photo by: Joe Lovell

Nailers forward Matthew Quercia advances the puck as forward Gabe Klassen trails him Sunday against the Cincinnati Cyclones at WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Nailers can celebrate their first winning weekend in a little more than a month, as they defeated the Cincinnati Cyclones 3-1 at WesBanco Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Kyle Jackson and Isaac Belliveau put Wheeling ahead 2-0 before the match was ten minutes old, then Zach Gallant capped off his three-point day with a power play goal in the third. Taylor Gauthier was solid in goal yet again with 25 saves, as the Nailers dropped their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to 13.

The Nailers got off to another great start, as they not only scored first for the third day in a row, but they put two on the board in the opening stanza.

The first tally came almost immediately, as only 2:21 had ticked off of the clock. Kyle Jackson took a feed from Zach Gallant, skated into the left circle, and whipped a wrist shot through Colton Incze’s legs. Wheeling added a second strike when Gallant made a pass to Isaac Belliveau, who launched a slap shot from the left point up and into the top-right corner of the cage.

The Cyclones switched goaltenders at that point, as Vyacheslav Peksa played the rest of the contest.

The shots on goal advantage remained in favor of the Nailers in the second period, but Cincinnati closed the gap to one with a shorthanded strike at the 3:02 mark. Wheeling turned the puck over at its own blue line, which gave Chas Sharpe a breakaway. Sharpe deked to his backhand, and banked a shot off of the left post, off of Taylor Gauthier, and in over the goal line.

The score stayed 2-1 for the majority of the third period, before the Nailers added an insurance goal with 4:58 remaining. Jordan Martel took the puck off of the left wing wall and fed Gallant, who drilled a one-timer through Vyacheslav Peksa’s legs. Wheeling killed off a penalty with 2:47 left and took the 3-1 triumph to the finish line.

Taylor Gauthier allowed only one goal for his sixth consecutive start for the Nailers, as he earned the win by thwarting 25 of the 26 shots he faced. The victory was his 44th in a Wheeling uniform, which ties him for third in team history. Colton Incze gave up two goals on three shots to take the loss in his professional debut for the Cyclones. Vyacheslav Peksa was 26-of-27 in relief.

The Nailers will head on the road this week for three games against Central Division foes. The trip begins in Toledo on Friday and Saturday at 7:15 p.m. and concludes in Indy on Sunday at 4 p.m.

KOMETS 5, NAILERS 3 (SATURDAY)

WHEELING — The Wheeling Nailers had the luck of the Irish going their way for two periods against the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night at WesBanco Arena, but the third period went in the other direction as the Komets scored four unanswered goals to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 decision in their favor.

Jordan Martel, Matthew Quercia, and Logan Pietila scored for Wheeling, while Zach Gallant and Jack Works picked up their first points with their new club.

Connor Ungar picked up the victory for the Komets, as he made 26 saves on 29 shots. Jaxon Castor stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced, but suffered the defeat for the Nailers.