WHEELING, WV- Friday night’s game between the Wheeling Nailers and Indy Fuel at WesBanco Arena took two hours and 54 minutes to play, as the two sides needed every second of regulation, plus overtime and a shootout to determine a winner. Indy’s Jadon Joseph avenged an unsuccessful penalty shot in overtime by delivering the deciding goal in the second round of the shootout. Mitchell Weeks followed that up by denying the last two shooters for Wheeling, as the Fuel prevailed, 3-2.
Scoring chances were few and far between in the first period, as the shots on goal were 7-4 in Indy’s favor. The Fuel tallied the lone goal in the stanza, which came with 5:05 remaining on a transition rush. Tyler Paquette carried the puck into the offensive zone, then delivered the pass to his right for defenseman Nick Grima. Grima proceeded to set up Jadon Joseph, who drove in a one-timer from the left circle.
The Nailers didn’t waste much time in evening the score in the middle frame, as the equalizer came at the one-minute mark. Brayden Edwards carried the puck toward the slot, looking to create a scoring chance. A poke check by Indy made the puck slide off of Edwards’ blade to Matty De St. Phalle, who immediately shoveled a shot up and into the top-left corner of the cage. Wheeling did a better job of controlling the play in period two with a 13-9 shots advantage in the 1-1 deadlock.
The two teams exchanged goals in quick succession during the third period. At the 3:36 mark, Grima’s shot from the top of the right circle produced a rebound, which was tucked inside of the right post by Jesse Tucker to put Indy ahead, 2-1. However, Wheeling responded 20 seconds later on the power play. Zach Urdahl’s shot from the left circle was denied, but Logan Pietila cleaned up the loose change on the right side of the crease to knot the tilt, 2-2. The Nailers outshot the Fuel, 15-11 in the third period, but neither team could break the tie, sending the match to overtime.
Somehow, the extra session didn’t decide a winner either, despite a 4-2 shots advantage for Indy. The biggest chance of overtime came at the 5:29 mark, when Joseph was awarded a penalty shot. However, Taylor Gauthier made a blocker side, and the teams kept playing.
Eventually, a shootout was needed to settle the score. Both shooters succeeded in round one – Eric Martin for the Fuel and Zach Urdahl for Wheeling. Joseph gave Indy the advantage in the second round, when he slammed a shot through Gauthier’s legs. The Nailers were unable to answer that, as Mitchell Weeks thwarted Logan Pietila and Brent Johnson for a 3-2 Fuel victory.
Mitchell Weeks backstopped the win for Indy, as he made 32 saves on 34 shots during the game, then went two-of-three in the shootout. Taylor Gauthier turned away 29 of the 31 shots he faced during the game for Wheeling, then made one stop on three shootout attempts.
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