CINCINNATI, OH- The Wheeling Nailers will enter the holiday break with a joyous feeling, as they collected their third straight victory, and swept a home-and-home series against the Cincinnati Cyclones at Heritage Bank Center. Dillon Hamaliuk put Wheeling ahead for good at the 8:05 mark of the third period in a game which was dominated by the special teams for the Nailers. Wheeling scored twice on the power play, once shorthanded, and killed all eight Cincinnati man advantages. The best penalty killer was Taylor Gauthier, who improved to 5-0-1 in his last six starts with 35 saves.
Wheeling’s special teams shined in the first period, as the visitors got on the board with a power play goal and a shorthanded marker. The power play strike came first, when Lukas Svejkovsky sped down the right side of the ice. It appeared that Svejkovsky may turn behind the goal, but instead banked the puck off the back of Cincinnati goaltender Olof Lindbom and in over the goal line. The shorthanded goal came 3:06 later. Jordan Frasca and Matt Koopman exchanged passes on a 2-on-1 break, and Frasca eventually took his time in the right circle, then whipped a shot through Lindbom’s legs.
The score remained 2-0 for the majority of a penalty-filled middle frame, but with 1:34 remaining, the Cyclones pulled within one. Nick Isaacson spun the puck off the wall and into the low slot for a wide-open Sahil Panwar, who roofed a wrist shot into the top-left corner of the cage. The goal ended Taylor Gauthier’s shutout streak at 144:16.
Justin Vaive tied the score for Cincinnati with a breakaway wrist shot up and under the crossbar 1:14 into the third, but the Nailers quickly dusted themselves off and went back to work to regain the lead. 11 seconds after killing a penalty, Wheeling netted the go-ahead tally. Cédric Desruisseaux came out of the box and touched the puck ahead to Dillon Hamaliuk, who cruised into the right circle, and drilled a shot through Lindbom’s legs. 2:58 later, the power play converted once more for a key insurance marker. Isaac Belliveau slid a pass into the left circle, where Jordan Martel clobbered home his second man advantage goal in three contests since joining the Nailers. Gauthier and the 8-for-8 penalty kill took care of the final 8:57 to preserve the 4-2 triumph.
Taylor Gauthier was phenomenal between the pipes again for Wheeling, as he denied 35 of the 37 shots he faced. Olof Lindbom suffered the loss for the Cyclones, as he made 29 saves on 33 shots.
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