GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors opened their Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Wheeling Nailers with a pair of home games last week. After splitting those games, the Road Warriors head north this week for the next three games of their best-of-seven series with Wheeling.
Kelly Cup Playoffs Record: 4-2-0
Regular Season Record: 46-22-4, 96 pts., 1st place South Division
Kelly Cup Playoffs Leaders:
Goals –Brendan Connolly: 3
Assists – Justin Bowers: 6
Points – Shane Harper/Justin Bowers: 6
+/- – Sam Klassen/Chris McKelvie: +6
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 16
PPG – Mark Voakes/Brendan Connolly/Jimmy Kilpatrick/Brandon Wong: 1
SHG – None
Wins – Nic Riopel/Chris Beckford-Tseu: 2
GAA – Chris Beckford-Tseu: 1.46
SVP – Chris Beckford-Tseu: .924
Regular Season Leaders:
Goals –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 28
Assists – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 44
Points – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 63
+/- – Brendan Connolly: +28
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 206
PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 12
SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4
Wins – Nic Riopel: 24
GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32
SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922
This Week:
4/20, 4/22 & 4/23 at Wheeling, 7:05 p.m. (4/20) & 7:35 p.m. – Regular Season Record: Home (3-0-0), Away (3-0-0) The first seed Road Warriors continue their battle with the fourth-seed Nailers in their best-of-seven semifinals series at WesBanco Arena this week. The series follows a 2-3-2 format with Greenville holding the home ice advantage. Greenville will be playing its first road playoff game since April 6 at Elmira (L 3-6) while Wheeling is playing its first home game since April 9 vs. South Carolina (W 3-2). Greenville is 1-1-0 on the road in the playoffs with a 4.0 goals per game average and a 4.0 team goals-against average. Wheeling, meanwhile, is averaging 2.5 goals per game at home and giving up 3.0 per game. Both teams feature strong defenses with Greenville giving up 2.25 goals against per game and Wheeling at 2.50. The Road Warriors are looking to rejuvenate their power play after going 0-for-21 in their first four home games of the Kelly Cup playoffs. Away from the BI-LO Center they are 4-for-10 with the man advantage. Wheeling’s power play, which is 3-for-9 on home ice, should provide a stern test for Greenville’s penalty kill. Greenville was 6-0-0 against Wheeling in the regular season and out-scored the Nailers by a 26-11 margin.
Day by Day:
Mon. 4/18: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m., Depart for Wheeling, 11:00 p.m.
Tues. 4/19: Practice at WesBanco Arena, 11:00 a.m.
Wed. 4/20: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:05 p.m.
Thurs. 4/21: Practice at WesBanco Arena, 11:00 a.m.
Fri. 4/22: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:35 p.m.
Sat. 4/23: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:35 p.m.
Sun. 4/24: Off
Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.
Broadcast Schedule:
Wed. 4/20: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:05 p.m.
Fri. 4/22: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:35 p.m.
Sat. 4/23: Road Warriors at Nailers, 7:35 p.m.
All Road Warriors radio broadcasts can be heard online for free courtesy of America One. Point your browser to www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com and click “Listen Live” to join Ray Schmitt on the broadcasts. Road Warriors fans can also watch Internet TV broadcasts of the games by clicking here. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to face off with the Road Warriors Pregame Show. Fans can also email Radio Ray and have their questions read during the broadcast! Send your questions to grwradioray@gmail.com.
Last Week: (1-1-0)
4/14 vs. Wheeling: L 3-4
Greenville came out of the gates firing in Game One and grabbed a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game. Shane Harper banged home his first pro playoff goal off of a set up by Brendan Connolly on a 2-on-1 rush. Wheeling, though, swung momentum in its favor with three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead. Tyler Murovich tied the score at 8:33 of the first and was followed by Joey Haddad’s shorthanded breakaway that beat Chris Beckford-Tseu at 10:45. Marc-Olivier Vallerand chipped a backhander behind Peter Delmas 4:46 into the third period and pulled Greenville back within one. But the deficit grew to two, again, with Murovich’s second of the night 4:56 later. Brendan Connolly netted Greenville’s third of the night 2:22 after Murovich’s score, but Delmas shut the door from there. Beckford-Tseu sustained his first loss of the playoffs with 17 saves on the night. Delmas turned away 33 bids in the win.
4/15 vs. Wheeling: OTW 2-1
Nic Riopel made his first start since taking the decision in the 6-3 loss to Elmira on April, 6 and out-dueled Peter Delmas in a dramatic, low-scoring affair. For the second straight game Shane Harper gave the Road Warriors a 1-0 lead with a first period goal. The goal at 17:33 came with assists from Brendan Connolly and Andrew Rowe. Riopel had 13 saves through two periods, including two during a Wheeling 5-on-3 power play in the second, and Greenville’s lead remained 1-0 heading into the third. The advantage evaporated 42 seconds into the period when Tim Crowder finished off a 2-on-0 break with his brother Paul. It was his first goal of the playoffs. With neither team able to score again in regulation, the scene shifted to overtime. Greenville had a handful of great scoring chances among its eight shots, but Delmas was a tough nut to crack. Finally, at 11:21, Jimmy Kilpatrick spiked home a rebound for the win and evened the series at one game each.
ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:
· S. Harper, 2 games (2G, 1A); 4/14-4/15
Assists:
· B. Connolly, 2 games (2A); 4/14-4/15
· J. Bowers, 2 games (2A); 4/14-4/15
Points:
· S. Harper, 2 games (2G, 1A); 4/14-4/15
· B. Connolly, 2 games (1G, 2A); 4/14-4/15
· J. Kilpatrick, 3 games (1G, 2A); 4/9-4/15
· M. Vallerand, 2 games (1G, 1A); 4/14-4/15
· J. Bowers, 2 games (2A); 4/14-4/15
Quick Hits:
· Road Warriors are 0-for-21 on the power play at home in the playoffs. They have not scored in their last 25 power play opportunities dating back to Game Two of the Elmira series on April 6.
· Road Warriors lead the Kelly Cup playoffs in shots with 220, and shots per game with 36.67. Greenville has a 7.7 shooting percentage with 17 goals on 220 shots.
· Greenville is the only team in the playoffs that has two goalies in the top ten among goals-against average leaders. Chris Beckford-Tseu ranks third at 1.46 while Nic Riopel is seventh at 2.20.
· In three regular season meetings at Wheeling the Road Warriors were 3-0-0 with an 11-6 scoring advantage, went 3-for-10 on the PP, and killed off eight of 10 penalties. Brendan Connolly led Road Warriors skaters with five points (3G, 2A) in the three games.
· The Road Warriors lead the Kelly Cup playoffs in major penalties (3) and T.J. Reynolds tops all skaters with two major penalties. The team ranks fifth overall with 13.83 penalty minutes per game.
Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about the final games of the series:
If they become necessary, Games Six and Seven of the series will be played on April 26 and April 27 at 7:35 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. Information on promotions and pre-game activities will be made available as necessary.
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