Nailers Lose Again

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Entering this past weekend, the Wheeling Nailers hadn't lost two consecutive regulation games in a row all season.

However, with a lost weekend now in the books, coach Greg Puhalski's North Division-leading squad now finds itself in a three-game tailspin after losing for the third time in as many days.

Cincinnati center Brandon Scero scored a pair of goals and Justin Johnson accounted for a goal and two assists as the Cyclones blew into Wheeling and posted a 6-4 victory against the suddenly struggling Nailers at Wesbanco Arena in a Sunday matinee affair.

Even with the third straight setback, Wheeling (22-9-1) remains in first place in the North with 49 points, three better than idle Johnstown. The Nailers currently sit two points behind their entire total of 51 from last season.

''Whenever you go into a weekend with the chance to pick up as many as six points and get none, it is not a very good thing,'' Puhalski commented. ''The big thing is that we gave up 19 goals in three days and it is really tough to win when you do that.

''Sometimes the offense will come and go, but you have to play solid defense at all times to be successful and we didn't do that this weekend. To top things off, we did nothing to create any offense and that makes things doublely tough.''

Cincinnati (18-15-2 - 41) is sitting in fourth place in the division and wasted little time getting things going. After jumping to a 2-0 first-period advantage, the Cyclones watched the hosts tie things up twice, but never take the lead.

The first goal came 3:14 into the game as Johnson, who ironically wears No. 85 for Cincinnati, took a pass from behind the net and slammed the puck past Curtis Darling for a 1-0 lead.

Scero made it a two-goal advantage at 12:19 of the first when he squeezed one past Darling, who initially thought he had stopped the puck. The power-play goal came with just 7 seconds remaining on the Wheeling penalty.

Things got better for the Nailers about 5 minutes later after Cyclones goalie Ryan Nie denied Chris Snavely on a penalty shot. However, Wheeling native Bryan ''Boomer'' Ewing scored a shorthanded goal off the ensuing faceoff with an assist from Andrew Lord to make it 2-1 after one.

The hosts recorded a pair of power-play goals in the second period with the first of two Jordan Morrison goals, knotting the count just 49 seconds into the period. The Cyclones made it 3-2 on Scero's second goal before Morrison grabbed a rebound off the boards and slapped it in from the side to make it 3-3 at 13:37.

Third-period goals by TJ McElroy and Barrett Ehgoetz gave the visitors a two-goal lead before Elgin Reid again cut the deficit to one when he blasted a 30-footer down the center of the ice and past Nie.

Ben Gordon closed the scoring at 16:42, even though Wheeling pulled Darling for most of the final 2 minutes and had a 6-on-4 advantage for much of the final 1:20. The hosts, who had only 17 shots on the day, could not even get off a shot during that time.

''What we need is to get a good practice under our belt before Wednesday, regroup and have a good team effort for our next game,'' Puhalski added. ''We battled back when we got down, which we have been doing, but then the other team capitalizes on their opportunities and puts us back in a hole.

''They go up 5-3, then we score to bring it back to one and boom, they get it right back. We have to learn to show up and play defense. We didn't do that this weekend and that is why we lost three games in a row.''

Wheeling will get a chance for revenge when it travels to Cincinnati to battle the Cyclones on Wednesday night. The Nailers will then play at Reading on Friday before playing host to Cincinnati on Saturday night at WesBanco Arena.

Game Notes

Morrison, who had his assist streak stopped at a league-high eight Saturday and his points streak stopped on 10 that same night, finished with two goals and an assist Sunday ... Cincinnati goalie Ryan Nie, who was picked up in a trade earlier last week, has some local ties. The native of Nanicoke, Ontario, Canada is a cousin of Shadyside resident Tracy Stewart, who was a standout hockey player in his college days at Ohio State University ... Sunday's loss was Wheeling's seventh this season at WesBanco Arena, while the Nailers have lost only twice on the road all season. Surprisingly, the Cyclones have also lost more games at home (8) this season than on the road (7).

Cincinnati 2 1 3 - 6

Wheeling 1 2 1 - 4

First Period

Scoring - 1. Cincinnati, J.Johnson (3) (D.Sproat) 3:14; PP2. Cincinnati, B.Scero (5) (T.McElroy) 12:19; SH3. Wheeling, B.Ewing (22) (A.Lord), 17:48. Penalties: J.Kilpatrick, Cin (delay of game 63.2) 3:45, K.Sullivan, Whg (hooking - minor 55.2) 10:26, C.Snavely, Whg (holding - minor 54.2) 15:10, K.Miller, Whg (interference on goaltender - minor 69.2), T.Sawatske, Cin (interference - minor 56.2) 16:53.

Second Period

Scoring - PP4. Wheeling, J.Morrison (15) (E.Reid, B.Ewing) 0:49; 5. Cincinnati, B.Scero (6) (B.McLeod, B.Gordon) 12:28; PP6. Wheeling, J.Morrison (16) (E.Johnson, D.Krantz) 13:37. Penalties: E.Reid, Whg (holding - minor 54.2) 6:12, B.Scero, Cin (kneeing - minor 50.2) 12:49.

Third Period

Scoring - 7. Cincinnati, T.McElroy (8) (B.Ehgoetz, D.Sproat) 0:14; PP8. Cincinnati, B.Ehgoetz (13) (D.Sproat, M.Salekin) 7:16; 9. Wheeling, E.Reid (8) (E.Johnson, J.Morrison) 13:22; 10. Cincinnati, B.Gordon (6) (M.Van Guilder, T.McElroy) 16:42. Penalties: T.McElroy, Cin (roughing - minor 51.2) 5:36, E.Johnson, Whg (roughing - minor 51.2) 5:36, C.Snavely, Whg (hooking - minor 55.2) 7:04, T.McElroy, Cin (hooking, minor 55.2) 14:06, T.McElroy, Cin (cross-checking - minor 59.2) 18:36.

Shots on Goal: Cincinnati 9-12-9- 30; Wheeling 5-5-7- 17.

Power Play: Cincinnati 2-5; Wheeling 2-5.

Goaltenders: Cincinnati: Nie (4-3-6, 13 saves); Wheeling: Darling (7-11-6, 24 saves).

Attendance: 2,051.

Referee: Francis Charron (7); Linesmen: Mike Hamilton (80), Justin Eckman (72).