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I have wanted to add a smattering of Wheeling Nailers coverage here on the blog for a while, because when players get called up to Pittsburgh or injured in Wilkes-Barre, most of the time they came from the Nailers. Being able to watch the Nailers on ECHL.TV to get an idea of what a guy will bring when called upon when he gets to Coal Street is an asset I would like to have.

I don’t really know what they plan is going to be with these, obviously if there is a Wilkes-Barre game or something else going on my attention will be there and I can’t recap every game. I want to shoot for at least one a week, depending on schedules.

Anyway, the Nailers were in Brampton, Ontario this afternoon paying off the back end of a home and home with the Beast. This is the recap of a 4-3 win by the Wheeling Nailers.

The Nailers started Brian Foster in net, who was looking for his first win. He was opposed by Eddie Pasquale.

It was a hot start by the Nailers in the first period. It started with a nice chip out of the defensive zone by Paul Cianfrini to Shane Bakker who was off with Cody Wydo. Wydo finished the two on one to put the Nailers ahead just 2:17 into the game.

:41 later and off an offensive zone face-off, Clark Seymour scored his second goal in as many games to put Wheeling ahead just 3:20 into the game.

The Nailers were facing Eddie Pasquale in net. You may remember the name as the goaltender that was signed but never played for the Hershey Bears last year. Pasquale finally settled down and made a nice glove save on Adam Krause bearing down on a rush late in the first.

The Nailers outshot the Beast 10-7 in the first period.

Matthew Maione opened the scoring for the Beast from a shot from the point with bodies in front of Foster to put Brampton on the board at 3:50 of the second. Maione was in camp with Wilkes-Barre in preseason this year.

As the teams were 4-on-4 the Beast tied it at two on a low angle shot by Brandon Marino, but the Nailers got the lead right back as the penalty to Derek Army expired on the power play. John McCarron scored his first professional goal when he punched in a rebound of a Sahir Gill shot that put the Nailers ahead 3-2 just :57 after Brampton had tied it.

Brampton thought they tied the game at three on a power play in the final seconds of the period, but the shot came after the horn had sounded. There is no replay in the ECHL and Brampton didn’t argue referee Nic Leduc’s washout of the would be goal much, if at all.

The Nailers would double their lead in the third period on the power play when Derek Army backhanded one past Pasquale at 11:55.

Wheeling took one too many offensive zone penalties and Brandon Marino scored for the Beast on the power play at the top of the right circle for his second goal of the afternoon.

The Beast used their time out with under two minutes to play, pulled Pasquale and had boatloads of offensive zone time. Wheeling captain Shane Bakker blocked two shots. The Nailers iced and with 1.3 seconds left, a Matthew Maione shot went wide and time expired.

Three stars were Brampton’s Matt Maione with a goal, Wheeling’s Derek Army with a goal and two assists and Brampton’s Brandon Marino with two goals.

The Nailers improve to 3-1 on the season and first place in the North Division. They host the Adirondack Thunder on Friday, October 30.

Here were some of my observations…

– Harrison Ruopp was very physical, throwing guys around all over the place.
– Sahir Gill is a playmaker at the ECHL level. He has two assists today.
– The Nailers have a rookie defenseman by the name of Mike Gunn from Northeastern University out of Hockey East who I was really impressed with. He cleaned pucks away from the front of Foster and played an overall solid game. He could be a name to watch in the future either with the Penguins or some other AHL team.

Again, I plan on trying to do this at least once a week, as my schedule allows. Maybe this Saturday when the Nailers host the Quad City Mallards?

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I thought this tweet from Tom Venesky from The Times Leader summed up the Penguins 3-2 overtime win over the Springfield Falcons nicely:

[tweet https://twitter.com/TLTomVenesky/status/658111282843942912]

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After playing from behind pretty much the whole game, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and somehow manage to win the game in overtime. The penalty killing was phenomenal, starting goaltender Matt Murray was again stellar in net and the Penguins just found a way, like most teams do.

It was surprisingly Matt Murray against Louis Domingue in net again tonight, scuttlebutt here on this blog and elsewhere was that Tristan Jarry was going to get his first home start of the season but it was not to be.

The Penguins called up Ty Loney from the Wheeling Nailers earlier today. He was in for the injured Tom Sestito who Coach Sullivan told Venesky after the game has a lower body injury and will get re-evaluated on Monday. Niclas Andersen was in for Reid McNeill on defense. Here is a look at the rest of the lines…

Scott Wilson – J-S Dea – Conor Sheary
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Simon
Dominik Uher – Oskar Sundqvist – Tom Kostopoulos
Ty Loney – Matia Marcantuoni – Josh Archibald

Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Niclas Andersen – David Warsofsky
Tim Erixon – Will O’Neill

Matt Murray – Tristan Jarry

First Period: The Falcons jumped ahead with third first go ahead goal of the season and their first lead of the year I think when ex-Penguin Dustin Jeffrey ripped one past Matt Murray for a 1-0 lead. Then, it appeared that J-S Dea scored but upon video review he; 1) never put a stick on the puck going in (he was pushed from behind) 2) interfered with Domingue to a point to where the goaltender was unable to play his position and 3) may have kicked the puck in the net. When referee Ben Moser waved off the goal, there wasn’t much argument from the Penguins bench.

Later, Scott Wilson did score a goal on a nice wraparound the net, got Domingue down and roofed it over him for a tie game.

Shots after one were 15-5 Springfield. Mainly because the Penguins spent almost half the period killing penalties.

Second Period: The trend would continue. The Falcons go ahead from a shot from the near wall that Murray never seals off on on and its 2-1 Falcons. The Penguins were taking penalty after penalty and were not able to build any momentum. They looked desperate, almost like the 0-4 team they were playing against in Springfield. The penalty kill was great, going 5-for-5 to this point.

Third Period: Tom Kuhnhackl scored on an NHL caliber snipe of a shot. He had a quick step off the blue line while the Falcons were trying to carry the puck out of the zone. Dominik Simon found him, and all of a sudden he had room to take a shot low and to the blocker side of Domingue, who never was able to get to it in time. Tie game. The Penguins were finally starting to find their legs and generate chances, several of which nearly gave them the lead and command of the game but Domingue held the fort for the Falcons. It was onto…

Overtime: Thirty-six seconds in and Dominik Simon backhanded a shot over Domingue and in for the overtime winner.

Three Stars: 3) Scott Wilson (goal, +1) 2) Greg Carey (goal, assist, +2) and 1) Dominik Simon (game winning overtime goal, assist, +2)

Around the Division: Albany extracts some revenge on Portland and wins 3-1 in their home opener…Chris Bourque nets the overtime game winning goal for the Hershey Bears in overtime as they defeat the Hartford WolfPack 3-2…St. John’s beats Bridgeport 3-2 and Lehigh Valley defeats Providence 3-1.

Standings: Penguins (.833 win percentage) — Hartford (.750) — Bridgeport (.714) — Portland (.600) — Hershey (.600) — Providence (.429) — Lehigh Valley (.400) — Springfield (.100)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers won their home opener against the Brampton Beast by a score of 5-1. Derek Army had a goal and two assists. Clark Seymour and Sahir Gill had goals as well.

Here is your post game info graphic…

[tweet https://twitter.com/WBSPenguins/status/658111496854052864]

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Penguins are back in action Wednesday at home against the Binghamton Senators. I’ll have a chart refresh up on the blog sometime Sunday and the Week 3 AHL Power Rankings on the blog Monday at 4. Check it all out then!

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I wonder if Springfield Falcons fans dread playing the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins in recent years. Here’s why…

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Tonight, a 38 save shutout performance, his first of the season, as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins roll to a 5-0 victory tonight in Central Massachusetts.

Murray opposed Louis Domingue.

Lines were…

Scott Wilson – J-S Dea – Conor Sheary
Tom Kuhnhackl – Carter Rowney – Dominik Simon
Dominik Uher – Oskar Sundqvist – Tom Kostopoulos
Josh Archibald – Matia Marcantuoni – Tom Sestito

Derrick Pouliot – Steve Oleksy
Reid McNeill – David Warsofsky
Will O’Neill – Tim Erixon

Matt Murray – Tristan Jarry

Lineup Notes: Niclas Andersen was out for the newly demoted Tim Erixon, who was re-assigned by Pittsburgh this week. J-S Dea jumped into the spot vacated by the suspended Kael Mouillierat, serving the first of his two games. Tom Kuhnhackl moved up to the second line left wing with Carter Rowney and Dominik Simon. Barry Goers and Tyler Biggs are still hurt.

First Period: This period had everything but a goal. Sustained pressure by both teams, end to end action and 28 total shots by both teams. Penguins went 0-for-3 on a power play that never really threatened. The Falcons matched the Penguins intensity and outshot Wilkes-Barre 17-11.

Second Period: In a game which was settling into a defensive battle, the team that takes advantage of the opponents mistakes usually, if not always, comes out on top. For the the Penguins, the power play has been clicking really well of late, so much so that it is tops in all the AHL.

It worked to their advantage twice in the period. First, it was Derrick Pouliot on this nice shot from the high slot…

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The other, Tom Kostopoulos’ 350th point in a Penguin sweater on a tip in front from a Scott Wilson shot from the high right circle…

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In what was a defensive battle that ended in a draw in the first period with neither team scoring, the second period was a special teams battle with the Penguins scoring twice and the Falcons coming up empty twice in between the Wilkes-Barre power play goals.

One note from the period, Tom Sestito left the game at some point, I think it was in the first period, and did not return.

Third Period: Springfield never pressured Wilkes-Barre to the point of really testing Murray, became desperate as time melted away and the Penguins scored two empty net goals. The first was Scott Wilson, the second was Matia Marcantuoni.

For good measure, the Penguins tacked on another goal, this time with Domingue in the net. Dominik Simon got a piece of this Tim Erixon blast…

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The game was much closer than the score line would indicate, especially in the first period where Springfield came out guns blazing. The Falcons are under a new affiliation with Arizona and are still looking for their first win of the season, so there are growing pains involved in the process.

Three Stars: 3) Tom Kostopoulos (goal, assist, even) 2) Derrick Pouliot (goal, two assists, +1) and 1) Matt Murray (38 save shutout)

Nice breakout game for Pouliot, hitting the scoresheet three times. Have said for a while that his pedigree is something that Wilkes-Barre must use to the fullest, because he is not going to be an AHLer for very much longer.

Around the Division: Portland scored four unanswered at home and beat Albany 4-2, those two will race to the Capital District and rematch tomorrow in New York…Hartford slipped past Syracuse 4-3…Hershey bested Utica in New York in their first matchup since the Utica Devils were a thing by a score 1-0. Hershey’s home opener is tomorrow against Hartford…Providence beat a banged up Lehigh Valley side by a score of 5-3. Bridgeport was the only Atlantic Division team off tonight. The Sound Tigers are in Newfoundland and take on the IceCaps Saturday.

Standings: Bridgeport (.833 percentage points) — Penguins (.800) — Hartford (.800) — Portland (.750) — Providence (.500) — Hershey (.500) — Lehigh Valley (.250) — Springfield (.000)

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off tonight and host the Brampton Beast at WesBanco Arena in the home opener for Wheeling Saturday night.

SendToNews Highlights: I may check in the morning, but doubt they will go up.

Penguins and Falcons will race to Pennsylvania for the rematch at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday night at 7:05. Gameday for this will hit the blog Saturday at 3 p.m.

Let’s Go Pens!