WHEELING – Trailing the Florida Everblades 2-0 in the best-of-7 Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Finals, Wheeling head coach Ryan Papaioannou said his team is treating Wednesday night’s Game 3 as a do-or-die situation.

The puck will drop at 7:10 inside the friendly confines of WesBanco Arena.

“Tomorrow is Game 7 for us,” Papaioannou said following practice Tuesday. “If we don’t win tomorrow (Wednesday) and go down 3-0, we’re in a pretty bad place. If we win tomorrow after our two one-goal losses, then we’re feeling good about ourselves with back-to-back games at home on the weekend.”

The Nailers dropped both games in the Sunshine State, 2-1 and 1-0, to the Everblades over last weekend.

Scoring first is always a key in any sport, but with few goals scored in hockey, it is paramount. Florida has scored the first goal in all 11 of its playoff games this season.

“I think Florida has scored the first goal in all of their playoff games,” Papaioannou noted. “Obviously, that’s a key for us to score first, and we need to do it relatively early in Game 3 so we can build some confidence and be able to play with a lead, but in the end, we’ll play the game that is given to us. All we need to do is score one more goal than they do.”

Despite the early hole, the Nailers aren’t in panic mode.

“We were in both games down there. I don’t know if we played well enough to win, but we were close enough that it could’ve happened,” Papaioannou added. “We can take a little inspiration looking back at last year when Trois-Rivieres went down there and only put up 26 shots in two games. They ended up coming out of there with two wins, 2-1 and 1-0. We come out losing 2-1 and 1-0, so I think we’re close but there are adjustments that need to be made.

“Certainly coming back to this building should help our cause.”

A standard hockey rink is 200-foot in length and 84-foot wide. The ice surface at WesBanco Arena is just 189 by 84. The 11-foot difference comes in the neutral zone.

“Every rink is bigger than ours,” Papaioannou stressed. “We’ve got the world’s smallest neutral zone here so for us we’re pretty good at playing here. It’s easier for us to come through our neutral zone and, on our side, our neutral zone defense is better here. It’s definitely a change when you come back to this arena.”

The Nailers are perfect in six postseason games inside the downtown facility.

Matty De St. Phalle has logged Wheeling’s lone goal in the first two contests. He has eight points (4g-4a) in 14 playoff games. Ryan Mcallister leads the Nailers with 12 points (4-8), while Braylen Edwards has logged 10 (3-7). Zach Urdahl has a team-best five goals.

“A lot of everything. They have great defensive gaps,” Papaioannou said of Florida’s defense. “Their forwards are as good as it gets and they certainly have a commitment to playing defense, so it was tough to generate (any offense).”

Wheeling team captain Matthew Quercia said the Nailers have to start off on a good note.

“I think we need to come out hot. I think that is the key to the series,” he said. “They are a good team when they have the lead, so scoring first is going to be really important for us. We need to be prepared from the jump and come out with energy with the crowd being what it is going to be. We need to sustain that energy.”

LOOSE PUCKS

– Game 4 will be played Friday night at 7:10, with Game 5, if needed, set for Saturday, also at 7:10 p.m. Games 6 and 7, if necessary, will return to Hertz Arena in Estero.

– The Everblades have won three of the last four ECHL’s Kelly Cups, prevailing in 2022, 2023 and 2024. They also won in 2012.

– Florida is the oldest team in the ECHL this season, averaging 27 years old per player. Wheeling is the youngest at 24. The Everblades have just two rookies while the Nailers have 14. Florida also has 11 former Kelly Cup champions on its roster. Wheeling has zero.

– Florida is the ECHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. Ironically, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Pens just eliminated the Springfield Falcons in the AHL Calder Cup race, who are also a St. Louis affiliate.