WHEELING, WV – The Wheeling Nailers entered Wednesday night’s game with the Worcester Railers in first place in the North Division and third in the Eastern Conference. Coming off a tough penalty laden loss in Norfolk, the Nailers looked to bounce back and get their five hundredth win at WesBanco Arena. On the other side of the ice, the Railers had just won two in a row and have been playing much better of late.
Courtesy Zack Rawson zrawsonphoto.com
Cam Brown won the opening face-off but is was Worcester that dominated play through the first half of the first period. They connected on several long stretch passes and generated some quality scoring chances. At the 5:25 mark, the Railers cashed in when Chis Langkow won a draw in the offensive zone and Josh Monk blasted a one-timer past Sean Maguire.
Wheeling would strike back at 10:22 with a Garret Meurs power-play goal, assisted by Cam Brown. Wheeling came into this game with the leagues best power-play at 27.6 percent. Jeff Taylor added another for the Nailers four minutes later when he cleaned up a rebound on a Cody Wydo slap-shot from the right circle. Eamon McAdam stopped the shot with his blocker but it trickled to Taylor who was camped out near the left post. Worcester went on the power-play with a minute and a half left in the period but failed to capitalize.
Courtesy Zack Rawson zrawsonphoto.com
At the start of the second, Wheeling killed off the remainder of the penalty and got to work on offense. The Nailers had a few clean breakouts early that generated some quality scoring chances. The Railers countered by stepping up their physicality and dishing out some hard checks.
Wheeling went on the power-play at 8:53 when Wade Murhpy was sent off for a high stick. The Nailers only managed to get one shot on goal during a quality penalty kill by the Railers. The Railers then got a power-play of their own when Zach Tolkinen tripped a Railer along the end boards. During the power-play, Patrick McNally fed Wade Murphy in the right circle and he wristed one off of Maguire’s right pad. Ashton Rome buried the rebound to tie things up at 2-2. The second period ended with the Railers doubling the total shots on goal of the Nailers and seemingly having all the momentum heading into the final frame.
Courtesy Zack Rawson zrawsonphoto.com
The third period started without much fanfare on either side as both teams started slow. Then Wheeling’s Nick Sorkin won a puck battle behind the net and found Riley Bourbonnais wide open in the crease for a tap in. The Railers killed off a power-play near the seven minute mark and got back to the transition game that worked so well early on. The Railers’ Langkow proceeded to beat Maguire with a one timer on a nice feed from behind the net. With just under a minute left in the third Maguire made a couple key saves to send the game into overtime.
Courtesy Zack Rawson zrawsonphoto.com
In overtime, the Railers went on the power play right away when the Nailers got caught with too many men on the ice on a slow line change. Then at 2:02, Worcester went to a five-on-three when Wydo received a game misconduct and five minutes for boarding. The Nailers killed off :36 seconds of the five-on-three and held on for the remaining 2:36 of five on four to send the game to a shootout.
Cam Brown went first in the shootout followed by T.J. Snyder. Neither tickled the twine. Reid Gardiner and Mathew Gaudreau followed with the same result. Then Garrett Meurs slipped a backhander past McAdam and Frank DiChiara followed with a goal as well. Hunter Fejes went bar down and Maguire held off Murphy for the shootout win 4-3.
The Railers played a more physical game throughout and the Nailers had far too many give aways in their own zone. It may not be a pretty win but the Nailers found a way to get the job done. Wheeling now heads to Cincinnati to play the Cyclones before getting another shot at the Railers at home on Saturday.
Contact the author at keirsey@prohockeynews.com or on Twitter @apoptosian
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