Stingrays Weekly Report: January 2, 2023

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – The South Carolina Stingrays enter the week with the best win percentage in the Eastern Conference despite being in third place in the South Division, trailing the Atlanta Gladiators and Florida Everblades in points. The Stingrays have a three-game slate this week beginning Wednesday against the Orlando Solar Bears and concluding with games on Friday and Saturday against Atlanta and the Savannah Ghost Pirates.

STINGRAYS RECORD:17-5-2-1LAST WEEK: 2-0-0-0

WEDNESDAY: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS 3, NORFOLK ADMIRALS 2 (SO)(North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC)

The Stingrays' won their first shootout of the season behind a 36-save effort from Tyler Wall. After finding themselves down 1-0 early in the second period, Andrew Cherniwchan evened the score late in the frame on his third goal of the year. Again, trailing by one midway through the third period, Justin Florek tied the game at two to force overtime. With no goals in overtime, Carter Turnbull netted the lone shootout goal and Wall stopped all three shots for the win.

SATURDAY: SOUTH CAROLINA STINGRAYS 3, GREENVILLE SWAMP RABBITS 2(North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC)

South Carolina burst out for a 3-0 advantage early into the second period behind tallies from Andrew Cherniwchan, Justin Florek, and Carter Turnbull, the same scorers from Wednesday’s game. Greenville cut the deficit to two 35 seconds after Turnbull’s goal. The Swamp Rabbits pulled within one following a goal with an extra attacker on the ice before the Stingrays closed out the final 1:41 at home.

THIS WEEKWednesday, January 4: vs. Orlando Solar Bears, 7:05 p.m. (North Charleston Coliseum)Friday, January 6: vs. Atlanta Gladiators, 7:05 p.m. (North Charleston Coliseum)Saturday, January 7: at Savannah Ghost Pirates, 6:05 p.m. (Enmarket Arena)Video Coverage: FloHockey; Radio Coverage: Stingrays Broadcast Network

STINGRAYS LEADERSGoals: 17 – Carter TurnbullAssists: 16 –Bear HughesPoints: 28 – Bear HughesPlus/Minus: Plus-12 – Anthony Del GaizoPenalty Minutes: 62 – Evan WardleyShots On Goal: 86 – Carter TurnbullWins: 7 – Clay Stevenson, Tyler WallGoals Against Average: 2.24 – Clay StevensonSave Percentage: 0.927 – Clay Stevenson

FIRST HALF RECAPIn April of 2022, Brenden Kotyk was named the 11th head coach in Stingrays history, bringing Ryan Bourque on board as a full-time assistant coach. Since then, Kotyk and Bourque have led the team to a 17-5-2-1 record, the best win percentage in the Eastern Conference. Due to the team’s success, Kotyk was named the head coach of the Eastern Conference team at the 2023 ECHL All-Star Classic.

FLO STAYS HOTJustin Florek has been red hot for the Stingrays recently, tallying eight points on four goals and four assists in seven straight games following a goal in Saturday’s win. On top of his point streak, Florek has goals in each of the last three games which accounts for half of his season total. Florek now has 16 points this season on six goals and 10 assists.

FREE HOCKEYThe Stingrays have played six games that went into overtime or a shootout this season, including three in the last four games. South Carolina is 3-3 overall in extra time and 2-1 in the most recent three contests. The team is currently on a six-game point streak (5-0-1) and have yet to lose back-to-back games this season in regulation.

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--StingraysHockey.com--