WHEELING – Pittsburgh Penguins’ future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby once said about the Philadelphia Flyers, “I don’t like them, because I don’t like them. I don’t like any guy on their team.”

First-year Wheeling Nailers head coach Ryan Papaioannou had some similar thoughts about the Reading Royals, the Nailers first-round ECHL playoff opponent.

The top-seeded Nailers will host the No. 4 Royals for Game 1 of the best-of-7 ECHL North Division semifinal series on Friday night at WesBanco Arena. The puck drops at 7:10. Game 2 is Saturday night at WesBanco, also at 7:10.

The teams are no strangers, having met 15 times in the 2025-26 campaign. Reading holds an 8-7 edge, with both teams winning on opposing ice five times and each posting a pair of road shutouts. Wheeling leads in goals scored, 37-33.

“I think it’s good. There’s a good rivalry built up between the two teams,” Papaioannou said of the familiarity Wednesday afternoon after putting his team through one of its final practices when asked if his team was ready. “I think our guys don’t necessarily like them, and I believe they don’t like us. That’s a good recipe for a playoff series.

“We’ll find out Friday night,” Papaioannou said. “I think so, but I also think we’ve got a very tough opponent. The amount of parity we have in the division, this series could go either way.”

Wheeling went 46-20-6 for 98 points in winning the North Division. It marked the first time in 22 years that the Nailers had done so. Reading finished 36-26-10 for 82 points. This is the fourth meeting in the postseason, but first in 10 seasons. The Nailers lead 2-1.

The key to Wheeling’s successful season has been its goaltending. Taylor Gauthier has etched his name in the franchise record books on numerous occasions this year for career wins (71), games played (124) and shutouts (10). His .929 save percentage tied for No. 1 in the league and his 2.09 goals-against-average was third.

In addition, Gauthier served as the backup for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Easter Sunday and was the No. 3 goalie for Games 1 and 2 of the Penguins playoff series with Philadelphia earlier this week.

“As long as Taylor stays healthy and is able to give us the kind of minutes in the playoffs that he did in the regular season, I like our chances,” Papaioannou said.

Backing up Gauthier will be 2025 third round Penguins draft pick Gabe D’Aigle. The 19-year-old has played in two games, stopping all but one of the 39 shots he faced in the Nailers division-clinching win at Reading on April 12. He also made 44 saves in the final game of the regular-season.

“Gabe has also been good, but we’ve had quite a few guys play well in net for us. It’s definitely been one of our strong points,” Papaioannou said. “For us to win this series, our goaltending is going to have to be outstanding, as it has been all season.”

Special teams play is a focus in the playoffs.

“Our PK has to be good,” he stressed of the penalty kill. “I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of power-play time, but when we do we need to be able to get a timely goal. Our PK has to keep the puck out of the net.”

The series will follow the 2-3-2 format, with Reading hosting Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5, at Santander Arena on Wednesday, April 29; Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2, with all three contests starting at 7 p.m. The series will return to Wheeling, if necessary, for Games 6 and 7 on Monday, May 4 and Wednesday, May 7. Those start times are 7:10 p.m.

In the other North Division semifinal, the No. 2 Maine Mariners host the third-seeded Adirondack Thunder.