Photo by Joe Lovell Wheeling’s Daniel Laatsch navigates behind the net on Friday during the Nailers’ 7-2 victory over Kalamazoo inside WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING — Friday night was absolute dominance by the Wheeling Nailers, as they bounced back into a tie for first place in the North Division by clobbering the Kalamazoo Wings, 7-2 at WesBanco Arena. Craig Armstrong scored twice, and Ryan McAllister pitched in with three points, as 15 of Wheeling’s 18 skaters made their way onto the scoresheet with at least one point. The Nailers also made history in the win, as they allowed just ten shots on goal – the fewest in club history. The previous mark was 13, which was done in 1995.

Both teams came out firing, as the red light was turned on five times during the first period. The Nailers were the first on the board, thanks to a successful power play 1:17 into the contest.

Ryan McAllister’s wrist shot from the left circle was blockered up into the air by goaltender Aku Koskenvuo. However, the puck ended up floating backward, where it landed inside of the right post. Wheeling added to its lead less than three minutes later. Brayden Edwards and Matty De St. Phalle teamed together to win a puck battle along the wall, then set up Craig Armstrong, who flipped a backhander into the top-left corner of the cage.

Kalamazoo bounced back with a goal 1:03 after that, as Andre Ghantous stuffed a wraparound into the left side of the net. Daniel Laatsch netted the third marker of the stanza for the Nailers, as he danced around two defenders, then whipped a shot into the right side of the twine. Josh Bloom followed that up for the Wings, as he tapped in the rebound of his initial shot, which came off of a rush down the right side of the ice.

Wheeling controlled the play in the middle frame, as the home side boosted its lead to three, while allowing just one shot on goal. Both goals in the second came via special teams.

The power play converted for the second time at the 6:36 mark, when Emil Pieniniemi took a pass from Scooter Brickey, eluded a defender, and shoveled a shot into the top-left corner of the cage. The game took an interesting turn later in the second, when Connor Lockhart was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a slash.

Not only did the Wings do absolutely nothing with the extended power play, but the Nailers scored shorthanded to take a 5-2 lead. Logan Pietila forced a turnover, then teed up Nolan Renwick, who blasted a one-timer home from the left side of the slot.

The home team put the match away with two more goals in the third period. Armstrong netted his second of the night by drilling in a cross-ice pass from Zach Urdahl, then Brent Johnson banked the puck in off of a Kalamazoo defender on the power play for the 7-2 victory.

Taylor Gauthier tied Andy Franck’s record for most wins by a goaltender in Wheeling history with the 60th of his career, as he made eight saves on ten shots. Aku Koskenvuo allowed seven goals on 41 shots in the loss for the Wings.

The Nailers will take a quick trip over to Fort Wayne on Saturday night at 7:35, only for they and the Komets to turn right back around and make an overnight journey back to WesBanco Arena to close out the weekend on Sunday afternoon at 4:10. Sunday’s game is the annual Faith & Family Day, which will feature a post game celebration of faith with player testimonials, live music, and more. The next Big-6 Promotional Game is Margaritaville Night on Saturday, March 14th.