Kelly Cup Playoffs: Wheeling Nailers Advance To Second Round With Thrilling Double OT Win Over Reading Royals

Even if the Pittsburgh Penguins ' 2025-26 season came to a close after a disappointing first-round Stanley Cup Playoff loss to the Philadelphia Flyers , things down on the farm are alive and well as far as the post-season is concerned. And one of their affiliates punched their ticket to the second round on Saturday. In a double-overtime thriller, the Wheeling Nailers - ECHL affiliate of the Penguins - beat the Reading Royals, 1-0, in Game 5, and advanced to the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Forward Nolan Renwick scored the OT winner, which came a little more than seven minutes into the second overtime period, to put away the ECHL affiliate of the Flyers. 🚨NOLAN RENWICK SENDS US TO ROUND 2🚨 🚨Nolan Renwick 🍎Zach Urdahl 🍏Daniel Laatsch #ForTheWheel pic. twitter.

com/Z7pJIGRhBZ — xy-Wheeling Nailers (@WheelingNailers) May 3, 2026 Goaltender Taylor Gauthier - who served as the Penguins' emergency backup goalie during home games in the first round of the NHL playoffs - made 41 saves and earned his third shutout of the series. He is up to a . 974 save percentage in these playoffs.

With the shutout, he tied an ECHL record for the fewest number of goals given up in a five-game series, and his three playoff shutouts are the most in franchise history. Wheeling will meet the winner of the Maine Mariner and Adirondack Thunder series in the North Division Final, which will start on May 8 in Wheeling. 'There's A Lot To Build On': Penguins Confident 2025-26 Season Is Just The Starting Point For Contention After being eliminated from the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins are confident that they'll be back in the post-season in the years to come.