Pittsburgh's ECHL affiliate was able to fend off the Maine Mariners to take Game 1 of their best-of-seven second-round series.
For the Wheeling Nailers - ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - their first-round series victory against the Reading Royals was not necessarily a cakewalk, but they were able to shut them down pretty handily thanks to three shutouts by goaltender Taylor Gauthier.
Well, they were given a fight in Game 1 against the Maine Mariners in the second round - and they still found a way.
After erasing several deficits throughout regulation, forward Ryan McAllister took a pass from Brayden Edwards off the rush and sniped a shot past Mariners' goaltender Brad Arvantis from the left circle to give the Nailers a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1 of the North Division Final series at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
Defenseman Tristan Thompson, forward Blake Bennett, and forward Mike Posma also notched goals for Wheeling, while Gauthier stopped 27 of 30 Mariners' shots. Thompson, forward Logan Pietila, and defenseman Brent Johnson recorded two points each.
The win gives the Nailers a 1-0 best-of-seven series lead, and a series win would punch their ticket to the Conference Final, where they would face the winner of the South Division series between the Florida Everblades and the South Carolina Stingrays. They faced the Mariners once in the regular season, when they tied but were notched the loss (penalty minutes).
Game 2 is Saturday at 7:10 p.m. ET, again, at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.
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