All you need is a few fingers to produce the magic number for the Wheeling Nailers to clinch their first division title in 22 years. Last week, Wheeling locked up home ice advantage in the opening round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, thanks to a pair of huge road victories against the Fort Wayne Komets and the Toledo Walleye. Unfortunately, the Nailers saw their season-high ten-game winning streak come to an end at home against Cincinnati on Tuesday. This week, Wheeling will travel to Reading for a three-game series against the Royals on Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon.

SILENCING 14,000 PEOPLE
Last week, the Nailers traveled to two extremely challenging destinations for road teams, as they visited Fort Wayne, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio. The Fort Wayne Komets haven't been as dominant at home as in previous seasons, but Allen County War Memorial Coliseum has caused plenty of issues for the Nailers, who entered last Wednesday with an all-time regular season record of 11-35-2 in that venue. Wheeling's offense exploded for eight goals in an 8-5 road triumph, as Ryan McAllister and Connor Lockhart both posted four-point nights, while Brayden Edwards scored twice. On Saturday, the Nailers were greeted by a sellout crowd of 8,111 fans at Huntington Center. Wheeling took the energy out of the building early with two goals during the first period, then McAllister added two more for a 4-2 final score. Taylor Gauthier was the winning netminder in both contests, giving him 20 wins for the second time in three years.

SO CLOSE YOU CAN FEEL IT
In addition to taking care of their own business by earning two wins, the Nailers got some help out of town. The Trois-Rivières Lions kept their slim playoff hopes alive by winning three of four head-to-head meetings against the second place Maine Mariners last week. Then, on Wednesday night, the Adirondack Thunder picked up a 6-5 shootout win in Portland. Wheeling holds a seven-point lead over Maine for first place, and both clubs have five regular season games remaining. That means the Nailers have a magic number of three to earn their first division crown since 2004. Maine has three home games against Norfolk this weekend. Despite being in seventh place in the North Division, the Admirals have created rough waters for their opponents, as they swept two games from Adirondack last weekend and ended the Mariners' 11-game winning streak in March.

THE ROAD TREATS US WELL
While Wheeling's 24-7-4 record at WesBanco Arena proves that there truly is no place like home, this year's team has also enjoyed tremendous success away from Nail City. Saturday's win in Toledo was the eighth straight road victory for the Nailers, which tied the longest road winning streak in team history. The 1994-95 and 2003-04 squads also rattled off eight straight in the win column on enemy ice. The eight straight road wins are also tied for the most in the ECHL this season, as Maine had an eight-game run from February 13th through March 6th. With a 20-10-2 road record this season, Wheeling has reached the 20-win plateau on the road for the fourth time ever and the first time in exactly two decades, as the 2005-06 team was the last to stake claim to that statistic. The team record for road wins is 23, which the Nailers could beat with a perfect finish.

JOHNNY ON THE 50-SPOT
Logan Pietila and his wife Emily welcomed their son Griffin to the world on Monday, so Pietila was unavailable for Tuesday's game. That means defenseman Brent Johnson is the only Wheeling player who has appeared in all 67 games thus far this season. If Johnson plays in each of the last five games to become the 28th iron man in team history, that will certainly be worth celebrating. Regardless, the rookie blueliner has earned plenty of accolades with his performance on the ice. With his assist on Blake Bennett's goal Wednesday in Fort Wayne, Brent notched his 50th point of the season. He is the eighth defenseman in team history to score 50 points in a season, and just the third to reach 50 in his rookie campaign. The other two were Kevin Schulze (60 in 2016-17) and Josh Maniscalco (53 in 2021-22). Johnson needs three points to tie Maniscalco for the fifth most points in a season by a Wheeling defenseman. He could also reach the top-five in assists by a defenseman in a season, as he needs two to tie Matt Garzone (41 in 1997-98).

FINALLY FINISHING THE SERIES
There is a chance that the Wheeling Nailers and Reading Royals could see each other again in the playoffs, but both teams will be more than excited to close the book on their marathon 15-game 2025-26 regular season series this weekend. Reading is one of two teams with a winning record against Wheeling this season, as the Royals have won seven of 12 clashes to this point. Five of those victories for Reading came in seven visits to WesBanco Arena. Meanwhile, the Nailers have gone 3-2 at Santander Arena, meaning road teams have come out on top in eight of 12 tilts. The Royals' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is three points, but the bigger question for Reading is seeding. The Royals and Adirondack Thunder are currently tied for third place in the North Division with 79 points each. Adirondack has one game in hand, while the Royals own the tiebreaker with a 28-22 advantage in regulation wins. While Wheeling and Reading will play three times this weekend, the Thunder will play a three-game series against the Trois-Rivières Lions.

Buy Tickets for Upcoming Games
Sat. Apr. 18 - 80's Night
Fri. April 24 - North Division Semifinal Game 1
Sat. April 25 - North Division Semifinal Game 2