Photo by Joe Lovell The Wheeling Nailers' Matty De St. Phalle takes the puck behind the goal Friday during the Nailers' overtime win against the Maine Mariners inside WesBanco Arena.

WHEELING – With five games in six days, Game 1 of the Kelly Cup’s best-of-7 North Division Championship series was crucial.

Ryan McAllister’s goal 3-minutes, 10-seconds into overtime lifted Wheeling to a thrill-packed 4-3 decision over Maine before 2,395 fans inside WesBanco Arena.

“It was a great play by Eddie (Brayden Edwards). I just shot it on goal and it went in,” McAllister said. “It was a great feeling.”

Brent Johnson also earned an assist on the game-winner.

McAllister’s game-winner marked the only time the Nailers led in the contest. They trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before rallying to draw even each time.

“I didn’t think we were great in the first two periods, but I thought in the third we played more like ourselves,” first-year Wheeling head coach Ryan Papaiannou said. “This was a big win for us and we need to take advantage of the fact that they are going to be playing three games in four nights and four games in five.”

Game 2 is set for Saturday night inside WesBanco Arena as the puck drops at 7:10. Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 are to be played in Portland on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 each night.

“That’s what the playoffs are all about. You’ve got to stick with it,” Papaiannou stressed. “We took our first lead to end the game. That’s the best time to do that.”

Before it scored to win the game, Wheeling had to kill off a two-minute minor penalty on Nolan Renwick for slashing.

“That was a very interesting call. I’m not sure what that was all about, but we got the penalty kill done and it led to a goal.”

The Mariners led 1-0 on a goal by Antonio Venuto with 7:40 elapsed in the first period. Wheeling tied it 7:46 later when Tristan Thompson got his first lamp-lighter of the postseason off assists by Matty De St. Phalle and Logan Pietila.

Maine went back ahead 2-1 on a power-play goal early in the second period by Owen Gallatin. However, the persistent Nailers drew even just under three minutes later as Blake Bennett carried the puck into the Mariners’ zone before letting a shot go from the left circle that whizzed past Maine’s Brad Arvantis. Assists went to Matthew Quercia and Pietila.

Former Nailer Brooklyn Kalmikov gave the visitors a 3-2 lead at the 15:14 mark of the middle period, but Wheeling’s Mike Posma tied the game again 47 ticks later off assists by Johnson and Thompson.

There was no scoring in the third 20 minutes despite the Nailers enjoying an 18-8 advantage in shots on goal.

Renwick won the opening faceoff to start overtime but a Reading player fell on top of him. While attempting to get back on his skates, Renwick was called for a penalty. Maine was 1-for-5 on the power play while the Nailers went 0-for-3.

Wheeling’s Taylor Gauthier gave up three goals on 30 shots, but came up big when he had to. He finished with 27 saves. Arvantis, who led Trois-Rivieres to the Kelly Cup championship last season, stopped 38 of 42 shots.

LOOSE PUCKS

– McAllister earned the game’s No. 1 star, with Thompson the No. 2 and Pietila the No. 3.

– Kalmikov had a goal and an assist for the Mariners.

– There were 24 minutes in penalties assessed, with Wheeling logging 14.