The Trenton Devils ended their road trip this weekend with two wins over the Wheeling Nailers.
Taking down Wheeling 4-2 on Saturday and 5-1 on Sunday, Trenton may have gained the momentum to catch up to the Johnstown Chiefs who sit in fifth place, the final playoff spot.
Right wing Brad Mills scored two goals in the first four minutes of regulation.
Goaltender Maxime Oullet earned his first ECHL win after keeping the Nailers scoreless for the first 53 minutes of the game. He turned away 31 total shots on the night. Left wing Aaron Clarke played spoiler as he scored the Nailers' only goal with 6:18 left in the game.
Defenseman Bill LeClerc also scored for the T-Devils 13:42 into the second frame with a slap shot from the high slot. Center Jim Henkel notched his 17th goal of the season with 10 seconds left to go in the second period.
In the third period, left wing Tony Zancanaro continued the attack with a wrist shot in the top right shelf after receiving a pass from forward/left wing Joe Rooney for the fifth and final Trenton goal of the night.
On Saturday, the 4-2 win over Wheeling saw more impressive goaltending as Jason Smith held the Nailers for 58 minutes.
Center Trevor Kell gave a tough offensive effort, scoring two goals for the T-Devils and tallying one assist.
Kell's assist resulted from a shot taken 9:25 into the second, a rebound that left wing Andrew Leach followed up on to make the score 2-0. Kell's second goal was the eventual gamewinner as Mills found the end of Kell's stick on a perfect pass.
A four-on-four generated two straight goals for the Nailers as Clarke and center B.J. Radovich found the back of the net. Up 3-2, the Nailers pulled Darling in a last-minute effort to even things up until defenseman Matt Cohen forced a turnover that allowed Henkel to get the empty-netter with 57 seconds left in regulation. The short-handed goal was the first of Trenton's season.
The Devils hope to continue their momentum in this weekend's three-game homestand.
