The Ohio Lottery has a game called Cash Exlosion which airs every Saturday night.
Wheeling played a game of explosion of its own Friday night at WesBanco Arena.
The Nailers (18-4-1-4 41) erupted for a season-high 10 goals on their way to a 10-6 lambasting of visiting Reading in ECHL?action in downtown Wheeling.
With the victory, Wheeling's third straight and 10th in its last dozen outings, the Nailers moved into sole possession of first place in the North Division as rival Johnstown (19-9-1-0 39) was blanked 2-0 by fourth-place Elmira last night.
"We got a lot of goals from a lot of different people," said Wheeling head coach Greg Puhalski. "But when you score 10 goals, you're going to have that."
While the second-year Nailers' bench boss was pleased with the scoring outburst, which is becoming commonplace, he wasn't pleased with the third period in which the Royals (8-21-0-2 18) outscored his team by a 10-2 count.
Luckily, Wheeling had built an 8-1 advantage thanks to a pair of 4-point periods and the play of rookie Jordan Morrison.
Morrison tied an all-time franchise record with his 7-point effort, which came on a pair of goals and a handful of assists.
"Yeah, he had a big night,"?Puhalski said of Morrison.
Another player drawing rave reviews was Wheeling native Bryan "Boomer"?Ewing who recorded his first professional or college hat trick.
"We got up 8-1 after two periods, and something that has happened to us before, we fell asleep at the wheel," explained Puhalski of the near third-period collapse. "We allowed Reading to get back in it, but then we were able to gather ourselves.
"With that said, we still gave up 5 goals in one period, and that's far too many," he added. "At the very least when you're up 8-1, you've got to play for your goaltender. We didn't do that."
Matt Grennier ignited the 4-goal outburst in the initial 20-minute period when he beat former Wheeling goalie Danny Taylor just 4-minutes, 9-seconds into the contest.
Morrison, who hails from Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, made it 3-0 with back-to-back goals in just over a 4-minute span. Reid Cashman made it 4-0 with a power-play tally at 12:09.
Following Morrison's second net-finder, Reading coach Jason Nobili pulled Taylor in favor of backup Michael Ouzas.
After allowing Cashman to score, Ouzas permitted 4 four in the middle period as Ewing found the net twice and, while Brock Sheahan and Andrew Lord also scored.
After letting Reading cut the deficit to 8-5 with a 4-goal flurry in just over 9 minutes, Ewing completed his hat trick for a 9-5 edge and Kelly Miller added a goal for a 10-5 count. The Royals tallied another goal for the final.
"I actually never had a hat trick in college either, so this is a first for me in a while,"?Ewing said. "It's a great feeling, and I owe it all to Jordan Morrison who had a helluva night."
Ewing, who added an assist for a 4-point night, had to settle for the game's No. 2 star behind Morrison.
With his performance, Morrison moved from 12th to a third-place tie in scoring with 35 points. He also came within one helper of tying the franchise mark 6 by Len Soccio in 1989 against Greensboro.
"When these nights come along they're far and few between,"?Morrison said. "Sometimes you get bounces and sometimes you don't, so you're grateful when nights like this come along."
Wheeling remains at home tonight when Cincinnati visits at 7:35 p.m.
