The Stingrays earned a 5-1 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in front of over 4,000 fans on Friday night in the team's inaugural Vinyl Night game. Jordan Klimek (2), Alexander Suzdalev, Josh Wilkins, and Tyler Weiss scored for the Stingrays, while goaltender Garin Bjorklund stopped 25 of 26 shots in the win.
The Rays struck first 13:35 into the game. After Zac Funk skated with the puck on his backhand, he found Klimek going against the grain. With time and space, Klimek skated in and beat Swamp Rabbits’ goaltender Jacob Ingham over the shoulder for his first goal of the season. Funk and Ryan Hofer picked up the assists.
Klimek scored again with 1:14 left to go in the first. Wilkins had a wide-open chance and was initially robbed by Ingham, but the forward got the puck back for South Carolina. Skating back towards the slot, he found Klimek open, and the defenseman rifled home his second goal of the game. Wilkins and Suzdalev picked up the assists.
The Swamp Rabbits cut the Stingray lead in half with 12:40 to go in the second. Tate Singleton cut into the zone on a solo rush and beat Bjorklund to make it 2-1.
South Carolina regained their two-goal lead 1429 into the second. Wilkins dropped a pass off the rush to Kyler Kupka, who hit the post before the puck came back out into the slot. Suzdalev was right there for the rebound for his ninth goal of the season. Kupka and Wilkins picked up the assists.
South Carolina would pick up their first three-goal lead less than two minutes into the third period. Some crisp passing on the power play between Kupka, Suzdalev, and Wilkins got Wilkins a wide-open one-timer for his 16th goal of the season and third goal in his last three games. Kupka and Suzdalev picked up the assists.
The Stingrays extended the lead to four 9:27 into the third. Off a turnover from Greenville, Weiss protected the puck as he skated to the outside and shot across the grain for his 13th goal of the season.
South Carolina’s next game is Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum against the Atlanta Gladiators. Puck drop is set for 6:05 pm for the team’s annual Star Wars night presented by Jeff Cook Real Estate.
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