Alex Grant came back to the Nailers at just the right time. The rookie defense man crashed the net and scored with just three seconds left in regulation to dramatically tie the game at 4-4 and the Nailers went on to win in a shootout for a 5-4 final at Johnstown Wednesday night.

The Nailers pulled rookie goalie Brad Thiessen with 1:53 remaining and after a few close calls on Chiefs goalie Kris Mayotte it was Johnstown that almost put the game to bed. But Alex Grant raced back in front of his team’s open-net to block a shot with 30 seconds left and the Nailers got it back up ice for one more chance with 15 seconds to go. Chris Capraro stopped the puck on the point to keep it in the zone with 7 seconds left and then found Aaron Clarke in the corner who fired the puck to the center where Grant had rushed in and was able to chip in the big game-tying goal at the 19:57 mark.

It was Grant’s 5th goal of the season with the Nailers. He had just returned to Wheeling from a brief 3 week call-up to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL where he had played in 4 games and scored 1 goal. But the AHL Penguins are getting more guys sent to them as players are healing in Pittsburgh so Grant was sent back to Wheeling to get more playing time for a team that was missing three other defense man with injuries or flu. Grant’s appearance gave the Nailers five blue-liners for the game.

It was the fourth time in as many meetings this year that the Nailers vs. Chiefs rivalry required extra hockey. Wheeling had won a pair of overtime games from Johnstown earlier this year while Johnstown had won one overtime game at Wheeling.

Andrew Lord and Mitch Ganzak scored back to back in the shootout in the second and third rounds while Brad Thiessen turned away fourth of Johnstown’s five shooters in getting the victory in his Nailers debut.

Thiessen was the player of the year in the Hockey East last season in leading Northeastern University to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 15 seasons. The Hobey Baker Award finalist (college hockey’s version of the Heisman Trophy) has only seen action in four games at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton backing up No. 1 goalie John Curry so he was sent to Wheeling while Adam Berkhoel was called up to the AHL.

The Nailers trailed 3-1 in the second period when Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Thomas Beauregard would both score unassisted tallies on steals in the Chiefs zone. Pierro-Zabotel’s second goal of the season came as he took the puck away from the goalie Mayotte behind the cage and raced out in front to jam it home.

A few minutes later, Beauregard intercepted a clearing pass right in front of the blue-line and had a clear lane to race in on Mayotte for the top-shelf goal. Beauregard’s 13th goal of the season is tops in the American Conference and 2nd in the ECHL.

Ryan Hillier also scored his first goal as a Wheeling Nailer on a rebound from a Kevin Schmidt shot when the puck popped onto his stick on the right-wing side of the crease.

A pair of former Nailers scored a couple of the Chiefs goals as Sean Berkstresser and Chase Watson staked the home team to a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Troy Schwab and Bryan Marshall also scored for the Chiefs.

Wheeling is 3-0-1 against Johnstown this year. This was the first of a three game series between the two teams. Wheeling returns to Johnstown Friday at 7:05 p.m. The Chiefs will travel to Wheeling Saturday at 7:35 p.m. in the Nailers next home game.

Wheeling outshot the Chiefs 41-29 for their second highest shot total of the year. The Nailers went 0-for-4 on the power play ending a streak of seven consecutive games with at least one power play goal. Johnstown went 1-6 on the man-advantage. Wheeling has held the opposition to 2-for-29 on the power play over the last four games.

Wheeling improved to 8-10-2 with the victory and moved into a tie with Johnstown in the standings as the Chiefs fell to 7-9-4. Wheeling is 3-1 in their last 4 games and 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The Nailers have a road record of 6-4-0 which ties them for 2nd for most away wins in the American Conference.