Nailers at Fuel Game Day Snap Shot

WHEELING NAILERS(27-21-6-0, 60 PTS, 5th North, 10th East)184 GF, 173 GAPP: 20.3% (52-for-256), 8thPK: 75.0% (168-for-224), 27th

26-D-Kevin Schulze (9 goals, 36 assists, 45 points in 50 games)8-F-Nick Sorkin (13 goals, 30 assists, 43 points in 42 games)23-F-Garrett Meurs (20 goals, 21 assists, 41 points in 53 games)11-F-Cody Wydo (23 goals, 17 assists, 40 points in 53 games)17-F-Jordan Kwas (19 goals, 21 assists, 40 points in 50 games)9-F-Christian Hilbrich (13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points in 48 games)31-G-Doug Carr (13-10-2 record, 3.38 GAA, .888 Sv% in 27 games)

INDY FUEL(15-36-2-2, 34 PTS, 7th Central, 14th West)136 GF, 220 GAPP: 13.5% (21-for-155), 24thPK: 82.2% (143-for-174), 15th

22-F-Josh Shalla (24 goals, 20 assists, 44 points in 54 games)10-F-Alex Wideman (17 goals, 26 assists, 43 points in 55 games)16-F-Paul Zanette (10 goals, 13 assists, 23 points in 41 games)20-F-Matt Rupert (14 goals, 7 assists, 21 points in 55 games)9-F-Kenny Ryan (7 goals, 11 assists, 18 points in 27 games)4-D-Nick Mattson (1 goal, 11 assists, 12 points in 46 games)30-G-Jake Hildebrand (13-18-4 record, 3.64 GAA, .900 Sv% in 37 games)

Head to HeadSeason Series: Fuel 1, Nailers 0Season Series at Indiana Farmers Coliseum: Fuel 1, Nailers 0All-Time Series: Fuel 5, Nailers 3All-Time Series at Indiana Farmers Coliseum: Fuel 3, Nailers 2

Slipped Away in the SecondThe Wheeling Nailers closed out the second leg of their seven-game road trip on Sunday afternoon at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum against the Fort Wayne Komets, and did so with a strong start in the first period. Cody Wydo opened the scoring with a one-timer from the left circle, and was followed 1:07 later by Garrett Meurs, who sniped home a shot from high in the slot. Fort Wayne closed the gap to one with 6:39 left in the stanza, but Wheeling still carried the lead into the dressing room. The Komets wasted little time in evening the score early in the second period, before Johnny Daniels put the Nailers back on top, as he shoveled in the rebound of Danny Fick's shot from the right point. A power play goal knotted the contest for a second time, and Fort Wayne was able to feed off of that, as Trevor Cheek's second tally of the game put the home squad ahead, 4-3. Wheeling was unable to find an equalizer in the third period, allowing the Komets to prevail.

The Wrath of the WalleyeThe Indy Fuel went into Huntington Center on Sunday afternoon to do battle against the Toledo Walleye, and quickly realized that a long day was ahead of them. Toledo took a four-minute penalty less than a minute into the tilt, and not only killed it off, but got a shorthanded goal from Alden Hirschfeld. Dylan Sadowy and Mike Borkowski followed with strikes 46 seconds apart from each other, chasing Eric Levine, who failed to make a save. Jake Hildebrand saw plenty of red lights in relief, starting with Tyson Spink, who wrapped up the four-goal first period for the Walleye. Tyson's second of the game was followed by Shane Berschbach and Chris Leone, as the score was 7-1 at the end of forty minutes. Berschbach's second closed out the scoring in the 8-1 thumping, with Michael Neal registering the lone goal for the Fuel. Jake Paterson cruised to the win with 19 saves, while Hildebrand came up with 27 stops in the no-decision.

An Old Friend in a Familiar PlaceOn December 17th, the Nailers and Fuel conducted a trade, as Wheeling acquired Tyler Currier and future considerations (Keevin Cutting) from Indy in exchange for Josh Shalla. At the time of the trade, Shalla was leading the Nailers with ten goals, and his productivity has continued in his new home - the fourth team of his ECHL career. Josh has tallied 14 goals and 26 points in 31 games since joining the Fuel, giving him season totals of 24 goals and 44 points, which are both tops on the team. Since coming to Wheeling, Currier has doubled his productivity, as he has collected 22 points in 31 games, after posting 11 points in 24 games with Indy. 16 of the 22 points are assists, and Tyler is also even in the +/- department, after going -13 with the Fuel. In February, he notched a point in six straight games, matching the season-high for the Nailers in 2016-17. Cutting appeared in seven games prior to the deal and has suited up for 19 games since. His first career point came with Wheeling on December 30th at Reading.

Three Down, One to GoThe final quarter of the 2016-17 regular season begins on Friday night, as the Nailers will play their 55th of 72 games this season. Wheeling has posted a winning record during each of the previous three quarters, starting off with a good beginning of the campaign, which saw it go 10-6-2 out of the gates. When the midway mark of the season arrived, the Nailers were 19-14-3, meaning that a 9-8-1 record went their way in quarter number two. Wheeling enters Friday at 27-21-6, putting the third quarter record as 8-7-3. The Nailers will need a strong finish to the slate, as they are currently seven points out of the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, with one game in hand. Wheeling will play seven of its final 18 games within the division. The Nailers are looking forward to turning the calendar over to March, as February has been their lone month under .500 thus far this year. Last year's Eastern Conference Championship team was 26-23-5 at this point in the season, putting this year's team three points ahead of that pace.

We'll Take a Third SplitFriday night marks the second and final meeting between the Nailers and Fuel this season, with both battles taking place at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The first trip to Indy was an unpleasant memory for Wheeling, as the Fuel ended the Nailers five-game winning streak with a 6-1 decision. Marek Tvrdon was the lone player in the game to accumulate two goals, while Alex Wideman and Patrick D'Amico each skated away with multiple points. The lone marker for Wheeling that evening was recorded by Christian Hilbrich, who netted his first professional goal, while playing in his junior hockey home rink. This is the third consecutive season that the Nailers and Fuel have played each other twice in Indianapolis, and in both prior campaigns, the two tilts were split. Wheeling will try to split the overall series for the second time in three years as well, as Indy will not travel to WesBanco Arena in 2016-17. In fact, the Fuel have only visited Wheeling once in the last 25 months.