Pride fall in extra session to Rays

March 19, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz News Release


N. CHARLESTON, SC - The Pee Dee Pride's road woes continued on Saturday night, as the South Carolina Stingrays skated away with a 4-3 overtime win. The overtime loss ends the Pride's road losing streak, but extends the road winless streak to 12 games.

South Carolina took a 1-0 lead, scoring a power-play goal 4:00 into the opening period. Rich Peverley swung the puck to Mark Ardelan at the top of the right-wing circle and his blistering slap shot beat Nick Boucher to the glove side for his 15th goal of the season.

The Pride came right back to tie the game with a power-play goal of their own at 5:16. Darryl Green took a shot from the blue line that was knocked down by traffic in front. The rebound sat free at the hash marks, and Green was able to pinch in and slide a shot past South Carolina goaltender Justin Eddy for his 10th goal of the season.

Sloppy play by the Pride inside their zone allowed the Stingrays to go back on top at 10:21. Pee Dee was unable to clear the puck out of the zone as Carlyle Lewis kept the puck in at the right point. His cross-ice hit Joe Tenute in stride, and he was able to blast a shot past Boucher for his 30th goal of the season.

Pee Dee tied the game midway through the middle period. With the Pride shorthanded, Kyle Kidney was able to create a steal at his own blue line, and then skated the other way on a 2-on-1 rush with Eric Naud. Kidney fed a perfect head-man pass for Naud who was free behind the defense, and he beat Eddy with a quick wrist shot for his sixth goal of the year.

The Stingrays went back on top just 1:08 into the final period. Boucher made the initial save on Mark Ardelan's shot from the point, but the rebound came free to Rich Peverley on the far post, and he was able to flip a shot over the fallen Pride goaltender for his 26th tally of the season.

But, the Pride were able to come right back to tie the game at the 5:33 mark. Gregg Johnson fed a head-man pass to Steve Cygan skating across the Stingrays' line. Cygan then dropped the puck back to Johnson who one-timed a shot past Eddy, extending his scoring streak to 11 games.

The game remained tied for the rest of regulation, but not because of lack of scoring chances. Both teams had several quality scoring chances over the final 14 minutes of the third period, but Boucher and Eddy traded big saves to send the game to overtime.

In the extra session, Jan Vodrazka was whistled for a hooking penalty with 1:46 left, giving South Carolina a power-play opportunity. The Stingrays capitalized, getting the game-winning goal off of the stick of Jonas Johansson with 30.8 seconds left to pick up the win.

Pee Dee heads out on a four-game swing through the South Division starting on Wednesday night against the Louisiana Ice Gators. Face off at the Cajundome in Lafayette is set for 8:00 ET. Catch all of the action on WDAR Sunny 105.5 and www.peedeepride.com starting with the Palmetto Chiropractic Pre-Game Show at 7:40.

The Pride return home on Saturday, April 2, hosting the Columbia Inferno at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Florence Civic Center Box Office or through TicketMaster at (843) 679-9333 or www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from March 19, 2005


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