Tied at one heading to the third period, the South Carolina Stingrays found goals from Charlie Combs and D.J. King in the final frame to take Game One of the South Division Semifinals, 3-2, over the Atlanta Gladiators on Friday evening at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 4,182 fans. The Stingrays have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Both sides tried to impose their wills physically. Less than ten minutes into the first period, Ryan Hofer for South Carolina and Josh Davies for Atlanta, were given match penalties, setting the tone early in Game One.
The Stingrays had multiple chances on the power play in the first, but Atlanta struck while shorthanded. Adam Eisele opened the scoring with 2:36 left in the frame, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Atlanta took the one-goal advantage to the second period, but South Carolina found an answer nearly halfway in. Jalen Luypen scored off his own rebound with 10:58 left in the second tying the game at one.
Both netminders, Garin Bjorklund for South Carolina and Ethan Haider for Atlanta, were steady through the first two periods, keeping the game knotted at one.
Early in the third period, South Carolina took its first lead of the series. Stan Cooley fired a pass through the slot to Charlie Combs, who beat Haider short side, pushing the Stingrays ahead, 2-1.
With the one-goal lead, South Carolina looked for insurance. With less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation, D.J. King cleaned up a scramble in Haider’s crease building the Stingrays lead to two, 3-1.
Atlanta pressed to cut into the deficit, but Bjorklund was stellar in net, keeping the two-goal advantage intact until the final seconds. After several penalties were called in the final two minutes, and the Gladiators’ net empty, Eisele scored his second of the night with five seconds remaining, but it was too late for Atlanta as the Stingrays took Game One over the Gladiators, 3-2.
Bjorklund stopped 29-of-31 shots in the victory while Haider stopped 27-of-30 in the losing effort. Justin Nachbaur recorded a multi-point night with a pair of assists while eight different Stingrays registered a point in the Game One victory.
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