(Tie 0-0) The Nailers didn’t get off to the best start in this series, losing game 1 to Florida 2-1. What went wrong for Wheeling in the series opener?
Boy, if you take away the first seven minutes of the game, this one has a completely different feeling. It probably even sets things up differently for the rest of the series to this point as well. But, as we’ve seen a couple of times now, if you don’t come out ready early against this team and let them take control, you’re skating uphill the rest of the way to get back into it.
Things started well for the home team early, as the Everblades applied pressure to the Nailers, who struggled to adjust. Florida scored two goals within the first seven minutes of the contest, but Wheeling pushed hard after that to try to get back into the game. The Nailers managed to fire 13 shots on net in the period, but they still went into the first intermission trailing by two.
The second period was much more back and forth, although Florida did end up outshooting Wheeling in the period 9-6, but the score remained the same going to the third. Halfway through the third, the Nailers finally found a way to get on the board, with Matty De St. Phalle ending the shutout bid with over 10 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, nothing else would go in on this night, even with the goalie pulled late for the extra skater, and the Nailers came away trailing in the series right off the bat.
(FLA 1-0) The Nailers couldn’t get back to their winning ways in game 2, losing 1-0 against the Everblades. What caused Wheeling to lose both games on the road?
This game turned out to be a little bit more of a war than the first one, as the two teams combined for 13 power play opportunities, but nobody was able to take advantage of any of them. Goals within the first and last two minutes of a period are backbreakers, and that’s what ended up mattering in this game as well.
Both teams had chances in the first period, with shots coming out 12-9 in favor of the Everblades, but neither team was able to cash in through the opening 20 minutes of action. Florida took control of the puck early in the second period, pushing Wheeling back on their heels and ended up scoring just 29 seconds into the middle stanza to give themselves the lead. From there, the penalties began to mount, especially against the visitors, as the Nailers received four minor infractions to one for the Everblades, but nothing came of any of them.
Going into the third, Wheeling should have realized that going into an 0-2 hole in the series would be bad news and pushed hard to generate enough offense to avoid such an outcome. Instead, they committed three more penalties (offset by four called against Florida during the same stretch) and only managed to get six shots through on net. When all was said and done, no goals had been scored by either team in the period, and the Nailers faced the prospect of coming home without a win in the series.
(FLA 2-0) Things went from bad to worse for the Nailers, as they lost game 3 in their return to WesBanco Arena 5-2. Why did Wheeling fail to keep their undefeated home record in the playoffs intact?
For as well as he has played for the Nailers all season, Taylor Gauthier picked an awful moment to have possibly his worst game of the season, especially with the front office of the Penguins in the building. Everyone from that level down knows what he can do, as evidenced by the fact that they felt comfortable calling him up to Pittsburgh this season, and the team in front of him didn’t do him many favors either.
From where I was sitting in the stands, I saw a lot of soft passes, lack of hard work in front of their own net to clear pucks or players, and just an overall effort that didn’t show me that they knew they were down in the series, with the specter of a sweep hanging over their heads. There were moments when they drove the game, but when it mattered the most, the pace of the game was dictated to them, which is the most frustrating part of it all.
We had barely gotten into our seats for the start of the game when Wheeling turned it over and the Florida player whipped it towards the net, catching Gauthier off guard and breaking the ice just 16 seconds into the contest. The Everblades controlled play early until a tripping penalty gave the Nailers their first crack at sustained play, and shortly after the power play ended, Tiernan Shoudy scored his first goal of the postseason to pull the game even. It felt like the game would stay that way until, with less than two minutes left in the opening period, Florida surged down ice and scored again to take the 2-1 advantage into the locker room.
Wheeling came out for the second period with a little pep in their step, as they probably felt their season was on the line with what would happen over the next 40 minutes. They peppered the Florida goal with shots to no avail until, just over nine minutes into the period, Brayden Edwards took a beautiful pass from Ryan McAllister and buried it to tie the game once more.
Just over two minutes after the goal, while the fans were still pumped up and going nuts from tying it, Florida once again broke the tie after a terrible turnover in front of Wheeling’s net, and the Everblades finished another period with the lead over the Nailers.
Early in the third, Matthew Quercia engaged Oliver Cooper in a spirited round of fisticuffs in the hope of sparking his team. At the end of it, he ended up the one on his back, and the momentum swung towards Florida as they managed to pocket two more goals before the nine-minute mark of the period, effectively putting the game on ice and the series on the brink for Wheeling.
Now trailing in the series 3-0 and on the verge of being swept, what will it take for the Nailers to get back into this series and push it back to Florida after this weekend’s games?
I mean, it would be very simple to just say win the next four games in a row against a team you haven’t beaten in the first three. And based on the previous game, I really do believe this team has nowhere to go but up on Friday (and hopefully Saturday).
If you go back and look at the first three games of this series, aside from period three of the last game, it has been competitive all the way through. A bad first period in game one put the Nailers behind the eight ball, and they couldn’t do anything about it. Good goaltending for the Everblades in game two bailed them out a few times and made it hard for Wheeling to do much. While it was a poor effort in game three at times, I also saw some very poor officiating in that game (and I’m sure if any of you were in attendance, you heard me letting the referee #8 know just how poor of a job I thought he was doing).
The big thing is, the way I look at it (and I’m sure the boys in uniform will too), all the pressure is now on Florida to finish this thing. The Nailers can go out and play a little more fast and loose (hopefully without losing control completely) and do their best to create chances for themselves. Meanwhile, if the Everblades do fail to complete the sweep on Friday, they come back the very next night with momentum on Wheeling’s side for game 5.
Then, if the Nailers do pull off both games, the series shifts back to Hertz Arena in Estero, FL, and the Everblades have to start questioning what went wrong over these games. If you’re Wheeling, you don’t want to look too far ahead, because one bad shift can lead to one bad period can lead to one bad game and the end of the season. But at the same time, you have to keep hope alive that you can be the one that comes back from the biggest deficit a team can face and put Florida on their heels enough to make this a series again.
Over in the Western Conference, Kansas City leads Fort Wayne 3 games to 1. What do you expect to happen the rest of the way in that series?
Much like Florida, Kansas City has only experienced one loss to this point in the playoffs, and it was in game two of this series. The Everblades and the Mavericks were the two best teams in the league this year, and they’ve proven that so far in their march towards the Kelly Cup. Even in their one loss to the Komets, Kansas City was in the game and tied it with less than a minute to go, just to give up a goal with only 26 seconds left in regulation to lose.
Meanwhile, all of the wins in this series by the Mavericks have been by multiple goals, winning 5-1, 6-4, and 4-2, respectively. They also get a four-day break between games, playing game four this past Tuesday before getting going on game five on Sunday.
Looking at how things have gone so far, it’s hard to see Fort Wayne forcing this series to go much further. Kansas City has gotten the better of the Komets at just about every step of the way, and assuming things go the way they have, I foresee us having one of the competitors for the Kelly Cup coming out of the weekend. Hopefully it’s just the one from the West, and Wheeling is continuing to play.
