photo by: Joe Lovell

Wheeling Nailers forward Logan Pietilla (13) tucks a shot beneath the crossbar past Greensboro goaltender Nikita Quapp as Wheeling’s Connor Lockhart, who assisted on the goal, looks on during the Nailers’ 5-2 win over the Gargoyles Sunday at WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING — It seems like the only thing the Wheeling Nailers do these days is win, win again, and then keep on winning.

On Sunday afternoon, they closed out a stretch of eight games in 12 days by completing a three-game weekend sweep of the Greensboro Gargoyles at WesBanco Arena. The offense was spread throughout the lineup once again as five different players found the back of the net, led by Connor Lockhart, who had one goal and two assists in the 5-2 triumph.

Maxim Pavlenko made 29 saves for his eighth win of the campaign. The Nailers have secured points in nine straight games (8-0-1), and are now 18-3-1 for the first time in their history. Wheeling has opened up a five-point lead for the best record in the ECHL.

The Nailers came out flying and turned on the red light three times before the game was ten minutes old. The first marker came at the 2:04 mark on a three-way passing play with Logan Pietila, Connor Lockhart, and Matty De St. Phalle. The final pass went from Lockhart to De St. Phalle, who chipped a shot into the top shelf from the right edge of the crease. Lockhart scored goal number two at the 8:28 mark, when he clobbered in a one-timer from the left circle, which was set up by Ryan Mahshie. 1:21 later, Zach Urdahl upped the advantage to three, when he gloved down an aerial pass from Brent Johnson, battled past the defense, and lifted a backhander over goaltender Nikita Quapp’s right shoulder.

Both teams put a mark on the board in the middle frame. The Gargoyles started with their first goal of the match at the 8:59 mark. Tyler Weiss got the puck along the right side of the goal line, and proceeded to toss a shot toward the net, which bounced off of Maxim Pavlenko’s left arm and in. Wheeling regained its three-goal lead with 3:30 remaining. Lockhart and Pietila were alone behind the defense, and the only question was would end up taking the shot. The answer was Pietila, who shoveled a shot up and under the crossbar from the left side of the slot.

Greensboro temporarily pulled within two when David Gagnon cleaned up the rebound of Anthony Rinaldi’s breakaway. However, the Nailers officially put the game away with Ryan Mahshie’s empty netter for a 5-2 final score.

Maxim Pavlenko earned his fourth straight win and third of the week, as he blocked away 29 of the 31 shots he faced for Wheeling. Nikita Quapp made 29 saves on 33 shots in the loss for the Gargoyles.

The Nailers will play their next six games on the road, starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Reading.

NAILERS 3, GARGOYLES 1 (SATURDAY)

The Nailers had a few magic tricks up their sleeves on Saturday night to celebrate Wizards & Wands: Spells in the Snow at WesBanco Arena against the Greensboro Gargoyles.

The first trick was making an early deficit disappear. Then, Matty De St. Phalle made thousands of teddy bears fly onto the ice for the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss. Finally, Taylor Gauthier turned into a brick wall in his return to the lineup, as Wheeling was victorious, 3-1.

Gauthier made his season debut for Wheeling and delivered another great performance, as he denied 22 of the 23 shots he faced. Ruslan Khazheyev made 23 saves on 25 shots in the loss for the Gargoyles.