WHEELING, West Virginia – A pair of third period goals by the Wheeling Nailers (30-25-0-3) broke a scoreless tie and turned out to be just enough to sneak past the Cincinnati Cyclones (25-23-6-3) by a 2-1 score at WesBanco Arena on Friday night. With the victory, the Nailers also took the 2010-11 season series against the Cyclones eight games to three.
Both teams traded six shots in the opening period but neither was able to dent the scoreboard. In fact, the first 40 minutes went without a goal as both goaltenders stayed very busy. Cincinnati netminder Brian Foster (L, 21 saves, 3-2-1) turned aside 15 shots in the first two frames while Peter Delmas (W, 18 saves, 9-4-0) stopped all 14 he faced heading into the second intermission.
Unfortunately, early in the third period, the Nailers jumped out to a lead when Doug Rogers sent home a bouncing puck past Foster not even five minutes in. Then, at the 9:55 mark, Joey Haddad took a loose puck from in the face-off circle and dangled past the Cincinnati goalie to extend Wheeling’s cushion to a pair. The Cyclones finally found some offense during a four-on-four situation when Samson Mahbod slammed home his eight goal of the season from just inside the Wheeling blue line at the 17:33 mark, pulling his team within a goal in the final minutes. However, despite an empty net for the Cyclones and a couple close calls, the Nailers held on to win by a 2-1 score.
The Cyclones Radio Network Three Stars of the Game are as follows:
1. Joey Haddad (Game-winning goal for Wheeling)
2. Peter Delmas (Winning goalie, 18 saves)
3. Brian Foster (21 saves for Cincinnati)
The defending Kelly Cup Champions will return to U.S. Bank Arena tomorrow night when they host the Toledo Walleye at 7:30pm. It will be a Kids Jersey T-Shirt night where the first 2,500 fans ages 2-12 will receive a #24 Kevin Roeder Kids Jersey T-Shirt FREE courtesy of Sun Drop. 2010-11 single game and discounted group tickets are available now. 2011-12 season tickets go on sale to the general public on March 5. For more information, call 513.421.PUCK (7825) or visit CyclonesHockey.com.
Click here for tonight’s box score.
Nailers Sneak by Cyclones, 2-1
