Wheeling Nailers Weekly Report, Feb. 27

Last Week

Fri. 2/24 WHEELING NAILERS 0 @ Toledo Walleye 7Maguire- 21/28

Sat. 2/25 WHEELING NAILERS 3 @ Toledo Walleye 4 (overtime)Krause (Quinney, Wydo)Wydo (Sorkin, Schulze)Daniels (Krause, Miller)Carr- 24/28

Sun. 2/26 WHEELING NAILERS 3 @ Fort Wayne Komets 4Wydo (Quinney, Meurs)Meurs (Fick, Webster)Daniels (Fick, Carrier)Maguire- 16/20 (L), Carr- 10/10

Last week, the Wheeling Nailers suffered through a challenging part of their season-long seven-game road trip, as they took one out of six possible points out of three contests against the Central Division powers - the Toledo Walleye and Fort Wayne Komets. In Friday's weekend opener at Huntington Center, the Nailers ran into a Walleye team that was ready to flex its offensive muscle. AJ Jenks netted a hat trick, Tyson Spink potted a pair of goals, and a couple of defenders chipped in with tallies in a 7-0 contest. Jake Paterson needed just 17 saves to backstop the shutout. On Saturday night, Wheeling fell behind early, but battled back to even, as Adam Krause scored in his second game back in the lineup. Cody Wydo and Johnny Daniels lit the lamp in the middle frame, temporarily putting the Nailers ahead. However, Toledo drew even on the power play, then, after a Wheeling goal got disallowed in overtime, Beau Schmitz put the Walleye into the win column. On Sunday, the Nailers got off to a good start in Fort Wayne, as Wydo and Garrett Meurs dented the twine 1:07 apart from each other for a 2-0 advantage. The Komets erased that, as well as a 3-2 deficit (Daniels' second of the weekend), and ultimately pulled ahead for a 4-3 decision.

Friday night was the first time all season that the Nailers were shutout by an opponent, and oddly enough, the team that executed the shutout was Toledo, who has only been shutout once this season, and that was achieved by Wheeling. The home team has won seven straight games in that season series, after two opening victories by the road squad. Johnny Daniels scored his first ECHL goal in Saturday's tilt, and followed that up with goal number two the following day. Alexandre Carrier recorded his first point in a Nailers uniform with an assist on Sunday, as he is skating in his second stint with the club. Cody Wydo's goal on Sunday was his 23rd of the season, which matches his total from 2015-16. AJ Jenks became the third opposing player to score a hat trick against Wheeling this season, and the seventh player to net three goals in a game involving the Nailers in 2016-17. 25 of 54 games this season (46.3%) have seen a team come away victorious, after trailing at some point. A two-goal deficit has been erased for a win ten times (five by Wheeling, five by the opposition). The Nailers and their opponent finished tied in shots on goal on both Saturday and Sunday.

This Week

Fri. 3/3 WHEELING NAILERS @ Indy Fuel, 7:35Sat. 3/4 WHEELING NAILERS @ Fort Wayne Komets, 7:30Sun. 3/5 WHEELING NAILERS @ Fort Wayne Komets, 5:00

This week, the Wheeling Nailers will look to get back to their winning ways, as they close out their seven-game road trip with three straight tilts in the Hoosier State. On Friday night, the Nailers will clash with the Indy Fuel for the second time this season at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. Wheeling suffered a 6-1 loss to the Fuel back on November 18th, which ended a five-game winning streak for the Nailers. Despite the strong play of Josh Shalla (24 goals, 44 points in 54 games), Indy has experienced a rough go of it in 2016-17, entering the week in seventh place in the Central Division. The Fuel have lost three straight matches, and are winless in nine of their last ten, including an 8-1 throttling by Toledo at Huntington Center on Sunday afternoon. Indy does not visit WesBanco Arena this season, meaning Wheeling will attempt to secure a tie in the season series. On Saturday and Sunday, the Nailers will return to where they just were - Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, to complete their five-game season series against the Fort Wayne Komets. The home team has won each of the first three tilts thus far, and all three have been decided by one goal, with Wheeling winning 6-5 in West Virginia, and Fort Wayne taking a pair of 4-3 decisions in Indiana. The Komets are comfortably in second place in the Central Division, trailing Toledo by eight points for the top spot, while leading third place Quad City by nine points. After the weekend, the Nailers will have five games remaining against Central Division foes, with four of the five taking place in the Friendly City.

Upcoming Home Games/PromotionsFri. 3/10- Flat Screen Friday Presented by The Highlands, Frosty FridaySat. 3/11- Duck Dynasty Night Starring John Godwin & Justin Martin, Camouflage Hat Giveaway (First 2,500 Fans), St. Baldrick's NightSun. 3/12- Youth Hockey Day, Family Funday, McDonald's $6 Kids Tickets, Post Game Skate With the TeamWed. 3/22- WesBanco Winning Wednesday, McDonald's $6 Kids TicketsFri. 3/24- Mascot Night, Flat Screen Friday Presented by The Highlands, Frosty Friday

Nailers LeadersGoals: 23, Cody WydoAssists: 36, Kevin SchulzePoints: 45, Kevin SchulzePenalty Minutes: 92, Garrett MeursPlus/Minus: +22, Christian HilbrichWins: 13, Doug CarrGoals Against Average: 3.17, Sean MaguireSave Percentage: .896, Sean MaguireShutouts: 2, Sean Maguire

North Division Standings1. Manchester Monarchs 30-15-6-4, 70 pts.2. Brampton Beast 31-16-3-4, 69 pts.3. Adirondack Thunder 29-14-6-4, 68 pts.4. Reading Royals 31-20-1-2, 65 pts.5. WHEELING NAILERS 27-21-6-0, 60 pts.6. Elmira Jackals 10-36-7-1, 28 pts.