WHEELING, WV – Facing what could have been their last home game of the season, the Wheeling Nailers had no plans of disappointing their home fans at the WesBanco Arena. A win in game five on Saturday would put them in a position to extend the post-season with one more victory.
In the end, everyone except the Florida Everblades went home happy.
Led by two goals from Riley Brace and a three point night from Mathew Maione, Wheeling started fast and held on for a 4-3 win over Florida in front of an announced crowd of 1,859. The victory gave the Nailers a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series with a potential series-clinching game six in Florida on Monday night.
Knowing that whichever team grabbed game five would hold a huge advantage, getting off to a good start was important to both sides. On this night, it would be the home team that got the decisive early jump.
After killing off a very early Florida power play, the Nailers took the momentum built by their special teams and struck for the game’s opening score. Andrew Ammon dropped the puck down to Ty Loney who made a move to get Everblades goalie Anthony Peters to commit. Loney then moved the puck around Peters’ leg pad and slipped in into the net for his second goal of the series at the 4:47 mark.
Three minutes later, Wheeling’s defense – specifically goalie Brian Foster – keyed an offensive rush that struck gold. Foster, getting his second consecutive start, robbed Florida’s Matt Marquardt on a rebound attempt at one end of the ice. Not too long after that, Maione was set up for a drive from the point that was redirected home by Brace at the other. For Brace it was his third goal of the post-season.
The Nailers’ power play got into the act a little bit later, cashing in on an ill-advised penalty by the Everblades’ Mike Cornell. Once again Maione was the set-up man for Brace who ripped a shot from the top of the right circle past Peters for his second of the period at 12:52.
Wheeling’s three goal lead at the end of the first period grew to four two minutes into the second. Shane Bakker picked up the primary assist when he fed Maione who fired a shot off the crossbar and in for his third of the playoffs. The score also ended the night for Peters, who was pulled for the second time in the series in favor of backup Rasmus Tirronen.
The Everblades had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game as Wheeling was hit with four consecutive penalties over a stretch of seven minutes time. The first three Florida power plays failed to connect but late in the fourth (a penalty to Loney called at 10:03), the visitors finally got on the board. Marquardt did the honors, nailing a slap shot from the right side that zipped past Foster for his third goal of the series.
Down 4-1 heading to the final frame, Florida head coach Greg Poss told his team that it needed to create more offense – even while on the penalty kill. That very scenario came into play just shy of the seven minute mark. Defenseman Mark Nemec blocked a Nailers shot that sent zeta mates Kevin Lynch and Jon DiSalvatore away on a two-on-one break. Once in the Wheeling defensive zone, Lynch set up DiSalvatore who rifled a shot home for his second goal of the playoffs to trim the margin to 4-2.
If the Nailers fans became nervous when DiSalvatore scored, they probably did when Brendan O’Donnell had a shot stopped by Foster only to have Ethan Werek pop home the rebound to cut the lead to one with just under seven minutes to go.
The fact that the Everblades had the chance to get back in the game was a testament to the job that Tirronen did in net after coming in. He stopped all fourteen shots he faced including turning away Ammon with less than five minutes left in regulation.
Despite Tirronen’s efforts, the game belonged to Foster, who made 26 saves, and the Nailers who held off the Everblades to earn their second lead of the series.
Now Wheeling has two shots to take the series from the higher-seeded Everblades on Germain Arena ice. If they cannot win game six on Monday, it will come down to a winner-take-all game seven on Wednesday. The teams split the two previous games in Estero with the Nailers winning game one before Florida took game two.
Contact the author at Don.money@prohockeynews.com
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