WHEELING, WV – The Greenville Road Warriors suffered a 3-2 defeat on Wednesday night in Game Three of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal against the Wheeling Nailers. Greenville now trails the series two games to one with Game Four coming on Friday night in Wheeling.
Wheeling took a 1-0 lead on Joey Haddad’s fourth goal of the playoffs 1:06 into the contest. Dan Henningson hit Haddad low on the left wing for a one-timer that beat Greenville’s Nic Riopel high to the glove side.
At the 9:52 mark Alex Grant finished off a coast-to-coast rush for his second goal of the playoffs and made it a 2-0 Wheeling lead. The Road Warriors kept the pressure on for much of the first period, but despite fifteen shots could not feed one past Delmas.
The momentum created by Greenville’s strong play at the end of the first period served the Road Warriors well in the second frame. They peppered the Wheeling net relentlessly in the period and were able to climb back within one of the Nailers on a power play score.
Just before the period was halfway over there was a disputed play that led to a conversation between the referee and the goal judge surveying the net behind Delmas. The discussion was about a pontential Greenville goal that was ultimately ruled to have not fully crossed the goal line. The Road Warriors were not discouraged by the result and after a delay of game minor to Grant, they snapped their lengthy power play drought. Wes Cunningham’s shot from the point was tipped home by Chris Clackson at 9:01 for Clackson’s first career playoff goal. Justin Bowers earned the secondary assist.
Greenville came out of the gates in the third period roaring and tallied the tying score before most of the fans in the arena had returned to their seats. Off of a point shot by Brad Cole, Delmas left a juicy rebound right in front for Brendan Connolly. The goal was Connolly’s fourth of the playoffs and came 1:38 into the fame with the secondary assist going to Shane Harper.
Just past the halfway mark of the period, Wheeling’s Brandon DeFazio took a pass low on the left wing from Tyler Murovich, drove along the goal line to the front of the net, and lifted a backhander past Riopel at 10:47. That stood as the game winner as Greenville couldn’t find the tying score in the final minutes with Riopel pulled for the extra attacker.
Greenville and Wheeling will lace their skates up again Friday night for game four of their best-of-seven series. Game five, also in Wheeling, is set for Saturday night. With the Nailers up 2-1 for the series, Greenville needs a road win to even up the series in order to take the action back to their home ice for game six.
Contact author at ryan.kouvolo@prohockeynews.com
Game information provided by Greenville broadcaster Ray Schmitt
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