Two third period goals gave the South Carolina Stingrays a 4-2 win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in preseason action on Friday night at the Carolina Ice Palace.
Forward Dan DeSalvo starred in the game, scoring a goal and an assist for South Carolina. The Rays also got goals from defenders Tom Parisi and Phil Johansson, as well as forward Stephane Legault.
The Rays got on the board first when Parisi beat Greenville goaltender Callum Booth at 15:10 of the opening period.
Greenville tied things up at 1-1 just 1:16 into the second when Brien Diffley converted on the power play.
The Swamp Rabbits then took their only lead of the night on an unassisted goal by Cliff Pu at 4:40, pulling in front 2-1.
But South Carolina answered at 11:03 when Legault scored with assists from DeSalvo and Mark Cooper to tie the game back up at 2-2.
SC pulled ahead in the third, scoring twice to take control of the game. First, Johansson scored at 5:54 to make it 3-2 with an assist from fellow blueliner Meirs Moore.
Then DeSalvo took the puck all the way up the ice, circled around the Greenville zone and wristed a shot past goaltender Callum Booth to seal the victory at 4-2. The unassisted goal was scored at 9:52 of the final frame.
Stingrays goaltender Brody Claeys, who came into the game halfway thru the contest, stopped all eight shots he faced in 28:45 of action to pick up the win. Francis Leclerc started in between the pipes for South Carolina and made 14 saves.
Booth took the loss for the Swamp Rabbits, turning aside 22 shots while allowing four goals. Greenville finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Rays were 0-for-2 on the man-advantage. South Carolina had the edge in shots-on-goal for the contest at 26-24.
The two teams will square off again in another preseason game on Saturday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville at 6 p.m.The 27th season of Stingrays hockey begins in Orlando against the Solar Bears on October 12. The Stingrays will open their home schedule in North Charleston vs. Orlando the following week on Saturday, October 19.
Season tickets are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248.
Single game tickets for all 2019-20 Stingrays home games are also on sale now via Ticketmaster and the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office.
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