WHEELING, WV – The Wheeling Nailers and Fort Wayne Komets needed more than sixty minutes to decide their game for the second night in a row on Saturday. Also for the second straight night, it was the Nailers who sent their fans home happy, as Patrick McNally scored on the lone shot of overtime to give Wheeling the 4-3 victory at WesBanco Arena.
Although there were only 11 combined shots on goal in the first period, three pucks found the back of the net. The first one went to the Nailers at the 4:51 mark. Adam Smith fired a dump-in from center ice, which led to Brady Tomlak hustling in to snag the puck off of the end boards, before quickly finding Lawton Courtnall, who pounded in a slap shot from the bottom of the left circle. For the second straight night, Fort Wayne pulled even, courtesy of former Wheeling forward Brandon Hawkins, who picked the top-right corner of the cage. With 2:06 remaining in the stanza, the Komets took the lead on an odd-man rush. Anthony Petruzzelli led the charge off of a Nailers turnover, before Marc-Olivier Roy touched a pass over to Zach Pochiro with an empty net in front of him on the left side.
Wheeling tied things up early in the opening minutes of period two by netting its sixth shorthanded goal of the season. Austin Fyten snatched up a loose puck at the blueline and rumbled into the slot, where he whipped a wrist shot through Louis-Phillip Guindon’s legs. Midway through the frame, Fort Wayne regained the lead, as Stephen Harper wrapped the puck around and then into the net just between François Brassard’s left pad and the post.
The Nailers were determined to turn the game into their favor, and at the 7:36 mark of the third period, they squared the match during a five-minute power play. Aaron Thow tossed a shot in from the right point, which glanced off of a Komet and trickled its way in over the goal line. The teams got a few chances during the remaining minutes of regulation, but nothing extraordinary, which led to another overtime contest.
It took 5:19 for the first shot on goal in the extra session, but sure enough, that shot found the back of the net for Wheeling. McNally got a step on his defender in the right circle, then turned to his forehand, and buried a wrist shot into the left side of the cage for the 4-3 Nailers triumph.
François Brassard picked up his second straight win for Wheeling, as he made 18 saves on 21 shots. Guindon received the overtime loss for the Komets, as he surrendered four goals on 22 shots.
The Nailers will finish up the weekend with one more home game on Sunday afternoon, as they face the Indy Fuel at 4:10 p.m.
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