Wheeling Nailers Back to Winning Ways with 4-1 Win Over the Elmira Jackals

The Wheeling Nailers bounced back from their first regulation-loss of the year with a complete performance in a 4-1 victory at the Elmira Jackals Saturday night. It is the first win ever for the Nailers in Elmira.

Rookie Matt Grennier scored the Nailers first two goals which were also his first two goals as a pro and Wheeling native Brian Ewing added 2 goals as well including the empty-netter in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

David Brown played perhaps his best of the year with several terrific stops both with the leg-pads as well as with the glove and blocker. The Notre Dame product didn't allow any 'regular' goals and only surrendered a penalty-shot goal to Steve Yetman in the first period.

Trailingjust 2-1 in the 3rdElmira's Moises Gutierrez rang one off the outside of the post for one of the rare times when they actually beat David Brown. Otherwise Brown was aces as was the improved Nailers penalty kill which held Elmira to 0-for-6 on the man advantage.
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Elgin Reid fired a big slapshot from the left point midway through the 3rd period which Brian Ewing chopped down to bounce the redirection past Jackals goalie Michael Teslak for a huge insurance goal.

Elmira pulled their goalie with over 2 minutes remaining but Wheeling thwarted the extra-attacker opportunities and finally raced out of there with a 3-on-1 rush on the empty-net with Goebel feeding it across to Ewing to bury it from inside the left dot.

Matt Grennier played a very nice game. His 2nd goal of the night, the game-winner, came early in the 3rd period when Cliff Loya blasted a slapshot from the point that bounced in the air out of the glove of Teslak and laid in the crease behind him while he tried to find it. Grennier was the first one there to knock it in before Teslak could recover.

His first goal came less than 2 minutes after Elmira had taken the initial lead last in the first period on the slapshot. Tobias Holm put a move on a defender to get some skating room through the neutral zone. Holm's shot deflected off the body of a Jackals defender but Jon Grecu dug it away off the end boards and found Grennier out in front for the lamp-lighter.

The Nailers improve to 7-1-4 and keep pace with the Johnstown Chiefs in the North Division race. The 2nd place Nailers trail Johnstown by 2 points in the division but also have a game-in-hand on the front-runners. Wheeling distances themselves some from the 3rd place teams of Elmira and Dayton who now both trail the Nailers by3 points.

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