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ECHL South Carolina Stingrays

Thunder Survive Late South Carolina Rally to Earn 5-4 Win in Game 1

April 29, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
South Carolina Stingrays News Release


NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - The South Carolina Stingrays (4-2) got two goals in the third period from Derek DeBlois, but a late rally fell short as the Adirondack Thunder (5-1) claimed a 5-4 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. The two teams take the ice tomorrow for Game 2 with the Thunder leading the best-of-seven series, 1-0.

The Thunder, who won 21 road games in the regular season, improved to 4-0 on the road in the playoffs with the win Friday night. The Thunder jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with two goals in the first 3:48. Peter MacArthur opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the game, beating Vitek Vanecek on a wrap-around.

Ben Johnson would double Adirondack's lead with a shorthanded goal, beating Vanecek with a shot far-side on a 2-on-1 rush at 3:48 to make it 2-0.

South Carolina's Joey Leach would cut the lead in half, making it 2-1 with a goal at 13:37 of the first period on a shot from the left point. However the Thunder would respond with a goal from the blue line as well. Mathieu Brodeur beat a screened Vanecek on the power play at 16:13 with a shot along the ice. The goal ended Vanecek's evening. He was replaced by Mark Dekanich after surrendering three goals on eight shots.

Caleb Herbert opened the second period with a goal for the Stingrays to cut the Adirondack lead to 3-2. Austin Fyten set up behind the Thunder net and fooled Adirondack goalie Ken Appleby. The goaltender moved to the wrong post, and Herbert accepted Fyten's pass and fired the puck into the open right side of the net for his fourth goal of the postseason at 8:39.

Just when it looked like the momentum was on the Stingrays' side, the Thunder struck again. Greg Wolfe scored his team-leading fifth goal of the playoffs at 10:31 on an odd-man rush, beating a sprawled Dekanich from the left wing.

Adirondack added one more goal before the period ended. Dana Fraser's tally at 18:05 on a perfectly executed 3-on-2 turned out to be the game-winning tally.

DeBlois would make the game interesting, scoring twice on his own rebound at 6:01 and 14:12 of the third period to cut the Adirondack lead to 5-4. The forward's first goal came on the power play after his initial shot trickled through the arm of Appleby.

The Stingrays outshot the Thunder 27-16 in the game. South Carolina went 1-for-8 on the power play while Adirondack was 1-for-5.

The two teams meet tomorrow night at the North Charleston Coliseum for Game 2 at 7:05 p.m. Fans receive a Cheer Sign to help cheer the Stingrays to victory! Tickets are available at the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office and via Ticketmaster online.

Check out the South Carolina Stingrays Statistics



ECHL Stories from April 29, 2016


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