WHEELING, Wv – If the Wheeling Nailers are going to win this year’s Kelly Cup in the ECHL, they are going to have to do something that they have done in every series leading up to the finals, which is come from behind to win the series. The Nailers had a chance to win the Cup on home ice before the series came to Wheeling after splitting the first two games in Allen, Texas of the best-of-seven series.
Unfortunately for the Nailers they have now lost two straight games to the Allen Americans including Saturday’s pivotal Game Five 3-2 in overtime and now it’s the Americans turn to potentially win the Cup on home ice.
The Americans know the challenge ahead. Last season Allen won the Kelly Cup after being down to the South Carolina Stingrays 2-1 in seven games on home ice. If history is going to repeat for the Americans the franchise is going to have to do something no professional franchise has seen since the 1980’s: Win four Championships in four straight seasons. This season is only the second for the franchise in the ECHL, but before that the Americans played five seasons in the now defunct Central Hockey League and they won the last two championships in that leagues existence.
The Americans have not lost a playoff series since 2012 when they lost in the first round of the CHL playoffs but they are on the verge of doing something no professional hockey franchise has done since the 1983 which is win 16 straight playoff series when the New York Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-84.
The impressive feat for Allen is that unlike in the past before free agency hit the NHL and the salary cap came into existence that teams like the Islanders could stay together for several years. The life in the minor pros is that teams usually have a high turnover rate ever year. So much for doing things the conventional way for a team that in this day and age looks like a hockey dynasty.
The Americans had a 2-1 lead heading into the third period of Game Five but Wheeling peppered the Allen net and with some solid defense kept the Americans to only four shots on goal in the third period. A holding call late gave Wheeling the only power play goal of the game and tied the game at 2-2 thanks to Cody Wydo’s 11th goal of the playoffs.
Seventeen seconds is all it would take to settle the score in overtime when Gregor Hanson scored his league leading 14th goal of the playoffs to send the series back to Allen for Game Six on Thursday night. If a seventh game is necessary it will be Saturday the 11th.
In all three previous playoff series, the Nailers were down 2-1 to the Florida Everblades in the first round and won in six games. They won in seven games to the Reading Royals after being down 3-2 in round two and did the same thing in round three to the South Carolina Stingrays.
Wheeling did get the first goal of the game when the Nailers made Allen pay for a turnover behind their net and Ty Loney fed Jarret Burton who scored high glove side for a 1-0 lead in the second period. Chad Costello scored and added his league leading point total to 33 and seventh goal of the playoffs to tie the game at 1-1. Vincent Arseneau scored to put the Americans ahead 2-1 when a shot from the point missed the net to the left of the Wheeling goaltender but came out the other side where Arseneau slammed home a bad angle shot to the lead.
Things looked bleak for Wheeling until the power play goal but losing in overtime put the Nailers out of their misery quickly and sent the Americans back to Texas with a chance to win the series and stake their claim in history.
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