Nailers Unable to Find Late Game Wizardry

WHEELING, WV- Emotions were high from the start of Saturday night's game at WesBanco Arena, as the Wheeling Nailers and Reading Royals played the middle game of their three-game weekend series. Reading took a pair of leads in the first period, and although the Nailers made multiple comeback attempts throughout the night, they were never able to overcome the visitors, who skated away with a 5-4 decision. Logan Pietila had a goal and an assist for Wheeling, who now leads Norfolk by one point for home ice advantage in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Both teams have four games remaining. The game also featured the second largest crowd of the season, as 4,078 fans came out for Wizards & Wands Night. That pushes the season attendance over the 90,000 mark for the third time in the last 13 seasons.

The game got off to a wild and emotional start. Emile Chouinard delivered a hit on Jordan Martel that the Nailers thought should have been a penalty. Matthew Quercia got tangled up with Chouinard, while Martel received an unsportsmanlike conduct minor. Reading needed just 17 seconds to score on the power play, as Robert Calisti dipped in a wrist shot from the left point. Wheeling was infuriated by that sequence, and used that as energy to tie the score 15 seconds later. Gabe Klassen plated a perfect pass through the low slot to David Jankowski, who tapped his shot into the open right side of the cage. The Royals regained the lead at the 7:01 mark. The Nailers had a one-timer blocked in the offensive zone, and that led the visitors on a transition rush in the other direction. The end result was Yvan Mongo setting up Mitch Deelstra, who ripped in a wrist shot from the middle of the slot.

Penalties continued to play a significant role in the match during the middle frame, as Reading increased its advantage with a power play strike, before Wheeling rebounded during 4-on-4 action. Tyler Gratton collected the man advantage marker for the Royals, when he crushed a one-timer off of the crossbar and in from the middle of the slot. The Nailers pulled within one with a goal off of the rush. Jordan Martel entered the offensive zone on the right side and swept a pass to the Mats Lindgren in the middle of the ice. Lindgren kept the puck moving left, as he set up Logan Pietila for a successful one-timer from the left circle.

Wheeling did a nice job of shrinking the deficit to one, but Reading rebuilt its two-goal advantage 2:03 into the third. Shane Sellar tossed a backhander on goal that dropped into the crease and eventually was whacked in by Zach Faremouth for his first pro goal. Matthew Quercia answered for the Nailers by sneaking a rebound chance inside of the right post. However, the Royals went back up by two 2:02 later, when Gratton took advantage of a Wheeling broken stick, and roofed a wrist shot into the top-right corner. Gabe Klassen made the score 5-4 on a fantastic individual effort with 1:46 remaining, but the Nailers were unable to follow that up with an equalizer.

Keith Petruzzelli picked up the win for Reading, as he made 25 saves on 29 shots. Thomas Gale suffered the loss for Wheeling, as he turned away 30 of the 35 shots he faced.

The Nailers will play their final regular season home game on Sunday at 4:10, when they do battle with the Royals one more time. The team will present its end-of-season awards before the game, then fans are invited to bring their skates and join the entire team for a post game skate. Individual tickets for 2024-25 home games are available by calling (304) 234-GOAL or visiting wheelingnailers.com. The Wheeling Nailers, considered one of the top things to do in Wheeling, West Virginia, provide affordable family entertainment for fans throughout the Ohio Valley.