WHEELING – Chris Kushneriuk scored twice, to help lead the Nailers to a 3-2 victory and clinching the Quarterfinal series with the South Carolina Stingrays three games to one.<\/p>\n
For the fourth straight game in the series, the Nailers scored the opening goal of the game. Chris Kushneriuk fired a shot from the boards on the left wing side, which clipped past goaltender Todd Ford and into the back of the net to give Wheeling the early 1-0 lead at 2:30 of the period.<\/p>\n
However, nearly two minutes later, the Stingrays tied it on the power play. Dylan Yeo rifled a shot from the point underneath the crossbar past Nailers netminder Peter Delmas. The power play marker was the first for the Rays in the series, breaking an 0-for-14 streak with the man advantage.<\/p>\n
The 1-1 scored held up until the final minute of the second period, when Wheeling reclaimed the lead in the contest on the power play. Kushneriuk scored his second of the game, picking up the loose puck in a scramble in the crease, and sliding it past Ford on the shortside. The goal gave Wheeling a 2-1 lead heading into the second break.<\/p>\n
South Carolina dominated the time of attack in the offensive zone for a majority of the third. However, it was a solid shift by the Nailers in the offensive zone which drew a Stingrays penalty to put the Nailers back on the power play. Jason Desantis step into a slapshot from the point, and ripped the puck past Ford, to give the Nailers a 3-1 lead with 4:03 remaining in regulation.<\/p>\n
South Carolina continued to fight, and pulled Ford to allow for the extra attacker. The move paid off as Brock McBride was able to slide the puck past Delmas in the crease to pull the Rays within one with 1:21 remaining. The Stingrays again pulled Ford, but was unable to get the equalizer, as the Nailers took the game 3-2, and the series 3-1. Six of the Nailers 11 goals in the series came via the power play.<\/p>\n
The Nailers will take on the Greenville Road Warriors in the conference semifinals beginning on Thursday, April 14 at the Bi-lo center in Greenville. The following is a complete schedule of the best-of-seven series with the Road Warriors:<\/p>\n
(1) Greenville Road Warriors vs. (4) Wheeling Nailers Series Schedule (Best-of-Seven)<\/p>\n
Game #1 \u2013 at Greenville (Thursday April 14) \u2013 7:35 pm
\nGame #2 \u2013 at Greenville (Friday April 15) \u2013 7:35 pm
\nGame #3 \u2013 at Wheeling (Wednesday April 20) \u2013 7:05 pm
\nGame #4 \u2013 at Wheeling (Friday April 22) \u2013 7:35 pm
\nGame #5 \u2013 at Wheeling (Saturday April 23) \u2013 7:35 pm**
\nGame #6 \u2013 at Greenville (Tuesday April 26) \u2013 7:35 pm**
\nGame #7 \u2013 at Greenville (Wednesday April 27) \u2013 7:35 pm**<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHEELING – Chris Kushneriuk scored twice, to help lead the Nailers to a 3-2 victory and clinching the Quarterfinal series with the South Carolina Stingrays three games to one. For the fourth straight game in the series, the Nailers scored the opening goal of the game. Chris Kushneriuk fired a shot from the boards on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[123,306,274,121,120],"class_list":["post-3770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-affiliates","tag-west-virginia-hockey","tag-wheeling-hockey","tag-wheeling-nailers"],"yoast_head":"\n