Wheeling Nailers Weekly Report, Dec. 18

Last Week

Tue. 12/12 Indy Fuel 2 @ WHEELING NAILERS 3Tiffels (Fejes, McMullan)Brown (Meurs, Rissling)Josephs (Wydo)Morrison- 35/37

Fri. 12/15 WHEELING NAILERS 0 @ Reading Royals 4Morrison- 34/38

Sat. 12/16 WHEELING NAILERS 4 @ Reading Royals 2Schulze (Burton, Brown)Gardiner (Sorkin, Milan)Josephs (Meurs, Fick)Wydo (Zink)King- 37/39

Last week, the Wheeling Nailers picked up two wins in three games, defending home ice against the Indy Fuel, before splitting a road set against the Reading Royals. On Tuesday night, the Nailers got the offense started right away, as Freddie Tiffels scored 2:28 into the contest. Cam Brown added to the lead in the second period, before back-to-back strikes by Indy sent the tilt into intermission with a 2-2 deadlock. The deciding goal was scored at the 6:29 mark of the third, as Cody Wydo set up Troy Josephs. Adam Morrison was perfect on 13 shots in the third period, and made 35 saves overall to earn the win. On Friday night, Wheeling ran into a phenomenal goaltending performance, as Reading's Mark Dekanich turned in a 50-save shutout. The Royals scored three times in the first period and once in the second for a 4-0 final. On Saturday night, the Nailers got their revenge, and Kevin Schulze was the first to solve Dekanich, doing so with a power play goal in the last minute of the second period. Reid Gardiner and Josephs upped the advantage in the early stages of the final frame, before the Royals closed the gap to one. Cody Wydo iced the triumph with an empty netter, and Will King made 37 saves between the pipes.

Tuesday's first goal was one for the history books, as Wheeling scored its 6,000th goal all-time. That was followed by the 1,800th game in team history on Friday. The 50-shot output on Friday was the third this season by the Nailers, but a unique trend continued, as all three games last week were won by the team with the lower shot total. Wheeling is 10-2-0 when being outshot by the opposition in 2017-18. Garrett Meurs' assist on Cam Brown's goal during Tuesday's tilt was the 150th point of his professional career. With his empty net goal on Saturday, Cody Wydo broke a tie with Zack Torquato and John Varga, and now sits alone in seventh place in club history, having lit the lamp 67 times. Sean Collins is next up on the list with 69 goals. Saturday's match featured the 11th three-goal period of the year for the Nailers, who accomplished that feat during the third. The North Division continues to be the tightest division in the ECHL, as the six teams are separated by ten points. Wheeling is in second place with 32 points, two back of Manchester, and two ahead of Reading and Adirondack.

This Week

Fri. 12/22 Brampton Beast @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:05Sat. 12/23 Brampton Beast @ WHEELING NAILERS, 7:05

This week, the Wheeling Nailers will play two home games, before getting to enjoy a few days off for the holidays. Both contests are against the same North Division foe, as the Brampton Beast will make their first trip of the season to WesBanco Arena. Wheeling and Brampton last met for a two-game series in Canada in late October, which saw each team skate away with a win. The Nailers took the opener, 6-5, before the Beast returned the favor two days later, 5-4. Last season, Wheeling fared well against its division rival at home, posting a 4-1-1 record when the Beast came to town. Since the last head-to-head set, Brampton has made a significant addition to its lineup, bringing in David Vallorani, who led the team with 83 points a year ago. Friday night will mark the return to the Friendly City for Beast defenseman Paul Cianfrini, who played parts of four seasons with the Nailers from 2012-16. Wheeling enters the week with a five-point lead over Brampton - a team it won't see again after the weekend until late March. Both teams have won two of their last three games overall.

Upcoming Home Games/PromotionsFri. Dec. 22- Ugly Sweater Party, Frosty FridaySat. Dec. 23- Meet SantaSat. Dec. 30- Youth Hockey NightSun. Dec. 31- New Year's EveSat. Jan. 13- Bricks & Kids Night, OYO Sports Figurine Giveaway (first 2,500 fans)

Nailers LeadersGoals: 13, Hunter Fejes & Cody WydoAssists: 20, Cam BrownPoints: 30, Cody WydoPenalty Minutes: 56, Dan MilanPlus/Minus: +9, Garrett Meurs & Dan MilanWins: 8, Sean MaguireGoals Against Average: 3.04, Adam MorrisonSave Percentage: .910, Sean MaguireShutouts: 0

North Division Standings1. Manchester Monarchs 16-9-1-1, 34 pts.2. WHEELING NAILERS 15-10-2-0, 32 pts.3. Reading Royals 14-10-2-0, 30 pts.4. Adirondack Thunder 14-11-1-1, 30 pts.5. Brampton Beast 12-10-1-2, 27 pts.6. Worcester Railers 10-9-2-2, 24 pts.