Wheeling, WV –The South Carolina Stingrays edged the Wheeling Nailers 2-1 Friday night in front of 2,727 at WesBanco Arena. Stingrays goaltender Todd Ford knocked away 27 of 28 Nailer shots earning his third straight victory.

The Stingrays (5-2-1-1) struck first as forward Gregg Johnson punched home his third goal of the year past Nailers goaltender Jordan Parise at 1:19 of the opening period. Stingrays center Matt Fornataro forced a turnover along the right-wing boards in the Nailers’ zone and found Johnson in front of the net. The even-strength marker is Johnson’s third goal in three games. The Nailers (2-7-0-1) finished the first period with nine shots on Ford. South Carolina ended the opening frame with six shots.

Wheeling grabbed an early power play in the second period as Patrick Wellar headed to the box 29 seconds into the middle frame, but the Nailers failed to convert with the extra man. The Nailers went 0-for-3 in the period as Johnson’s goal remained the only tally after 40 minutes of play. South Carolina finished the period 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Stingrays jumped out to a two-goal lead late in the third period with forward Nikita Kashirsky’s sixth goal of the season at 17:32. Keith Johnson and Jake Hauswirth recorded the assists. The Nailers responded on a 6-on-4 power play at 18:46 with Stingrays defenseman Joe Finley in the box for hooking. Jordan Fox buried a loose puck under Ford near the right-wing goal post to cut the Stingrays lead in half and prevent the shutout. Parise suffered the loss knocking aside 20 of 22 Stingrays opportunities. Wheeling ended the night 1-for-6 on the power play while the Stingrays finished 0-for-4.