WHEELING, WV- The Wheeling Nailers began their second round the series in similar fashion to how they ended the opening round. Ryan McAllister scored at the 3:10 mark of overtime to lift the Nailers to a 4-3 victory over the Maine Mariners at WesBanco Arena in game one of the North Division Final Series. Wheeling never led in the game, as it erased three separate one-goal deficits.

Both teams found the back of the net once during an evenly played opening stanza. Maine picked up the first marker at the 7:40 mark. Jacob Hudson pushed the puck forward to Antonio Venuto, who stepped into the left circle and flipped a shot into the right side of the twine. Wheeling's equalizer came during four-on-four action with 4:34 remaining. Matty De St. Phalle won a battle along the wall and fed the puck back to Tristan Thompson at the blueline. Thompson stepped into the high slot and drove a shot up and under the left side of the crossbar.

The scoring ticked up a notch in the second period, as both sides put two more goals on the board. The Mariners capitalized on a power play at the 37-second mark, when Owen Gallatin wired a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the cage. The Nailers responded 2:58 later, as Blake Bennett rushed into the left circle, where he sniped a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the net. Maine went ahead again with 4:46 to go, as Brooklyn Kalmikov sizzled a low wrist shot through his former teammate Taylor Gauthier. However, Wheeling answered again just 47 seconds after that, when Mariners goaltender Brad Arvanitis ended up kicking the puck over his own goal line. The goal was credited to Mike Posma, who tipped a Brent Johnson attempt from the right point.

Neither team was able to pull ahead in the third period, as the contest progressed to overtime, deadlocked, 3-3. The Nailers had more chances during the third, as they outshot Maine, 18-8.

Wheeling faced some serious adversity at the beginning of overtime, as Nolan Renwick was whistled for a penalty at the seven-second mark. The Nailers successfully killed the penalty, then won the game 63 seconds after the kill at the 3:10 mark. Brayden Edwards slid a pass over to Ryan McAllister, who wired in a wrist shot from the left circle for the 4-3 Wheeling triumph.

Taylor Gauthier earned the win for the Nailers, as he stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. Brad Arvanitis made 37 saves on 41 shots during a busy night in the Maine crease.

The Nailers and Mariners will get right back at it in Wheeling for game two of the North Division Semifinal Series on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. The series will then shift to Maine's Cross Insurance Arena for games three, four, and five (if necessary) on Monday, May 11th, Tuesday, May 12th, and Wednesday, May 13th. All road games in the series will begin at 7:00 p.m. Games six and seven (both if necessary) would return to WesBanco Arena on Saturday, May 16th and Monday, May 18th. Both of those contests would start at 7:10 p.m. Playoff tickets are available now by calling (304) 234-GOAL or visiting wheelingnailers.com. The Wheeling Nailers, considered one of the top things to do in Wheeling, West Virginia, provide affordable family entertainment for fans throughout the Ohio Valley.