Wheeling Nailers Weekly Report, Jan. 23

Last Week

Fri. 1/20 WHEELING NAILERS 9 @ Norfolk Admirals 2Hilbrich (Ammon, Quinney)Kwas (Fick, Currier)Sorkin (Boyle, Burton)McMullan (Quinney, Hilbrich)Quinney (penalty shot)Wydo (Fick, Sorkin)Burton (Quinney, Sorkin)Kwas (Wydo, Boyle)Miller (Boyle, Currier)Maguire- 25/27

Sat. 1/21 WHEELING NAILERS 2 @ Reading Royals 1Wydo (Burton, Sorkin)Wydo (Sorkin, Webster)Carr- 34/35

Last week, the Wheeling Nailers came flying out of the All-Star Break, picking up two big road wins to pull into a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Division. On Friday night, the Norfolk Admirals didn't know what hit them, as the Nailers slapped them around Norfolk Scope Arena. Christian Hilbrich followed up his ECHL Player of the Week honors by scoring the lone goal of the first period, and his teammates followed suit, scoring four times each in the second and third stanzas. Jordan Kwas, Nick Sorkin, Ross McMullan, and Gage Quinney were the goal scorers in period two, followed by Cody Wydo, Jarrett Burton, Kwas, and Andrew Miller as time ticked away in the third. Three of Wheeling's season-high nine goals came on the power play, and they gave Sean Maguire plenty of support, as he got the win with 25 saves. On Saturday night, there wasn't as much offense in Reading, but the Nailers still prevailed. After a scoreless tie in the opening frame, Cody Wydo turned on the red light twice in the second period, including one goal with 6.5 seconds remaining. The Royals closed the gap to one, but that was as close as they got, thanks to a 34-save performance from Doug Carr in the victory.

Friday's nine-goal outburst by the Nailers was their largest since February 6, 2010, when they lit up the Kalamazoo Wings for ten goals at WesBanco Arena. Wheeling has now hit every goal total from 1-9 this season with the exception of seven. The fifth goal of the night came courtesy of Gage Quinney, who deposited a penalty shot into the top-right corner of the net. That was the first successful penalty shot of the season for the Nailers, who came up empty on two previous attempts. It was also Wheeling's first penalty shot goal since October 30, 2010, when Alex Smigelski scored against the Cincinnati Cyclones. Tim Boyle made his debut with the Nailers on Friday, and dished out three assists against his former team, the Admirals. Jordan Kwas was the only player to score twice on Friday, and he is now the team's leading scorer with 14 goals. Wheeling has won three straight games on the road - marking its longest such run of the year away from the Ohio Valley. Cody Wydo sniped home a pair of tallies on Saturday, giving him three multiple-goal games at Santander Arena since last March. Both games over the weekend featured a Nailers strike during the final ten seconds of a period.

This Week

Wed. 1/25 Toledo Walleye @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:05Fri. 1/27 Quad City Mallards @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:35Sat. 1/28 Brampton Beast @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:05Sun. 1/29 WHEELING NAILERS @ Kalamazoo Wings, 3:00

This week, the Wheeling Nailers will begin their busiest stretch of the season, as they will play 30 games over the course of a 60-day span. The run starts with four games against four different teams. First on the list is Wednesday night, when the Toledo Walleye visit WesBanco Arena. Toledo continues to own the best record in the ECHL at 30-8-1, but the Nailers and Walleye have played to a 3-3 tie in the first six games of the season set. The home teams have been victorious in each of the last four, including 6-0 and 5-2 triumphs by Wheeling. On Friday, the Quad City Mallards will make their first visit to the Friendly City, after making a coaching change last week. Quad City currently holds the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division, with 44 points. The Nailers swept a two-game series from the Mallards at iWireless Center in mid-November. On Saturday, Wheeling will play host to a North Division foe, the Brampton Beast. Brampton and Wheeling are part of a four-team cluster, which is separated by just three points. The Beast currently hold a 3-2 lead in the season set, but four of the final six contests will be at home for the Nailers. Finally, the week concludes at Wings Event Center on Sunday, when Wheeling locks up with Kalamazoo. The Nailers have had good success against the Wings thus far this season, winning both games on the road, and four of the five overall. Kalamazoo trails Quad City by two points in the Central Division Playoff Race.

Upcoming Home Games/PromotionsWed. 1/25- McDonald's $6 Kids Tickets, WesBanco Winning Wednesday, Business After Hours Presented by The Wheeling Area Chamber of CommerceFri. 1/27- Flat Screen Friday Presented by The Highlands, Frosty FridaySat. 1/28- Pittsburgh Penguins Night Starring Pascal Dupuis Presented by Main Street Bank & Ogden NewspapersSat. 2/4- Princesses & Pirates Night - Dress up and meet characters from popular movies & TV showsWed. 2/15- McDonald's $6 Kids Tickets, WesBanco Winning Wednesday

Nailers LeadersGoals: 14, Jordan KwasAssists: 23, Kevin SchulzePoints: 29, Kevin Schulze & Nick SorkinPenalty Minutes: 67, Garrett MeursPlus/Minus: +20, Kevin SchulzeWins: 9, Doug CarrGoals Against Average: 2.74, Sean MaguireSave Percentage: .907, Sean MaguireShutouts: 1, JP Anderson & Sean Maguire

North Division Standings1. Manchester Monarchs 26-10-2-2, 56 pts.2. Reading Royals 22-14-1-1, 46 pts.3. Brampton Beast 21-14-2-2, 46 pts.4. WHEELING NAILERS 20-14-3-0, 43 pts.5. Adirondack Thunder 18-12-4-3, 43 pts.6. Elmira Jackals 9-24-5-0, 23 pts.