Charlotte, NC – Paul Kelly scored the game’s first goal in the third period to give the Rays the lead, but they would eventually fall in the shootout to the Charlotte Checkers at the Time Warner Cable Arena.
“I think the guys were really tired out there,” said Head Coach Jared Bednar. “They played hard tonight, but three games in three nights will take a lot out of you.”
The first two periods were dominated by stingy defense and spectacular goaltending with both Bobby Goepfert and Jeff Jakaitis stopping everything that came their way, setting up an exciting third period.
In the third period Paul Kelly got his fifth goal of the year on a great pass from Tommy Maxwell to Kelly in the slot. The goal came at 4:11 and gave the Rays a 1-0 lead. They were unable to hold on though, as Michael Busto got his first goal of the season with less than two minutes to play in the game to tie it up at one.
After a scoreless overtime period, it went down to a shootout, the third of the season for the Rays. After Johann Kroll took the lead in the first round for the Stingrays, Peter Tsimikalis and Matthew Ford scored to make it 2-1 in the shootout. Keith Johnson had the last chance for the Rays, but he was unable to get it past Jakaitis and the Checkers won 2-1.
The winning goaltender was Jakaitis who stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced and four of five in the shootout. The losing goaltender was Goepfert who stopped 35 of the 36 shots he faced and two of the four in the shootout. The Rays went 0-9 on the power play while killing off all seven short handed situations they faced.
The Rays will be back in action next Friday when they travel to Gwinnett to take on the Gladiators.Game time will be at 7:35 P.M. You can hear the game live on ESPN Radio 910 the TEAM starting with the Benitos pre-game show beginning at 7:20.
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!
South Carolina Stingrays 1 at Charlotte Checkers 2 (SO) - Status: Final SO
Dec 21, 2008 - Time Warner Cable Arena
1st Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - P. O'Brien Sc (tripping - minor 57.2) 5:50, B. Farynuk Sc (hooking - minor 55.2) 7:13, P. Corsi Chr (high-sticking - minor 60.2) 9:42, M. Scherer Sc (interference - minor 56.2) 13:33, T. Maxwell Sc (roughing - minor 51.2) 17:08, M. Busto Chr (roughing - minor 51.2) 17:08, K. Smith Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 17:19
2nd Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - C. Murray Chr (slashing - minor 61.2) 0:41, T. Campbell Sc (charging goaltender in crease minor 43.2) 4:05, C. Murray Chr (boarding - minor 42.2) 7:58, B. Boudreau Sc (slashing - minor 61.2) 10:44, M. Busto Chr (interference - minor 56.2) 14:40, M. Scherer Sc (tripping - minor 57.2) 16:18, M. Leveille Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 16:42, M. Ford Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 18:41
3rd Period
Scoring - 1. South Carolina, P. Kelly (5) (T. Maxwell) 4:11
2. Charlotte, M. Busto (1) (B. Deeth, P. Tsimikalis) 18:34
Penalties - T. Maxwell Sc (roughing - minor 51.2) 1:33, B. Deeth Chr (high-sticking - double minor 60.3) 1:33, N. Kiser Sc (roughing - minor 51.2) 13:55, K. Smith Chr (roughing - minor 51.2) 19:58
OT Period
Scoring - No Scoring
Penalties - M. Leveille Chr (misconduct 40.4) 0:00
Shootout
Round 1 - SC - Johann Kroll - Yes
Round 1 - CHR - Michel Leveille - No
Round 2 - SC - Trent Campbell - No
Round 2 - CHR - Peter Tsimikalis - Yes
Round 3 - SC - Pierre-Luc O'Brien - No
Round 3 - CHR - Tomas Zaborsky - No
Round 4 - SC - Travis Morin - No
Round 4 - CHR - Matthew Ford - Yes
Round 5 - SC - Keith Johnson - No
