Playoff Diary Day 18

There is no tomorrow for the Road Warriors now. It's exciting and nerve wracking all at once, from an observer's point of view. For the players who will try to avoid elimination tonight I think it will provide an acutely heightened sense of focus. These guys play the game they love for a living and if they don't win tonight they will not be playing competitively again until October. They would also be separated from one another as they go their respective ways to train for the summer and sort out where they will play next season. None of the guys in the Greenville dressing room want that because they have grown close over this season and enjoy playing alongside one another. The Road Warriors' fate is in their own hands and 60 minutes of play on a sheet of ice in northern West Virginia tonight will determine whether they will go home to Greenville for at least one more game.

One item that is out of their control is which players will be available tonight. The melee at the end of Game Four was an extremely unfortunate situation. Not only are the Road Warriors facing possible suspensions, but by engaging the Nailers in that fight they showed Wheeling how frustrated they are. It's an extremely emotional time of the year to be playing hockey, and of course the guys in blue and white were ticked at losing another one-goal game. But somewhere within yourself you have to be able to skate off to the dressing room and not give your opponent the satisfaction of knowing they got to you. But who knows, maybe the Road Warriors will be able to vent their frustrations more properly tonight by pumping some shots into the net. It was a light workload this morning at WesBanco Arena. Check it out: