For the first time this season, the Wheeling Nailers and Trois-Rivieres Lions met in a North Division weekend series where points are the most important. Heading into the weekend series, the Nailers were sitting with a 4-3-0-0 record, while the Lions were sitting with a 3-2-1-0 record. In a tightly contested weekend series, both teams came away with a win apiece.
Friday Night Recap
Despite a 32-16 shot advantage through the game in favor of the Nailers, high-quality shots from the Lions gave them a 5-4 overtime win. Both powerplays struck as the Lions went 2 for 4, and the Nailers were 1 for 4.
The scoring opened early in the game as the Lions tallied the first goal. Just 5:25 into the first period, Tommy Cormier sprung Chris Jandric on a breakaway, who made no mistake in going five hole on Jaxon Castor. At 9:51 of the first, Jordan Martel came in clutch again in the young season as he knotted the game at one. Receiving a pass from Sam Houde, Martel riffled a shot from the middle of the ice and past the blocker of Hunter Jones. The Nailers continued to pour on the pressure throughout the first period as they tallied 17 shots, but Jones stood tall as the period ended tied at one.
Goals were not hard to come by in the second period despite the shot total being just 7-6 in favor of the Lions. The Nailers found themselves down to 4-on-3 penalty kill as Louie Roehl was sent to the box for interference at 3:22. On the ensuing powerplay, Anthony Beauregard gave the Lions a 2-1 lead with a shot from the left-wing circle that beat Castor to the blocker side. It did not take Wheeling long to tie the game back up as Matty De St. Phalle scored on a crazy bounce. He was all alone on a breakaway and shot the puck low on Jones, who made the save. The puck deflected up and over Jones and into the back of the net. Three and a half minutes later, the Nailers took their first lead. A rebound was left out in front off a shot from Jack Beck as Atley Calvert was following the play and banged home the rebound. The Lions would not go away, however, as they tied the game back up at three just under two minutes after Wheeling took the lead. Entering the zone, Anthony Beauchamp took a shot on net and found the stick of Tyler Hylland who tipped the puck over the shoulder of Castor.
The final frame, again, saw a low shot total, as there were 12 shots taken between the two squads. Just 12 seconds into the third period, the Lions took a 4-3 lead thanks to Jakov Novak. It took the Nailers a little while after the Lions’ goal, but they would eventually knot the game once again at 11:14. A faceoff win and a shot on net led to a scramble in front of the net. Matthew Quercia found the puck and buried it home, sending the game to an inevitable overtime. 4:04 into the sudden death frame, the Lions came away with the game-winning goal as Novak tallied his second goal of the night to secure the extra point.
Saturday, November 9 Recap
Game two of the weekend set between the Lions and Nailers was much like the first game, but with higher penalty minutes total and more opportunities from the Lions.
Wheeling got the scoring started early in the game, as it took just 30 seconds for it to take a 1-0 lead thanks to Kyle Jackson’s third goal of the season. At the 6:32 mark of the first period, Novak collected his third goal of the weekend to level the game at one. Just under four minutes later, Cole Cameron picked up his second goal of the season to give the Nailers a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
A goal-heavy second period would see the Nailers take a 4-1 lead over the Lions as Nick Hutchison started the second period scoring at 5:49. At 7:11, De St. Phalle gave the Nailers their 4-1 lead, but the Lions fought back hard. At 16:35, they brought the game to within two as Beauchamp collected his second goal of the weekend. At 18:23, Jandric brought the game to 4-3 in favor of the Nailers. After a valiant second and third period by the Lions, they could not find that game-tying goal as the Nailers took a 4-3 win. Sergei Murashov picked up the win as he made 27 saves. Zachary Emond picked up the loss with 16 saves and tallied an assist on the third Lions’ goal.
