photo by: Joe Lovell

Wheeling Nailers goaltender Taylor Gauthier (33) stops a shot during Sunday’s game against the Fort Wayne Komets at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Nailers were less than one minute away from earning their 20th home triumph of the season on Sunday afternoon, as they battled with the Fort Wayne Komets for the third time this week.

However, Fort Wayne’s William Dufour had other ideas, as he scored the tying goal during the final minute of regulation, then broke Wheeling’s hearts with the overtime goal, as the Komets prevailed 3-2 at WesBanco Arena.

The Nailers and Adirondack Thunder both fell in overtime on Sunday, and remain tied for first place in the North Division with 68 points.

Both teams scored in the first period.

Wheeling was first on the board at the 5:16 mark. Raivis Ansons took a pass from Mike Posma, and dangled his way through the right circle. Once he found an opening, Ansons delivered a perfect pass to the left side of the crease for a touch-in by Zach Urdahl.

The Komets got their goal on the power play with 3:24 remaining. One of the defensemen for the Nailers lost his stick, which gave Matt Miller the chance to drag the puck off of the goal line from his backhand to his forehand, as he shoved a shot in from tight on the left side.

The score stayed 1-1 all the way until the 11:31 mark of the third period, when the Nailers regained the lead. Daniel Laatsch let a wrist shot go from the middle of the blueline, which was tipped in by Mike Posma.

Wheeling was less than one minute away from getting a win to the finish line, but with 51 seconds left, Fort Wayne forced overtime when Dufour whizzed in a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

At 6:11 of the extra session, the Komets earned the extra point with the winning goal.

Similar to regulation, Dufour was the culprit, as he skated into the left circle, and drove a shot into the right side of the net for the 3-2 Fort Wayne victory.

Samuel Jonsson was the winning goaltender for the Komets, as he stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced. Taylor Gauthier made 29 saves on 32 shots he faced in the overtime defeat for the Nailers.

The Nailers will spend the next week in South Dakota, where they will play three games against the Mountain Division’s Rapid City Rush. All three tilts begin at 9:05 p.m. Eastern, and will be played on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

KOMETS 6, NAILERS 4 (SATURDAY)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — The Wheeling Nailers battled back from a three-goal deficit against the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, but didn’t come away with any points for their efforts.

Fort Wayne regained the lead on Matthew Brown’s second goal of the contest with 6:06 left in the third period, then added an empty netter for a 6-4 victory on home ice.

Emil Pieniniemi had three assists for the Nailers, who received goals from Connor Lockhart, Jack Works, Nolan Renwick and Ryan McAllister.

Nathaniel Day was the winning goaltender for the Komets, as he made 35 saves on 39 shots. Maxim Pavlenko surrendered five goals on 32 shots in the defeat for the Nailers.