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ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Stingrays Slay Gladiators 9-3

February 14, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
South Carolina Stingrays News Release


Duluth, GA - The South Carolina Stingrays scored nine times, including two short handers, as they dispatched the Gwinnett Gladiators 9-3 at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

"It really didn't feel like a 9-3 game," said Head Coach Jared Bednar. "We played really well in the second period, and were able to get some hard working goals."

The Rays got things started early in the first period, getting the 1-0 lead on Scott Romfo's sixth goal of the year. After Jeff Corey brought the puck in the zone on the rush, he took a shot that was turned aside by Josh Johnson. The rebound came right to Romfo who put it in for the first goal of the night. The goal came at 3:31 and was assisted by Corey and Pierre-Luc O'Brien. Less than two minutes later, Matt Scherer brought the puck in the zone on a delayed penalty, and rifled a shot by Johnson from the bottom of the near side circle to make it a 2-0 score. The lone assist on the goal is credited to Bryson Busniuk with the goal coming at 5:14.

The Gladiators cut the lead in half on Chris Cava's fifth goal of the year just over a minute into the second period. But the Rays were able to answer back, and in a big way. At 3:41, Michael Dubuc got his team leading 29th goal of the year on a beautiful play that lead to a breakaway. Keith Johnson found Travis Morin who brought the puck into the zone on the near side. He fired a perfect pass that hit Dubuc in stride down the far side boards. After making one move, he was able to back hand the puck up and over the goalie to make it 3-1. Later in the period, the Rays would strike again, this time on a Keith Johnson tally. While killing off a penalty, Maxime Lacroix cleared the puck to Johnson who brought it into the zone with just one man to beat. In getting the puck by Jeff Mason, Johnson put the on his back hand and flung it into the open net. The goal came at 15:08 and was Keith Johnson's 12th of the year. Lacroix got the lone assist on the Rays 10th short handed goal of the year, a goal that made it 4-1 after two periods of play.

Things got crazy in the third period as Jordan Fox got his first of the night on a penalty shot to make it a 4-2 game. The game would get no closer, as the Rays pulled away on four unanswered goals. Morin made it 5-2 on his 15th of the year at 11:25 from Lacroix and Johnson. That was followed shortly by Jeff Corey's 11th goal of the year, the second short handed goal of the night for the Rays, an unassisted goal at 12:35. It became a 7-2 lead on Spencer Carbery's first goal of the night, his 11th of the year, Matt Scherer and Mike Curry getting the assists at 18:09. Less than a minute later, at 18:51, Trent Campbell got his 10th of the year from O'Brien and Dubuc to make it 8-2. The Gladiators would get one more, off the stick of Fox, but Carbery's second of the night made it a 9-3 win for the Rays. The goal came at 19:32 and was assisted by Scherer.

The winning goaltender was Jonathan Boutin who stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced. The losing goaltender was Johnson who stopped 26 of the 35 shots he faced. The Rays went 0-3 on the power play, while killing off all five short handed situations they faced.

The Rays will be back in action tomorrow when they return home to take on the Mississippi Sea Wolves at 5:00 P.M. You can hear the game live on ESPN Radio 910 the TEAM starting with the Benitos Pre-game show beginning at 4:45. Remember it's a kid's day so there will be a kid's carnival starting at 3:30. Kid's tickets are just 5 bucks with kid's meals only 5 dollars inside the Coliseum.

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!

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