WHEELING, WV – Tonight the Greenville Road Warriors continue their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Wheeling Nailers. Faceoff for Game Three is set for 7:05 p.m. at WesBanco Arena in downtown Wheeling. The series is tied at one game each after the first two in Greenville last weekend.
RECAPPING THE ACTION:
GAME ONE: GRW 3 – WHL 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.
GAME TWO: GRW 2 – WHL 1 (OT)
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.
WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:
The Road Warriors and Nailers meet tonight in Game Three of their Eastern Conference semifinals series. Greenville dropped Game One by a 4-3 score on 4/14, but came back for a 2-1 OT win last Friday. Tonight is Greenville’s first road playoff game since April 6 in Elmira (L 3-6) and is the first home playoff game for Wheeling since April 9 vs. S.C. (W 3-2). Greenville is averaging 4 goals per game on the road while Wheeling is giving up 3 per game at home. This is the 3rd time these organizations have met in the playoffs. Winston Salem beat Johnstown 4-3 in the 1989 Riley Cup Finals and Wheeling beat Johnstown 3-1 in the 1993 Riley Cup Quarterfinals.
Nic Riopel and Chris Beckford-Tseu have split the starts in Greenville’s six playoff games and sport identical 2-1-0 records. Their strong play has given the Road Warriors a unique position among playoff teams. They are the only club that has two goalies ranking in the top 10 of goals-against average and save percentage. Beckford-Tseu is third at 1.46 while Riopel is seventh at 2.20. In terms of save percentage, Beckford-Tseu is sixth at 0.924 and Riopel is tenth at 0.916. Including the regular season, Beckford-Tseu is 7-3-0 in his last 10 starts while Riopel is 7-2-1.
– Dating back to the regular season, Greenville is 7-1-1 in the last nine games that Jimmy Kilpatrick scored a goal.
– In the 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs three of the four second round series were over in five games or fewer with three upsets.
– Shane Harper has seven goals in his last nine games dating back to March 31, 2011 vs. Gwinnett.
– Greenville leads the playoffs with three major penalties and T.J. Reynolds is first with two majors. Overall the team is fifth with 13.83 penalty minutes per game.
– The Road Warriors were 3-0-0 in Wheeling during the regular season with an 11-6 goals advantage. Brendan Connolly had five points (3G, 2A) to lead Road Warriors skaters in those games.
Even though the Road Warriors are away from home, you can still catch all of the action! Bailey’s Sports Grille, 2409 Laurens Road in Greenville, is your spot for Road Warriors Watch Parties. Bailey’s has every Road Warriors away games up on the big screens courtesy of America One. They have great drink specials every day of the week at Bailey’s along with the best bar food in town! Be sure to get a group of your fans together and head to Bailey’s for tonight’s Road Warriors Watch Party. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. with the Road Warriors Pre-Game show kicking off the coverage at 6:50.
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