Game Day: Admirals Sail Into Wheeling for Two-Game Set

Game #36

Admirals (13-18-3-1) vs Nailers (19-15-3-0)

WesBanco Arena

7:05 pm

Last Time Out:

The Admirals had their eight-game point streak snapped Wednesday night in Atlanta as the Gladiators scored the last three goals of the night, topping the Admirals 4-1.

Atlanta scored on the opening shot of the game just 0:16 into regulation to take an early 1-0 lead. In the second period the Admirals would get their only goal of the night off the stick of Don Olivieri just under five minutes in to tie the game at 1-1. The Gladiators would score in the waning moment of the middle frame to retake the lead heading into the locker room.

In the third Atlanta would score twice more halting Norfolk’s point streak at eight-games.

Scouting the Nailers:

Wheeling is led offensively by the ECHL’s second leading rookie scorer Cam Brown. The forward has 36 points (9g, 27a) in 37 games with the Nailers. Reid Gardiner, another rookie, rankes first on the team in goals with 16. Wheeling is without second leading scorer Cody Wydo who is currently on recall in Wilkes Barre-Scranton.

Between the pipes Adam Morrison has played 12 games for the Nailers posting a 5-7-0-0 record to go along with a 3.03 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. Will King (9 gp) and Colin Stevens (6 gp) have also seen time between the pipes for Wheeling this season.

Wheeling heads into the weekend set with Norfolk having taken points in four of five games during the month of January, including back-to-back victories in the last two games.

Head-to-Head:

The Admirals and Nailers wrap up the season series this weekend with a pair of games at WesBanco Arena. Norfolk has won two of the first four matchups this season including a 3-2 OT victory at the Scope on January 3. Wheeling won the only previous meeting at WesBanco Arena 5-3 on November 12. In the overall series, each team has come away victorious on five occasions.

Norfolk’s Christian Horn leads the Admirals in the season series with three goals, all which came in his hat trick on January 3. Admirals captain Brodie Dupont leads all skaters in the series with seven points (1g, 6a). Four other Admirals (Alberga, Angeli, Besse, Helgesen) have scored against the Nailers this season.

Wheeling’s Garrett Meurs paces the Nailers with six points (4g, 2a) in the four-game set. A trio of Nailers sit behind Meurs with three points. The forward Meurs is the only active Nailer to score more than once against Norfolk this season.

Called Up:

Norfolk will be without forward Thomas Frazee after the North Vancouver native was recalled by the San Antonio Rampage on Thursday evening. Frazee had tallied 23 points (7g, 16a) in 28 ECHL games split between the Admirals and Gladiators this season. Frazee was acquired by Norfolk in a five-player deal with Atlanta in November. This is Frazee’s second recall this season, he did not play in any games during his first stint with the Rampage.

Streaks Ended:

The Wednesday night loss to Atlanta snapped the Admirals eight-game point streak, and marked the teams’ first regulation road loss since December 10.  The eight-game streak was the longest since the Admirals rejoined the ECHL in the 2015-16 season. The previous high was six-games, which came in the form of a win streak last season.

In addition to the teams’ point streak, Admirals captain Brodie Dupont had his six-game point streak ended in the loss to Atlanta. The streak was one-game shy of Dupont’s North American career high. The seven-game streak came last season from Dec. 31- Jan. 20.

Rare Out of Division Foes:

This weekend’s games will be only the second and third time in a 20-game stretch that the team will face non-divisional opponents. Through the first 16 games of the season the Admirals only played three games against inter-division foes. Since mid-December the Admirals have seen only the Nailers outside of the South Division. Heading into the weekend the Admirals are 8-6-3-1 against South Division opponents, while the team has fared not quite as well against the North going 3-9-0-0 in 12 games.

In early February, the Admirals will play five-straight games against the North Division when they host Reading