On Tuesday morning, the Wheeling Nailers hosted the Fort Wayne Komets on Education Day at WesBanco Arena for the first of five games this season. Sergei Murashov saw his sixth start of the season between the pipes for the Nailers, and Brett Brochu got his seventh start of the season for the Komets.
Period 1
Despite it being the first meeting of the season, the first period had a ton of high pace, back and forth action as both teams were creating chances. However, Murashov had to come up big as Wheeling were outshot by a 13-7 margin. The first big chance of the game came at 7:20 of the first period as Fort Wayne’s Anthony Petruzzelli was left all alone in front of the net and received a pass to quickly throw one on net. Murashov came up with the right-pad save to keep the game scoreless. The 20-shot total first period came to an endless score as both goalies were perfect through 20 minutes of play.
Period 2
After 27 minutes of scoreless hockey, the Jack Beck opened the scoring for the Nailers with his first professional hockey goal and eight point through 10 games. A great transition play from the Nailers’ Nick Hutchison turn the puck up ice and find Beck on the far side of the Komets’ blue line. He received the pass from Hutchison, skated in, and rifled a shot from just above the right-wing circle and over the right pad of Brochu. The remainder of the second period was sloppy from both teams. With just under six minutes left, the Komets came inches away from tying the game. A shot from the left-wing circle by Alex Aleardi got through both Wheeling defenders trying to block the shot and Murashov, but did not beat the post as the puck rang off the post and stayed out. Wheeling took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission as Murashov remained perfect, stopping all 20 shots he faced.
Period 3
The Nailers came out hot in the third period as they extended their lead to two on just their first shot of the period at 1:05. Fort Wayne’s Kyle Mayhew had the puck behind his own net, but looked to be tripped up by the skate of Dustin Manz, causing a turnover. Matthew Quercia capitalized on the no call as he gathered control of the puck, and used his quick hands to bury it for his third goal of the season.
Following two more shots from Wheeling, Fort Wayne would have the next next eight, and finally beat Murashov with a powerplay goal as Logan Pietila was sent off for Hooking at 6:45. It took just two shots on the powerplay for Jack Dugan to collect his first goal of the season. Mayhew took a shot from the blueline for Dugan to tip, but could not get it on net. The puck popped up in the air, and he batted it in with outstanding hand-eye coordination to make it a one-goal game. Though they were outshot by a 13-8 total in the third, an empty-net goal from Manz at 19:09 put the game away as Wheeling skated away with a 3-1 win.
Wheeling improved to 6-3-1-0 for 13 points and sit second in the North Division standings. Despite the loss, Fort Wayne still sits in second in the Central Division with a 7-2-0-0 record, good enough for 14 points.
Three Stars
- Murashov (32 saves)
- Beck (1g)
- Quercia (1g)
Game Stats
Powerplay
Fort Wayne: 1/1
Wheeling: 0/1
Shots
Fort Wayne: 33
Wheeling: 20
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