WHEELING, WV-The South Carolina Stingrays on the brink of elimination in their quarterfinals ECHL playoff series with the Wheeling Nailers staved off ouster with a 4-2 come from behind win tonight at WesBanco Arena. Most of the crowd of 1,804 were hopeful of a sweep by Wheeling as the Nailers won the first two games in the ECHL Eastern Division series on South Carolina Ice.
Just as in the first two games the Nailers jumped out to a 1-0 lead. A first period power play goal with Paul Crowder picking up his second goal of the series at the 13:38 mark gave the Nailers their third straight opening goal. His shot from the bottom of the near side circle beat ‘Rays’ net minder Todd Ford on his blocker side. The power play goal came after South Carolina got caught in a line change mix up and was whistled down for too many men on the ice. Jason DeSantis at the point and forward Doug Rogers were credited with assists on Crowder’s strike.
South Carolina roared back in period two taking their first lead in this series as the team’s regular season scoring leader Rob Ricci beat Nailers’ goalie Peter Delmas with a laser shot in the slot about ten feet out. Delmas like Ford was playing in his third straight contest in the series. Ryan Del Monte picked up the primary assist on the Ricci goal and rookie Sean Dolan picked up his first of two assists in the contest.
Next up Johan Kroll gave the ‘Rays their second score of the evening and a 2-1 lead late in the second period. The defenseman’s first goal of the playoffs drew assists from Trent Campbell and Tommy Goebel.
An early third period strike just under two minutes into the final stanza extended the lead to 3-1 as Brock McBride hit the twine off of setups from defenseman Derek Keller and forward David de Kastrozza.
The Stingrays’ who are still without a power play in the series going zero for four tonight and having failed to score on 14 straight power plays compounded their power play woes halfway into the third period. They not only did not score but they also gave up a shorthanded marker as Joey Haddad set up forward Tyler Murovich at the 10:44 mark allowing Wheeling to move within one goal and a 3-2 score. Haddad (2g, 2a) recorded his fourth point on the goal and leads his team in series scoring.
However, Ford and the South Carolina defensive effort were able to hold off a determined Nailers effort until Del Monte squeezed a shot past Delmas with just over two minutes left in the game. The 4-2 margin came as Dolan picked up his second assists at 17:56 assuring Ford of his first playoff victory. Ford swept aside 26 of the 28 shots he faced while the ‘Rays placed 21 shots on goal against Delmas. Nine of Wheeling’s shots on goal came in the final period.
Game four is scheduled for 7:30 Saturday evening in Wheeling with game five if needed on the schedule for next Monday.
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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