Nailers' Quest For Kelly Cup Ends Following Game 5 Loss

Yahoo

28-04-2025

The Wheeling Nailers fought off getting swept in their North Division Semifinals matchup with the Norfolk Admirals with a thrilling win on Friday night.
However, a sloppy third period in Saturday's Game 5 resulted in three goals against, and the Admirals went on to win 5-2, ending the Nailers' 2024-25 campaign.
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It was a difficult start for Wheeling, which fell behind 2-0 before the game was four minutes old. Norfolk opened the scoring at 3:07 with a Denis Smirov goal, followed by a Brandon Osmundson tally at 4:00.
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The hometown team finally got on the board at 9:03 when David Jankowski lit the lamp thanks to assists from Chase Pietila and Kyle Jackson.
Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, while Norfolk's Colton Young tallied the game winner just 2:41 into the third.
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Yet, the Nailers, down 3-1 at the midway point of their final period, kept pushing back, cutting the deficit back to one with a Jack Beck goal at 10:42. Gabe Klassen and Kyle Jackson set up the final goal of Wheeling's season.
Despite the pressure, Young scored his second of the period at 12:43, all but sealing the win with a little over seven minutes to go. The Admirals then put the game out of reach at 17:20 with a Darick Louis-Jean goal.
In his return to the Nailers crease, Taylor Gauthier made 21 saves on 26 shots (.807 SV%), suffering his first loss of the playoffs.
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Meanwhile, Norfolk switched things up, sitting Thomas Milic for the first time in the series, giving the start to Domenic DiVincentiis, who made 29 stops on 31 shots (.935 SV%).
Despite outshooting the Admirals 31-29, Wheeling gave up two power-play goals on four chances, while going 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
After compiling the first 40-win season since 2005-06, the Nailers' quest for their first Kelly Cup will need to wait for another season.