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Nailers look to stave off elimination

WHEELING — The list of teams to come back to win a series after trailing 3-0 in ECHL history can be counted on one hand.

The 2010 Cincinnati Cyclones and the 2018 Idaho Steelheads are the only teams in league history to achieve the phenomenal feat.

The Wheeling Nailers are hoping to join that list after they fell in a 3-0 hole on Tuesday night with a 5-4 loss to Toledo.

They will begin their quest for four straight wins on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. inside of WesBanco Arena for Game 4.

“The guys are definitely a little down in the locker room but this is a good test for these guys,” Wheeling coach Derek Army said. “This was a good test (Tuesday after turning a 5-1 deficit into a 5-4 final). There is still fight in this dog. Nashville pushed Colorado in Game 4 and they played really well so for us it’s just, ‘How much fight do we have left?’ We’ve seen it all year. We’re a team not a lot of people expected to be where we are. I would anticipate that guys will be geared up and ready. (Wednesday) is just a day to get your mind away from hockey and come in ready to work on Thursday.”

Louis-Philip Guindon has been stellar throughout the playoffs but after falling behind 5-1 in Game 3, Army went to Mitchell Weeks in net in search of a spark. That’s exactly what he found as Weeks collected 16 saves on 16 shots and Wheeling rallied back with three consecutive goals but fell just one short in the contest.

“Weeks made some big saves,” Army said. “He had a couple of 2-on-1 saves and the guys were feeding off of his energy and his ability to keep us alive. He made some big stops on the power play, as well. We wouldn’t have been able to make that comeback if he hadn’t come in and shut the door.”

Despite a power play goal by Cam Hausinger — who has a team-high nine goals in the playoffs — in the second period, Army is hoping to see his guys be a little more aggressive on the man-advantage going forward.

“Special teams came through for us in the second,” Army said. “It’s OK to be selfish and be a shooter at times. It’s a hard thing for guys on a team sometimes because you love the guys you are with and you want to set them up but to win, sometimes you have to be a little selfish. I thought we could have been a little more selfish on the power play. In the end we had some good activity and had a little pressure but unfortunately we just weren’t able to tie it.

“As a coach there are certain guys at times when you think, ‘Don’t pass it there.’ Being selfish is a good thing at times. For Hausinger, he could have easily tried to pass it to someone backdoor but instead he found a spot and put it in. That was fantastic. There is a time and place for the extra pass but for us it was desperation time down 5-1 in the hockey game. I know it’s a hard lesson to learn but it’s OK to be selfish. As a coach I’d like to see us shoot it a little bit more.”

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