Wheeling overcame a 1-0 deficit after two periods to take a 2-1 lead in the third only to fall short, 3-2, in a shootout against Gwinnett at WesBaco Arena Thursday night.

Peter Lenes tied the game, 1-1, at 3:37 of the third period, lifting a wrister past Gladiators goaltender Mike Lee. Jordy Trottier scored his first of the year just 61 seconds later for a 2-1 Wheeling lead.

That lead lasted less than three minutes, however, as Gwinnett came right back. Justin Bowers fired a shot past Nailers goaltender Peter Delmas to tie the score and eventually send the game to overtime.

After a scoreless overtime period, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Alex Belzile, and Joey Hadded scored for Gwinnett to win the game. Zabotel, a former Nailer, scored the first goal of the game for the Gladiators at 3:03 of the first period.

Delmas stopped 24 of 26 shots for Wheeling, which now has a 21-16-3-5 (50 points) overall record. The Nailers are back in action Saturday night at Norfolk.

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Chris | Penguins Report
(Photo by wheelingnailers.com)