WHEELING — If there’s one thing everyone knows, it’s that fans appreciate winning, and on Fan Appreciation Night, the Wheeling Nailers delivered.

Matt Koopman, Sebastian Dirven, and David Jankowski all scored the first goals of their pro careers as the Nailers closed out their home schedule with a 4-3 triumph over the Fort Wayne Komets.

The Nailers had a superb start to their evening, as they pumped three pucks into the net in the first period. The first goal took just 1:28 to develop. Matt Koopman’s initial shot whistled wide, but the rebound hopped out to Cedric Desruisseaux. His backhander rang off the crossbar, but that loose puck went to Koopman, who got rewarded as he popped in the first goal of his pro career. Another first came less than five minutes later. Peter DiLiberatore slipped a pass across the blueline for Sebastian Dirven, who drilled a one-timer along the ice and in from the right point. 38 seconds after that, Wheeling put another one on the board during a delayed penalty. Peter Laviolette laid a punishing check, which led to a retalation infraction by the Komets. However, the power play never happened, thanks to Tyler Drevitch, who flipped a backhander inside of the right post.

The 3-0 score came less than one second away from carrying all the way through the middle frame, but Fort Wayne got on the board with 0.9 on the clock. Garrett Van Wyhe centered the puck into the low slot, where Andy Willis scraped his first pro goal along the ice on the right side.

Just over five minutes into the third period, the Nailers extended their lead, as David Jankowski joined the parade of first career goals when he rifled a wrist shot from the slot into the the cage.

The Komets pulled within one as they struck twice in a span of 14 seconds, but couldn’t get the equalizer.

Brad Barone earned the win in goal for the Nailers for the second straight night, as he thwarted 32 of the 35 shots he faced. Rylan Parenteau took the loss for Fort Wayne, as he made 30 saves on 34 shots.

The Nailers will play their final three games of the season in Coralville, Iowa, as they will face the Heartlanders on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.