#nailers

LOOK AT HOW THEY MASSACRED MY BOY

I got the cat a #nailers jersey. He looks good.

The Wheeling Nailers are inching closer to their first division title in 22 years, as they begin the week with a magic number of five points. Wheeling will host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. in a game that was rescheduled from a December 28th postponement.

WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers, proud ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, are excited to announce that forward Ryan McAllister has been named Inglasco ECHL Player of the Week for the week of March 30th-April 5th. McAllister, 24, racked up three goals, three assists, and six points in two victories for Wheeling last week, as the Nailers extended their winning streak to ten games by beating the Fort Wayne Komets and the Toledo Walleye on the road. Ryan started the week with the best individual performance of his three-year professional career, as he collected one goal and three assists for a four-point night in Fort Wayne. Three of those points came during a four-goal second period for Wheeling. Then on Saturday, McAllister turned on the red light twice in Toledo. His first goal served as the eventual game winner, while his second marker put the Nailers ahead by three in the third period, essentially silencing a crowd of 8,111 fans. The London, Ontario native first joined the Nailers in late February, when he was signed to an AHL contract by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Ryan has amassed seven goals, 13 assists, and 20 points in 18 games in a Wheeling uniform, and has recorded multiple points on five occasions. McAllister played the remainder of his pro career in the Florida Panthers organization, primarily with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers. His career totals as a professional are 25 goals, 42 assists, and 67 points in 93 games. This is Ryan's second time playing for Nailers Head Coach Ryan Papaioannou. McAllister led the AJHL in scoring, and won both the league's regular season and playoff MVP awards as part of Brooks' 2021-22 championship team. The Wheeling Nailers are inching closer to their first division title in 22 years, as they begin the week with a magic number of five points. Wheeling will host Cincinnati on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. in a game that was rescheduled from a December 28th postponement. Read the full article

WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers played host to their annual Education Day game on Wednesday morning at WesBanco Arena, and a crowd of 4,803 students were taught a lesson in defense and goaltending. Connor Kurth scored the lone goal of the game midway through the third period on a power play for the Reading Royals, who skated away with a 1-0 road win. Wheeling struggled to get the legs going in the first period, but Taylor Gauthier was dialed in early, as the two sides played to a scoreless draw, while the Royals led in shots, 10-3. The Nailers had a stronger start to the middle frame, but neither team could break through, as the score stayed 0-0 into the second intermission. The key moments in the match took place in the third period. The Nailers got a power play at the 6:37 mark, but gave up a 3-on-1 break, which resulted in Gauthier making a save on Ben Meehan. However, Connor Lockhart received a penalty after the whistle for engaging in an altercation with Meehan, which eventually gave Reading a man advantage. The Royals cashed in on that power play, as Kyle Haskins' high shot stunned Gauthier, who was unable to recover to deny Connor Kurth, who swept in the loose puck on the left side of the crease. Wheeling mustered just 16 shots on goal, and suffered the 1-0 defeat. Yaniv Perets only needed to make 16 saves to earn the shutout win for Reading. Taylor Gauthier came up on the short end for the Nailers, despite stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced. The Nailers will continue their homestand with two big games over the weekend, as they will face the Adirondack Thunder on Friday and Saturday nights, with both contests starting at 7:10. Friday night is a Frosty Friday with select $2 beers. Saturday is Margaritaville Night, which will have a post game tropical tribute concert, specialty jerseys, and more. Individual tickets, group tickets, and more are available now by calling (304) 234-GOAL. 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. Read the full article

RAPID CITY, SD- For the second time this week, the Wheeling Nailers and Rapid City Rush played a tight game with lots of shots on goal at The Monument. Wheeling won by the exact same 4-3 final score, but this tilt was decided in regulation. Logan Pietila's shorthanded goal at the 2:04 mark of the third period was the eventual game winner, while Matty De St. Phalle posted his second straight multi-point game with a goal and an assist. Taylor Gauthier took care of business with 31 saves between the pipes. The game got off to an explosive start, as four goals were scored in the opening eight minutes of play, with three of those going to the Nailers. The first marker came at the 4:32 mark. Matthew Quercia sped into the left circle of the offensive zone, then wired a wrist shot into the right side of the twine. Rapid City bounced right back with an equalizer just 22 seconds later. Blake Bennett set up Ryan Wagner, who roofed a one-timer into the top-right corner of the cage from the left circle. Wheeling went right back on top just 66 seconds after that. Matty De St. Phalle's backhander from deep on the left side somehow stayed out of the net, but Craig Armstrong made sure the visitors didn't come away empty-handed, as he buried the rebound from the slot. Next up was a power play goal at the 7:55 mark, as the Nailers converted on their only opportunity of the night. Tristan Thompson let a wrist shot go from the center point, which was tipped home by Matty De St. Phalle. The scoring slowed down significantly in the second period, despite a plethora of shots, as the two teams combined to put 40 shots on the netminders. All but one of those attempts stayed out, and that goal went to the Rush on the power play. Wheeling cleared the zone, leading Rapid City goaltender Connor Murphy to leave the puck for Ryan Wagner. The Rush captain flew down the right side of the ice, before cutting to the net, and shoveling in the tally on his forehand. The Nailers got a key goal at the 2:04 mark of the third period, which gave them a two-goal advantage at the time. Logan Pietila stole the puck in neutral ice, and skated in alone on a shorthanded breakaway. Pietila knew exactly what he wanted to do, as he ripped a shot into the right side of the net. The significance of that tally showed when Rapid City's Blake Bennett lifted in a rebound with 35 seconds left and the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker. Wheeling didn't allow the Rush into the offensive zone with possession after that, closing out the 4-3 road victory. Taylor Gauthier earned the win in goal for the Nailers, as he denied 31 of the 34 shots he faced. Connor Murphy made 37 saves on 41 shots in the loss for Rapid City. The Nailers and Rush will wrap up their three-game series in Rapid City on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. Eastern. Wheeling's next home game is the annual Education Day Game on Wednesday, March 11th at 10:45 a.m. against the Reading Royals. That game is sold out. The Nailers will then play two huge home games against the Adirondack Thunder on Friday, March 13th and Saturday, March 14th. The Saturday game is Margaritaville Night, which will have a post game tropical tribute concert, specialty jerseys, and more. Individual tickets, group tickets, and more are available now by calling (304) 234-GOAL. 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. Read the full article

happy bday taylor Gauthier !

WesBanco Arena has treated the Wheeling Nailers extremely well this season, and last week's three-game homestand proved to be exactly what the team needed in order to return to its winning ways. Wheeling earned five out of six possible points against three Central Division opponents to maintain a seven-point lead atop the ECHL's North Division. The Nailers will depart the Friendly City for a Wednesday night tussle against the Indy Fuel, before returning for three more home games this weekend against the Reading Royals.TRADING ICE SKATES FOR COWBOY BOOTSThis weekend, fans will be invited to saddle up and make their way down to WesBanco Arena for Country Night on Saturday at 7:10. Loop Rawlins, who starred on season nine of America's Got Talent, will be performing his One Man Wild West Show during both intermissions, then he will sign autographs. There will also be a mechanical bull in the main lobby, and there will be country music played throughout the night. Wheeling and Reading will go head-to-head all weekend long. Friday's 7:10 tilt is a Frosty Friday with select $2 beers. After Sunday's 4:10 battle, fans will be able to skate with the odd-numbered players.KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILYPittsburgh native and veteran defenseman Alexander Kuqali made his Wheeling debut on Wednesday night, and in doing so, he became the second member of his family to suit up for the club. Alexander's older brother Nicholas appeared in 25 games for the Nailers during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. The Kuqalis are the 14th family to have two siblings appear in at least one game each for Wheeling. They are the fifth pair of brothers who were not teammates during their respective tenures with the team. Of those five, their 11-year gap between games is the longest in team history, beating out the Hunt family, who saw Trevor play for the Nailers in 2010-11, followed by his younger brother Garet one decade later in 2020-21. Thanks to Alexander's assist in Saturday's game, he and Nicholas both got on the scoresheet for Wheeling, making them the ninth pair of brothers to each have at least one point with the team.A NOD TO THE NETMINDERSThe Nailers earned two victories last week, and both games saw their starting goaltender earn the number one star for shining brightly between the pipes. On Wednesday night, Taylor Gauthier faced the largest workload for a Wheeling netminder in over 17 years, as the Fort Wayne Komets poured 55 shots on goal. Gauthier denied 53 of those attempts to tie for the third most saves in a game by a Nailers goalie all-time. Although he came up short in his bid for a win on Friday night, Gauthier found a different page in the history book, as he stopped a penalty shot by Indy's Jadon Joseph in overtime. It was Gauthier's third career save on a penalty shot, and the first ever faced by a Wheeling goaltender in overtime. Saturday was Maxim Pavlenko's night in the spotlight, as he blocked away all 31 shots sent his way by the Cincinnati Cyclones. The shutout was Pavlenko's fourth with the Nailers this season (also has one with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), which ties him with Fort Wayne's Samuel Jonsson for the most in the ECHL. The four shutouts are also tied for the third most by a rookie in club history.NOT GOING AWAY EASILYThe Nailers have shown lots of resiliency over the course of the 2025-26 season, and some of that was on display last week. On Wednesday night, Wheeling earned its eighth comeback win of the campaign, as Connor Lockhart forced overtime with 4:31 remaining, which set the stage for Brent Johnson's heroics in the extra session. The goal by Lockhart came 21 seconds after Fort Wayne had taken the lead. On Friday night, Indy took a 2-1 lead in the early stages of the third period, but the Nailers once again had a quick answer, as Logan Pietila needed 20 seconds to square the score at two. Although Cincinnati was held off of the scoreboard on Sunday, Wheeling kept its run of quick goals alive, as the team scored twice in a span of 26 seconds to punctuate its five-goal second period. Another area of resiliency for the Nailers comes from their ability to battle back for points. Wheeling has had nine games go past regulation this season, and the Nailers have scored the tying goal in six of those, including all four in the last two weeks.FRESH IN THE MEMORY BANKSThe Nailers won't have to go too far back in the season archives to see how they've fared against their two opponents this week.First up is a Wednesday night road game against the Indy Fuel. Last year, Wheeling and Indy split four games in the inaugural season of Fishers Event Center, and this will be the lone visit there for the Nailers in 2025-26. The Nailers and Fuel have both picked up one victory in this year's season series, which will conclude on the final day of the regular season (April 18th) at WesBanco Arena. After winning in a shootout at Wheeling on Friday, Indy saw its three-game winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 setback against Iowa on Saturday. The Fuel are in fourth place in the Central Division - five points ahead of Cincinnati and two points behind Bloomington.The weekend will be all about the Nailers and Reading Royals, who will play for the ninth, tenth, and 11th times this season. These two rivals split a pair of games on January 23rd and 24th at WesBanco Arena, bringing the season set to a 4-4 deadlock. The series has been extremely tight, with Wheeling holding a slim 19-17 advantage in goals. One area where the Nailers have had a significant upper hand is special teams, as Wheeling has converted on seven of 25 power plays (28.0%), while limiting the Royals to just two goals on 28 chances (7.1%). This weekend is a huge opportunity for the Nailers to increase their lead at the top of the North Division, as they begin the week with a seven-point lead over Reading, plus Wheeling has two games in hand (one of those will be Wednesday at Indy). Adirondack will be keeping an eye on this series from afar, as the Thunder are tied with the Royals and have played in two fewer games than the Nailers. Adirondack plays three games this weekend at South Division leading Atlanta.Buy Tickets for Upcoming GamesFri. Feb. 13 - Frosty FridaySat. Feb. 14 - Country Night, Featuring Loop RawlinsSun. Feb. 15 - Post Game Skate (Odd-Numbered Players) Read the full article