North Charleston, SC – Keith Johnson scored two goals in the first period for the South Carolina Stingrays, but it wasn’t enough as the Elmira Jackals scored two unanswered goals in the second period and held on in the third for a 3-2 win at the North Charleston Coliseum.
“To be perfectly honest, I thought we played better tonight then we did yesterday,” said Head Coach Jared Bednar. “It’s always tough to lose, but I thought the guys came out to play tonight.”
In the first period, Pierre-Luc Faubert scored his ninth goal of the year from Joe Grimaldi and Josh Aspenland at 9:13 to give the Jackals a 1-0 lead. The lead was short lived when Keith Johnson got his sixth goal of the year on a tipped shot from Scott Romfo and Travis Morin to tie the game up at one at 14:45. Exactly two minutes later, Johnson struck again, this time tipping in a shot from Johann Kroll with Morin getting the other assist on the power play.
Early in the second period, Benoit Doucet got the tying goal for the Jackals at 2:48 which was shortly thereafter followed by former Stingray Paul McIlveen getting the eventual game winning goal, his seventh of the year, on the five on three.
The third period was dominated by the Stingrays, they out shot the Jackals 13-5 in the period, but after hitting the post twice, they were unable to score.
The losing goaltender was Michal Neuvirth who stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. The winning goaltender was David Shantz who stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced. The Rays went 1-2 on the power play while killing off three of the four short handed situations they faced.
The Rays will be back tomorrow afternoon when they take on Charlotte Checkers before the Christmas break.Game time will be at 4:00 P.M. You can hear the game live on Sports Radio 1450 starting with the Benitos pre-game show beginning at 3:45.
Don’t miss all the fast-paced, hard-hitting action! Individual tickets can be purchased at the North Charleston Coliseum box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (843) 554-6060 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Full and partial season tickets are available by calling (843) 744-2248 or by visiting online at www.stingrayshockey.com. Stingrays Hockey – A Whole Lot Cooler!
Elmira Jackals 3 at South Carolina Stingrays 2 - Status: Final
Dec 20, 2008 - North Charleston Coliseum
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Elmira, P. Faubert (9) (J. Grimaldi, J. Aspenlind) 9:13
2. South Carolina, K. Johnson (6) (S. Romfo, T. Morin) 14:45
3. South Carolina, K. Johnson (7) (J. Kroll, T. Morin) 16:45 PP
Penalties - B. Roach Elm (interference - minor 56.2) 16:01
2nd Period
Scoring - 4. Elmira, B. Doucet (5) (K. Betts, P. McIlveen) 2:48
5. Elmira, P. McIlveen (7) (B. Roach, C. Switzer) 14:58 PP
Penalties - N. Kiser Sc (roughing - minor 51.2) 13:21, P. O'Brien Sc (delay of game - restricted area 63.2) 14:47, N. Kiser Sc (high-sticking - minor 60.2, unsportsmanlike conduct - disputing decision - minor 40.2, unsportsmanlike conduct 75.4) 19:35
3rd Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - Served by B. Doucet Elm (bench minor - too many men 74.2) 9:32
