Nailers Intact ... For Now

There was the thought both here and inside the Wheeling Nailers organization that the call-up of a winger, presumably either Nick Johnson or Tommy Goebel, was imminent. After Chris Minard and Janne Pesonen were summoned to Pittsburgh, and Adam Henrich was injured, the Baby Penguins were short at the position.

It still may happen, but the chances are less today than they were a week ago after the Penguins re-assigned both Minard and Pesonen to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sunday.

Goebel is the league's leading scorer with 16 points (7g, 9a), while Johnson leads the ECHL in power-play goals (five) and ranks second to Goebel in rookie scoring with 11 points (7g, 4a).

Don't Be Fooled

Last Friday night's matchup between Wheeling and Dayton was billed as an early season battle between two of the North Division's top contenders. In the end, though, the Nailers dominated in a 6-1 victory.

Wheeling won't be tricked into reading much into the result, according to Johnson.

''They are going to be a really good team,'' he said. ''I bet when we play them again it will be a lot closer than that.

''We're pretty good on the power play and it looks like they don't give up a whole lot.''

The teams will meet 13 more times this season, the next coming Nov. 14 at WesBanco Arena. Incidentally, that's the next home game for Wheeling, which is at Mississippi for three games this weekend.

Goaltending Becomes

A Strength

Nailers fans saw what Curtis Darling could do last season under the most brutal of circumstances. So you can imagine their surprise when he opened the season by allowing 12 goals in two games.

But he's played exceptionally well in a 5-3 victory against Trenton and a shootout loss to Johnstown, respectively. During that span he's stopped 98 of 103 shots.

The second of what Presidents Rob and Jim Brooks consider two No. 1 goaltenders, David Brown, is second on the ECHL's charts with a 2-0 record, 1.50 GAA, and a save percentage of .954. He's allowed three goals on 65 shots.

Be Aggressive

As has been noted previously, the Nailers have a tendency to let off the gas when the opportunity arises to thoroughly squash an opponent, with the obvious exception being the victory against Dayton. That's something Coach Greg Puhalski has addressed, though he doesn't think it will continue for very long.

''We need to be a little more aggressive in our own zone on the other team, in terms of taking away time and space,'' he said. ''Like a pressure defense in basketball - get on them instead of sitting back and playing a zone all the time.

''When we're in position to be aggressive we've got to take advantage of it.''

In other words, start making a pest of yourself.

''As a general rule, if the puck is in your zone and you have an inner clock, you want to get it out within 10 seconds if you can,'' Puhalski said. ''That's what you're trying to do, but then if you get tired maybe you can't get as aggressive and you have to kind of play more zone.

''But how do you do that? You'd like to click on a button, but then when you start thinking and your brain goes 100 mph and guys are tired, you don't want them forcing because then they're going to run themselves out of position.

''When you're on the ice you get a mentality - this is when we're aggressive and this is when we're not. You read the situation, and that's what good team defense does.''

Close Does Count

Puhalski says it would be foolish to think the Nailers are going to score five or more goals a game during the length of a 72-game schedule.

''You wish you won every game by three or four (goals), but the reality is you get a lot of close games - a lot of one-goal games - and a lot of overtime/shootout situations,'' he said. ''We need more games that are close, I believe.

''I think that will help our readiness.

''Unless you get in those situations ... Don't worry, we'll have our fair share of close games.''

Shawn Rine can be reached via e-mail@Rine@theintelligencer.net