The Wheeling Nailers continued their tremendous success at home over the weekend, taking all six possible points, as they played host to the Reading Royals and South Carolina Stingrays. Peter Delmas helped to provide the exclamation point on Sunday afternoon, as he was perfect on 20 shots, leading the Nailers to a 5-0 shutout win at WesBanco Arena.
The Nailers lit the lamp just 25 seconds into the game, as Zach Hansen banged in the rebound of Chris Higgins’ shot from the right circle. Carl Sneep added to the lead with 3:22 remaining in the opening stanza, blasting a one-timer past Ryan Zapolski from the middle of the blueline. Hansen and Higgins picked up the assists, as Wheeling took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
With 5:09 left in the second period, the Nailers put a power play marker on the board, when Cody Wild rifled in a slap shot from the left point, off of a pass by Zack Torquato. Christiaan Minella capped off the scoring in the middle frame, when he connected on a one-time feed from Cam Fergus, putting Wheeling ahead 4-0 after forty minutes of play.
The three period saw the action heat up even further, as three fights took place, including two battles between Keven Veilleux and Scooter Vaughan. Christiaan Minella iced the Wheeling win with 2:38 to go, when he wristed in a shot from the right circle, as the Nailers were triumphant, 5-0.
Peter Delmas earned his first shutout of the season, and seventh of his career, stopping all 20 shots he faced for the Nailers. Ryan Zapolski took the loss for South Carolina, allowing five goals on 36 shots. Sunday marked just the third time in 20 games that Zapolski allowed more than two goals.
The Nailers will head to Orlando for three games over the weekend, starting on Thursday at 7:00. Wheeling’s next home game takes place on January 25th at 7:00, when the Bakersfield Condors visit West Virginia for the first time.
