ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Tarkir Returns and Morin Makes History, But Rays Fall to Gwinnett 5-2

March 28, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
South Carolina Stingrays News Release


Duluth, GA - Travis Morin got his ECHL leading 60th assist of the year tying him with Mike Ross for the Stingrays record for assists in a season, but it wasn't enough as the South Carolina Stingrays gave up four power play goals and the Gwinnett Gladiators won 5-2.

"The thing I didn't like was that we were outworked tonight," said Head Coach Jared Bednar. "Every time we turned around we were killing off another penalty which didn't help."

The Rays picked up where they left off after yesterday's game by taking a 1-0 lead at the 6:22 mark of the first period. After a faceoff win by Travis Morin, Scott Romfo fired a shot from the point on goalie Joe Fallon. Fallon made the initial save, but the puck slid through his pads and ended up in the crease where Maxime Lacroix knocked it home. The power play goal was Lacroix's 32nd of the year with Romfo and Morin getting the assists. The assist was Morin's ECHL leading 60th of the year, tying him for most ever by a Stingrays player with Mike Ross in the 1996-97 season. Later in the period, with Gwinnett on a power play of their own, Dirk Southern found a rebound and in turn, the back of the net, to tie the game up at one going into the second period.

The power play continued to reign supreme in the second period as three more power play goals resulted. The first one came off the stick of Adam Berti, his 10th goal of the season, giving Gwinnett their first lead of the night. The Rays would answer back at 6:27 on a Pierre-Luc O'Brien power play tally. Jeff Corey and Lacroix brought the puck in the zone and from behind the goal line, Lacroix found a wide open O'Brien who put it behind a down and out Fallon. The goal was O'Brien's 17th of the year and tied the score up at two. Later in the period, however, the Gladiators would retake the lead on a power play goal by Tom Zanoski, his ninth goal of the season, making it a 3-2 game heading into the final frame.

Gwinnett continued their power play prowess in the third and padded their lead to 4-2 on Brandon Kaleniecki's 10th of the year, a power play tally from Brennan Turner and Andy Brandt. The Rays continued to pressure, but couldn't get anything by Fallon in the third period. At the 18:35 mark of the period, Jordan Fox broke away and put the game away with his team leading 26th goal of the year to make it 5-2, the eventual final.

The winning goaltender was Fallon who stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced. The losing goaltender was Jonathan Boutin who stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced. The Rays went 2-4 on the power play while Gwinnett went 4-7 on the man advantage.

The Rays will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as they play their final home game of the regular season. It's fan appreciation night at the North Charleston Coliseum so be sure to get your tickets and root on your stingrays as they gear up for another deep run in the Kelly Cup playoffs. Game time will be at 5:00 against the Mississippi Sea Wolves. If you can't make it to the game, you can tune in to ESPN Radio 910 the Team for all the action starting with the Benitos Pre-game show beginning at 4:45.

Check out the South Carolina Stingrays Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 28, 2009


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