After blowing a 2-0 series lead and facing elimination, the Wheeling Nailers forced Game 7 with a thrilling overtime win on the power play in Game 6.
After going up 2-0 in their best-of-seven North Division Final series against the Maine Mariners in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, the Wheeling Nailers - ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - dropped three straight to go down in the series, 3-2, before the series turned back to Wheeling.
It would have been easy for the Nailers to lose confidence and give up hope after blowing their series lead. But they did no such thing, and they had the response they needed Saturday - even if it was in dramatic fashion.
In Game 6, Wheeling defeated Maine, 2-1, on a dramatic overtime game-winner by defenseman Emil Pieniniemi. Goaltender Taylor Gauthier had a rebound game, stopping 31 of 32, and the Nailers outshot the Mariners, 48-32.
Despite outshooting Maine 12-6 in the first period, the Nailers couldn't find the scoresheet. But that changed a little more than five minutes into the second period, when Zach Urdahl fed Nolan Renwick with a nice drop pass to the slot, and Renwick sniped it home to give Wheeling the 1-0 advantage.
The score remained that way in a tight-checking game approaching the midway point of the third, but Maine found a way. After nice right-pad save by Gauthier with the Mariners pressuring, the puck took a wild bounce and ended up near the left point on the stick of Michael Underwood. He threw it toward the net, and it found its way past Gauthier, tying the score at 1-1.
After the Nailers controlled play in regulation, overtime was a pretty even contest. Chances were traded back and forth, and Gauthier actually made a breakaway save on Ben Allison prior to the game-winning goal. With three minutes to go in the first overtime - and on a power play opportunity - Urdahl patiently stickhandled the puck in the right circle before finding Pieniniemi at the right point.
Pieniniemi elected to unleash a slapshot from there, and it found the back of the net to give Wheeling the overtime win and force Game 7 on Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
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