The Wheeling Nailers held on to pick up a big road victory against the expansion Greensboro Gargoyles.
The Greensboro Gargoyles continue to make the circuit of playing teams for the first time in their inaugural ECHL season.
Thursday night, they hosted the Wheeling Nailers in the opener of a three-game series, and the Nailers prevailed in a 4-2 victory at First Horizon Coliseum.
Wheeling cruised out to a 3-0 lead in the first half of the match, then held on at the end for the win.
Jake Smith won his ECHL debut in net for the Nailers with 24 saves, and Wheeling got goals from four different players.
The Nailers notched the lone goal of the first period, and it came at the 6:36 mark. Jordan Kaplan started the play from his own end, before rushing down the entire length of the ice. Kaplan ultimately saw his opportunity develop behind the offensive goal, when he gathered the puck on his backhand, swooped beneath the right circle, and tossed a shot into the left side of the cage.
Wheeling added to its advantage with a pair of strikes in the early stages of the middle frame. At the 5:41 mark, Ryan Mahshie skated in on the left side of the offensive zone and delivered a perfect saucer pass to the right side of the crease, where Connor Lockhart swatted it home for a 2-0 lead.
Less than four minutes later, Kaplan won an offensive zone faceoff to Zach Urdahl, who quickly wired in a wrist shot from the left circle.
The Gargoyles found life late in the middle frame, and it came on a power play. Ethan Leyh won a faceoff clean to the slot for David Gagnon, who snapped a quick shot past Smith blocker side to make it 3-1.
Both teams traded power-play chances but neither could take advantage.
With just under four minutes to play, Deni Goure capitalized to make it 3-2. Trevor Zins' shot from the center point got denied, but Goure poked in the rebound.
Things got even more tense 33 seconds later, when the Nailers were called for a penalty. However, Wheeling was successful on the penalty kill, then Matthew Quercia fired in an empty net tally from his own left circle for the 4-2 victory. The goal extended Quercia's point streak to six games.
Smith made a couple of dazzling saves in his debut as part of his 24-save effort on 26 shots. Connor Ungar turned away 27 of the 30 shots he faced for Greensboro.
The Nailers and Gargoyles will play the remaining games of their series in Greensboro this week on Friday and Saturday, with both contests starting at 7 Pm ET.
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