Photo by Joe Lovell Wheeling’s Zac Lynch battles in the faceoff with Toledo’s Abbott Girduckis during Friday’s game at WesBanco Arena. The Nailers were defeated, 5-3, and eliminated from postseason contention.

WHEELING — The Nailers have been staving off elimination for the last week but their playoff hopes dissolved on Friday night.

Wheeling dropped a 5-3 decision to Toledo inside WesBanco Arena, a loss that officially eliminates the Nailers from playoff contention.

“If you look at the year we have had some injuries and some call ups but guys have stepped in and contributed,” Nailers coach Mike Bavis said. “Goaltenders have elevated their game but I think when you look back, I think I’ll find some points where we missed opportunities to get a win and that could be the difference right now.”

A span of 18 seconds changed the game and gave Toledo all the momentum.

With Wheeling’s Renars Krastenbergs giving his team a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, the Walleye picked up a pair of goals in 18 seconds to secure the upper hand and never looked back.

Jordan Topping –who finished the game with a hat trick — knotted the game at 2-2 on a power play goal with 7:05 left in the second.

Moments later, Hunter Smith lit the lamp to give Toledo a 3-2 edge.

Another momentum shift came early in the third as David Pope found the back of the net from the right circle on a power play to double the lead to 4-2.

“Even with some of their guys out of the lineup, it’s still a pretty smart and skilled team,” Bavis said. “They move the puck well and they play us much tougher here at our building than they have there and I was concerned with that going in.

“We had difficulty skating with them down low, so we really couldn’t build any momentum offensively.”

The two power play goals allowed by the Nailers on Friday ended a streak of 19 straight penalty kills.

Wheeling didn’t get a power play of its own until nearly nine minutes into the final frame.

Topping completed the hat trick 7:16 into the third on a backhander in front of the net.

Topping netted the game’s first goal on a laser from the top of the left circle 7:36 into the action.

Kevin Spinozzi answered two minutes later with his 17th goal of the campaign on an assist from goalie Jordan Ruby.

After taking the feed from Ruby, Spinozzi raced up the left side of the ice and ripped on shot at Toledo goalie Trevor Gorsuch that trickled past him and into the cage.

Gorsuch and Ruby each collected 33 saves.

Winston Day Chief garnered his 17th goal of the season with 4:03 to play as Bavis pulled his goalie to get a man advantage.

Bavis also brought Ruby to the bench on a late power play for a 5-on-3 advantage.

“We had some opportunities there and then we went 5-on-3 when we took the goaltender out,” Bavis said. “We just weren’t attacking confidently. If you’re not playing confidently throughout the game, a power play isn’t always going to all of a sudden change that.”

Wheeling plays its final home game of the season at 7:05 p.m. tonight against the Indy Fuel.