Trenton, NJ – The South Carolina Stingrays scored seven goals in the final two periods, but the Trenton Devils prevailed in a ‘Wild West Shootout’ 9-7 at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ.
“It certainly wasn’t the game I expected,” said Head Coach Jared Bednar. “I’m not happy with how we played defensively at all, but I do like the way we kept battling throughout the game.”
To say the first period didn’t go as planned for the Stingrays would be something of an understatement as they finished the period down 3-0. At 9:30, Trenton’s Jeff Prough got his first goal of the game and his 22nd of the year, an unassisted goal to make it 1-0. Just :68 seconds later, they would double the lead on Brad Snetsinger’s 14th goal of the year at 11:48. Later in the period, while on the power play, Prough got his second goal of the game, knocking the puck past a scrum in front of the net. The goal made it a 3-0 game heading into the second period.
The Rays hopped on the comeback trail early in the second period. Matt Scherer one-timed a perfect pass from Spencer Carbery from behind the net to make it a 3-1 game. The goal was Scherer’s 7th of the year and was assisted by Carbery and Micahel Dubuc at the 3:00 minute mark. Just :42 seconds later they struck again. This time it was Pierre-Luc O’Brien who put in a rebound from a Jeff Corey shot. The goal was O’Brien’s 14th of the year with Corey getting the lone assist. After cutting the lead to just one however, the Devils once again went on the offensive scoring three goals in the span of 5:14 seconds to give them their largest lead of the night at 6-2. Still battling hard though, the Rays continued to chip away. Matt Scherer got on the board for his second time on the night, knocking in a shot from the top of the crease. The goal, Scherer’s eighth of the season, was assisted by Mike Curry and Nate Kiser at 10:27. After the goal, Scherer was cross checked to the ground giving the Rays their third power play of the night. While on the man advantage, Josh Godfrey fired a shot from the far side point that was tipped in by Keith Johnson, his 17th of the year. The goal, assisted by Godfrey and Travis Morin, made the score 6-4 at the 11:12 mark of the period.
The third period was just as wild as the second, with the Rays once again bringing the game to within one goal, this time on a goal by Maxime Lacroix, his first of the night, 25th of the season making it 6-5. The goal came at the 3:43 mark and was assisted by Kiser and Corey. But once again, the Devils struck back, this time with a pair of goals to extend the lead to three, making it an 8-5 game with 10:50 to go in the game. The Rays continued to battle back as they got another two goals, bringing it to within one again. At 10:49 of the period, Dubuc got his team leading 33rd goal of the game, assisted by Jeff Corey. Eight minutes later it was Lacoix for his second of the night, 26th of the year, to make it an 8-7 game. The goal came at 18:05 and was assisted by Jeff Corey. :58 seconds later, Jim Henkel salted the game away with his 13th goal of the year to make it 9-7, the eventual final.
The winning goaltender was Gerald Coleman who stopped 26 of the 33 shots he faced. The losing goaltender was Jonathan Boutin who stopped 18 of the 27 shots he faced. The Rays went 2-5 on the power play while killing off two of the four short handed situations they faced.
The Rays will be back in action tomorrow as they play their final game on this Northern road trip taking on the Reading Royals at 5:05 P.M. You can hear the game live on ESPN Radio 910 the TEAM starting with the Benitos Pre-game show beginning at 4:50.
It’s just seven days until the Rays paint the ice pink for “Pink in the Rink” night on Saturday, February 28 to help fight cancer. Don’t forget to get your tickets and “Pink Packs” by calling the Stingrays’ office at 744-2248. Together we can help knock out cancer in the Low Country!
South Carolina Stingrays 7 at Trenton Devils 9 - Status: Final
Feb 21, 2009 - Sovereign Bank Arena
1st Period
Scoring - 1. Trenton, J. Prough (22) 9:30
2. Trenton, B. Snetsinger (14) (E. Castonguay, K. Cormier) 11:38
3. Trenton, J. Prough (23) (J. Akeson, E. Castonguay) 15:47 PP
Penalties - M. Scherer Sc (holding - minor 54.2) 4:43, D. Eves Tre (hooking - minor 55.2) 13:02, N. Kiser Sc (holding - minor 54.2) 14:38
2nd Period
Scoring - 4. South Carolina, M. Scherer (7) (S. Carbery, M. Dubuc) 3:00
5. South Carolina, P. O'Brien (14) (J. Corey) 3:42
6. Trenton, E. Castonguay (15) (R. Gunderson, B. Snetsinger) 4:49
7. Trenton, K. Cormier (1) (E. Castonguay, B. Snetsinger) 6:08
8. Trenton, B. Snetsinger (15) (J. Prough, J. Akeson) 10:03
9. South Carolina, M. Scherer (8) (M. Curry, N. Kiser) 10:27
10. South Carolina, K. Johnson (17) (J. Godfrey, M. Lacroix) 11:12 PP
Penalties - J. Godfrey Sc (roughing - minor 51.2) 3:29, M. Cohen Tre (roughing - minor 51.2) 3:29, B. Snetsinger Tre (hooking - minor 55.2) 7:58, J. Prough Tre (cross-checking minor 59.2) 10:27, J. Henkel Tre (hooking - minor 55.2) 15:51, M. Dubuc Sc (interference on the goalkeeper - minor 69.2) 16:31
3rd Period
Scoring - 11. South Carolina, K. Johnson (18) (N. Kiser, M. Lacroix) 3:43 PP
12. Trenton, J. Akeson (12) (J. Prough, M. Cohen) 6:04
13. Trenton, B. Snetsinger (16) (J. Henkel, D. Eves) 9:10 PP
14. South Carolina, M. Dubuc (33) (P. O'Brien, J. Corey) 10:49
15. South Carolina, M. Lacroix (25) (J. Corey) 18:05
16. Trenton, J. Henkel (13) (D. Eves) 19:03
Penalties - B. Snetsinger Tre (interference - minor 56.2) 2:05, N. Kiser Sc (hooking - minor 55.2) 8:59
