The South Carolina Stingrays were defeated by the Savannah Ghost Pirates 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday night. Mitchell Gibson made 27 saves on 29 shots, and Jonny Evans scored the lone goal for the Stingrays.
Savannah struck first and secured the night’s first goal at 12:02 into the first period. The lone goal was scored by Jordan Kaplan, who received a pass from Brandon Estes and spun around and roofed the puck up and over Gibson.
The Stingrays tied things up in the final seconds of the second period. Kevin O’Neil found Evans, who had a wide-open net, waiting just to the right of Savannah goaltender Jesper Vikman. Austin Magera had the secondary assist on the goal that came 35 seconds before the end of the period.
The Stingrays outshot Savannah 13-7 in the third period, but the score remained level through the third period and a seven-minute overtime. For the first time all season, the Stingrays went to a shootout. Evans scored on the first attempt for the Rays, but the Ghost Pirates earned the extra point in the standings thanks to shootout tallies from Brent Peterson and Simon Pinard.
The Stingrays are back in action this Tuesday when they take on the Gladiators in Atlanta. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.
