Nailers Fall Flat At Home Against Komets
Fort Wayne snaps 5-game losing streak
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WHEELING -- Three games, 14 goals and a single point in the standings. That's the autopsy of the Wheeling Nailers' weekend.
Sunday at WesBanco Arena, former Nailer J.C. Campagna scored twice and assisted on a third goal as Fort Wayne (22-17-3 -- 47) built a big lead before hanging on late for a 5-4 victory against the Nailers (20-20-3 -- 43) that snapped a five-game losing streak. It was the third straight game in which Wheeling scored at least four goals, but each time they came up one short.
''We've got to become a team that works consistently harder,'' Wheeling coach Mike Bavis said. ''We tend to work and then play a little too cute and we lose some momentum through that, versus we can really pin some teams down if we get after their 'D' and we're hard on them.
''But it comes and it goes and it hasn't become a part of our identity for 60 minutes. We need to do that because we play too many teams that have too much offensive skill, where if we're in the offensive zone for one play and out we're in trouble.''
Cedric Lacroix game the Nailers a 2-1 lead at 10:54 of the second, thanks in part to a fortunate bounce. Yushi Hirano's centering feed deflected off a loose stick and right to Lacroix, who backhanded his 12th of the season past Komets goaltender Eric Levine.
However, Fort Wayne knotted the score and then took the lead for good before the period ran its course. Marc-Olivier Roy fired a shot from the left circle that ricocheted off a pair of Wheeling bodies and past goaltender John Muse at 13:28.
Campagna made it 3-2 Fort Wayne with his 20th at 16:58. Kevin Gibson's point shot rang the far post and Campagna was there to put the puck into an open net before Muse, who stopped 20 of 25 in his second consecutive rough outing, could recover.
''I thought John did more than give us a chance to win,'' Bavis said. ''When a forward runs into a week or two of his game not being right, it's not under the bright lights.
''When it's a goaltender feeling a little bit off and it shows up immediately, everybody's eyes go there. But John's game was sharp.''
To illustrate just how tough of a weekend it was for the Nailers, they were inches away from making it a 3-3 game only to have Levine stone Robbie Hall on a backdoor one-timer. At the other end of the ice Fort Wayne's Brady Shaw took his man wide before centering the puck to the front for Anthony Petruzzelli to tap home his 12th to increase the margin to 4-2.
It got worse when Shawn Szydlowski sprung Campagna on a breakaway, where he beat Muse 5-hole for a 5-2 cushion at 14:29 of the third.
''I looked at the second-period goals and the third one hit two of our guys in the arm and the fourth one we had a major breakdown coming into the zone and (Muse) had to come across to make a big save and the puck lands right on the guy's stick … he's practically in the corner,'' Bavis said. ''John played well.
''In our division we've hung tough and we've been able to stay neck-and-neck, but that's getting even harder because Indy seems to have turned it on a little bit.
''Depending on what happens with some of the guys who have been recalled and getting some of the guys healthy … as of (Sunday) morning we only had six defensemen and we called Jake Schultz up (from the SPHL) and I thought he did a real nice job.''
The Nailers finally found their game late in the third to make things interesting. Immediately after a face-off win Yushi Hirano whistled his 13th into the net for a power-play goal -- the seventh straight game Wheeling's top-ranked PP has connected -- at 16:45.
Then, Zac Lynch pounded home the team's 13th shorthanded goal, and his 13th overall this season, to get it to within 5-4 with 32 seconds remaining. Wheeling had one last push but Levine, who made 31 saves on 35 shots, stood tall as the horn sounded.
Hirano and Lynch, who had three points each, extended their points streaks to eight games. Alex Rauter also scored for the Nailers, notching his 10th that tied the game 1-1 at 9:33 of the first.
''I've got to find a way to get some 'D' healthy, whether that means acquiring one or getting one back,'' Bavis said. ''We're asking a lot of those six and now seven right now.
''I think if we could solidify that we feel good about bringing our game back to the level it's been for I don't know, about two months.''