Nailers vs. Mallards Game Day Snap Shot

WHEELING NAILERS(21-14-3-0, 45 PTS, T-4th North, T-8th East)135 GF, 116 GAPP: 19.7% (34-for-173), 8thPK: 75.2% (121-for-161), 27th

8-F-Nick Sorkin (10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points in 33 games)26-D-Kevin Schulze (7 goals, 25 assists, 32 points in 34 games)17-F-Jordan Kwas (15 goals, 15 assists, 30 points in 38 games)9-F-Christian Hilbrich (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points in 38 games)11-F-Cody Wydo (13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points in 37 games)23-F-Garrett Meurs (13 goals, 13 assists, 26 points in 37 games)29-G-Sean Maguire (7-5-1 record, 2.74 GAA, .907 Sv% 14 games)

QUAD CITY MALLARDS(21-17-0-2, 44 PTS, 4th Central, 8th West)118 GF, 125 GAPP: 12.9% (18-for-140), 23rdPK: 82.4% (112-for-136), 17th

11-F-Sam Warning (11 goals, 18 assists, 29 points in 36 games)10-F-Justin Kovacs (9 goals, 20 assists, 29 points in 40 games)15-F-Michael Parks (16 goals, 12 assists, 28 points in 29 games)20-F-Nolan LaPorte (8 goals, 19 assists, 27 points in 37 games)12-F-Chris Francis (11 goals, 15 assists, 26 points in 31 games)2-D-Guillaume Gelinas (3 goals, 12 assists, 15 points in 31 games)30-G-CJ Motte (11-8-0 record, 2.50 GAA, .923 Sv% in 21 games)

Head to HeadSeason Series: Nailers 2, Mallards 02015-16 Season Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 1, Mallards 0All-Time Series: Nailers 4, Mallards 1All-Time Series at WesBanco Arena: Nailers 1, Mallards 0

A Wild Wednesday in WheelingThe Wheeling Nailers were involved in a crazy, but thrilling game on Wednesday night, as they played host to the Toledo Walleye at WesBanco Arena. Wheeling found itself behind early, and was able to rally back from a 2-0 deficit with goals from red hot rookies Christian Hilbrich and Gage Quinney. In the late stages of the second period, the scoring ramped up, and the Nailers took their first lead of the night at 4-3, thanks to strikes by Jordan Kwas and Tyler Currier. The Walleye went back on top with three straight goals, including two on a five-minute power play, but Wheeling refused to go away. Cody Wydo trimmed the margin to one at the 5:22 mark of the third period. Then, with 18.9 seconds left in regulation, Kevin Schulze forced overtime with a wrist shot from the right circle. At the 4:03 mark of the extra session, the fans were sent home happy, as Hilbrich potted his second of the evening for a 7-6 final score. Doug Carr got his tenth win of the year in goal, defeating Jake Paterson.

Mallards Matched Up With MissouriThe Quad City Mallards are coming off of a three-game weekend in which they took the ice once at home and twice on the road, with all three clashes taking place against the Missouri Mavericks. In the series opener at iWireless Center, the Mallards rallied back from a 4-1 deficit, scoring three times in the final 12:41 of regulation, knotting the contest 4-4 and forcing overtime. The tilt eventually progressed to a shootout, where Quad City scored on both attempts to secure the win. Missouri got the upper hand in the second game on Saturday night, tallying five of the last six goals for a 5-2 triumph. The Mallards jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Sunday's weekend finale, before the Mavericks stormed back to make a game out of it. Chris Francis' goal at the 5:51 mark of the third period turned out to be the difference in a 4-3 final score. Francis and Michael Parks each had five points over the weekend, and Pavel Jenys scored three goals. Both wins were collected by Adam Vay, while CJ Motte took the defeat.

We Can Count All the Way from One to NineThe seven-goal outburst for the Nailers on Wednesday night continued what has been an offensive surge as of late, as the team has netted 23 goals during its four-game winning streak. Wheeling lit the lamp five times in Kalamazoo on January 15th, nine times in Norfolk on January 20th, then seven times on Wednesday, with a two-goal outing mixed in at Reading last Saturday. The Nailers have scored five or more goals on 12 different occasions this season, and all 12 have resulted in victories. Furthermore, Wheeling has had at least one game with every goal total from one through nine. The Nailers have scored nine goals once, eight goals once, seven goals once, six goals three times, and five goals six times. Wednesday was the third time this season that a Wheeling opponent scored five or more goals in a loss. The 13 combined goals were the most in a game involving the Nailers this year.

A New Man in ChargeLast weekend, the Mallards made a change behind their bench, dismissing Terry Ruskowski from his position as the team's head coach, and promoting assistant coach Phil Axtell to the interim head coaching role. Ruskowski served as Quad City's head coach for five seasons, reaching the playoffs in all five, while winning one playoff series in 2013-14, when the club was in the Central Hockey League. The former Pittsburgh Penguins forward coached for six different professional clubs in four leagues, and was a champion twice with the Laredo Bucks in 2004 and 2006. The Mallards were 19-16-2 under his leadership before the change. Axtell played ten games for Quad City during the 2010-11 campaign, before turning his attention towards coaching. This is Phil's third season behind the bench with the Mallards, and the team has started off 2-1 with him as the head coach. This was already the fourth coaching change in the ECHL this season, following Elmira, Norfolk, and Orlando.

The Rest are HereFriday night marks the third of five head-to-head meetings between the Nailers and Mallards this season, as well as the first of three battles at WesBanco Arena. Wheeling sits one victory away from locking up the season series in back-to-back years, after sweeping a two-game weekend in Moline back in the middle of November. Both of those contests had identical 3-2 final scores, with Brett Stern and Cody Wydo collecting the deciding tallies. Despite the close margins in scores, the Nailers controlled the play, as they sent 48 and 45 shots toward the Quad City netminders in the two tilts. The Mallards are strangers to the Friendly City, as they only came to town once last season - a 2-1 Wheeling win on Halloween. After Friday, two games will remain on the slate for these newer foes, when Quad City returns to Wheeling for a two-game set on March 10th and 11th.