In what was a wild finish, the Wheeling Nailers held off the Maine Mariners 4-3 in Game 7 of the North Division Finals at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia on Monday night. The Nailers win the series 4-3 and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wheeling raced out to a 2-0 first period lead. Taylor Gauthier would rob Brooklyn Kalmikov with a beautiful pad save at the 6:56 mark, and just 12 seconds later after a media timeout, Matthew Quercia gave the Nailers the lead they would never relinquish at 7:08 beating Mariners netminder Luke Cavallin inside the post on the short side. Tanner Andrew doubled the advantage for the hosts at 13:58. Owen Gallatin would get Maine on the board for the first time in the middle stanza at 8:14 on a shot that went off a Wheeling defenders skate. The guests had plenty of opportunities in the game with a 5 to 1 edge in powerplays, but would go 0-5. After some good pressure again in the Wheeling zone in the third period, Matty De St. Phalle buried a rebound at 16:53 and Zach Urdahl put one into an empty net to make it 4-1 with 1:31 remaining. The Mariners battled right to the end though, as Wyllum Deveaux scored 5 on 5 at 18:51 and Robert Cronin put in an extra attacker goal with 26.5 seconds to go. Maine had the puck in the offensive again in the final seconds but couldn’t get a shot off and simply ran out of time. Neither road team won a game in the series (Wheeling 4-0 at home, Maine 3-0).
Andrew had one goal and one assist for Wheeling, while Emil Pieniniemi added two assists. Gauthier made 27 saves. The Nailers (54-24-3) will take on the top team in the Eastern Conference and the Southern Division Champion Florida Everblades in the best of seven Eastern Conference Finals beginning on Friday in Estero, Florida. Cronin had a goal and an assist for Maine. Cavallin stopped 21 shots. The Mariners, who are now 4-13 all-time in road playoff games, end a fantastic year winning a postseason series for the first time in franchise history. They end up with a final record of 49-28-6.
Photo from the Maine Mariners
