-F-Chris McCarthy (16 goals, 19 assists, 35 points in 34 games)19-F-Justin Crandall (13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points in 31 games)70-F-Robbie Czarnik (12 goals, 18 assists, 30 points in 31 games)9-F-Ryan Penny (11 goals, 16 assists, 27 points in 37 games)15-F-Matt Willows (9 goals, 15 assists, 24 points in 32 games)48-D-Florian Iberer (8 goals, 16 assists, 24 points in 35 games)1-G-Martin Ouellette (7-4-0 record, 2.77 GAA, .903 Sv% in 12 games)

Head to Head2015-16 Season Series: Royals 3, Nailers 12015-16 Season Series at Santander Arena: Royals 2, Nailers 0All-Time Series: Royals 87, Nailers 71All-Time Series at Santander Arena: Royals 49, Nailers 31

Blew Them Right Out of the WaterThe Wheeling Nailers put together their best offensive performance since February 6, 2010, as they thoroughly spanked the Norfolk Admirals, 9-2 at Norfolk Scope Arena on Friday night. Despite the final score, the goals didn't come right away, as Christian Hilbrich had the lone marker in the first period, continuing his red hot play from the previous week. In the middle frame, the Nailers began to bust things open, scoring four times. Jordan Kwas, Nick Sorkin, Ross McMullan, and Gage Quinney all turned on the red light, and all four shots went into the exact same spot in the net - over Brandon Anderson's glove. Norfolk tried to make a game out of it with two early strikes in the third period, but the rest of the evening was all Wheeling, who dented the twine four more times to complete the blowout. Cody Wydo, Jarrett Burton, Kwas, and Andrew Miller were the scorers in that stanza. Sean Maguire took home his seventh win of the year, making 25 saves on 27 shots.

A Little More Dramatic for ReadingThe Reading Royals also collected two points on Friday night, but they had to wait a little bit longer to find out their end result, as they played host to the Adirondack Thunder at Santander Arena. Both teams lit the lamp once in the first period, with Reece Wilcox scoring in his Reading debut, while Brett Pollock got the Adirondack marker 3:20 later. The remainder of the contest belonged to the goaltenders, as Martin Ouellette of the Royals and Drew Fielding of the Thunder matched each other save for save. Ouellette finished the night with 29, while Fielding came up with 27. Regulation time wasn't enough to determine a winner between the two North Division clubs, as the game proceeded to overtime. Reading received a power play during the final minute of the third period, and cashed in at the 1:13 mark of overtime, courtesy of Jesper Pettersson. That was the lone power play for the Royals all evening.

Quinney Stops the StreakAt the 18:58 mark of the second period on Friday night, Wheeling's Gage Quinney was awarded a penalty shot, as he was denied an attempt to score, after battling his way past the defense. Penalty shots had been a struggle for the Nailers not only in 2016-17, but for the past few seasons. Quinney bucked the trend on Friday, as he cruised in, and roofed a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the cage. In doing so, Gage became the first Wheeling player to score a penalty shot this season on shot number three (Josh Shalla missed against Orlando, Christian Hilbrich missed against Fort Wayne). He also became the first Nailer to score on a penalty shot since Alex Smigelski against the Cincinnati Cyclones on October 30, 2010, ending a run of 459 straight games without a penalty shot goal. Wheeling has yet to be forced to defend a penalty shot this season, but goals tend to be hard to come by in that category, as opposing teams took three attempts last season against the Nailers, and were denied on all three, with one save each going to JP Anderson, Brian Foster, and Franky Palazzese.

Shouldn't Have Let Him GoDefenseman Tim Boyle made his debut with the Nailers on Friday night, taking on a former team of his from earlier this season in the Admirals. Boyle was scoreless in eight games with Norfolk, but his start with Wheeling certainly had a positive impact. In addition to posting a +2 rating, Tim dished out three assists in the 9-2 victory for the Nailers - two of which were the primary helpers. The first assist came on the team's third goal of the night, as he led Nick Sorkin ahead on a 2-on-1 break, which was buried from the left circle. Then, in the third period, the Hingham, Massachusetts native helped create another 2-on-1, that time for Jordan Kwas and Cody Wydo. Finally, Andrew Miller drilled in the rebound of Boyle's initial shot for the last goal of the night at the buzzer. Tim became the 31st player to appear in a game for Wheeling this season, and was very helpful for a team which picked up its second straight win while playing one man short.

Already Our Last Trip HereSaturday night marks the fifth of seven head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Royals this season, as well as the third of three battles at Santander Arena. Wheeling is looking for its first road win of the season series, and over the past few years, those have been difficult to come by. After the two sides split a pair of games at WesBanco Arena, Reading has capitalized on two straight games at home, posting identical 4-2 wins exactly one month apart from each other. The third period was the key in both of those matches, as the Royals snapped 2-2 deadlocks, pulling ahead, then adding insurance. Olivier Labelle has been the thorn in the side during the set, as he leads the way with five points, but he is currently with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch. The Nailers have won each of the last two season series against their rivals of 16 years, but will have to win each of the last three clashes to come out on top in 2016-17. Reading will come to town on February 4th and April 2nd to finish off the seven-game set.