Thanks to five goals in the second period, the Stingrays extended their winning streak to six games after defeating the Rapid City Rush 8-1 at the North Charleston Coliseum on Undie Sunday, sponsored by Gildan. Jamie Engelbert, Micah Miller, Ryan Hofer, Charlie Combs (2), Andrew Perrott, Austin Magera, and Ryan Webb scored for the Stingrays, while Garin Bjorklund made 25 saves in the win. Nine Stingray skaters registered multi-point games in the win.
The Stingrays took the lead late in the first period after both teams had opportunities. Curling in his own zone, Jayden Lee found Engelbert with a zone-to-zone pass. Engelbert skated into the offensive zone and snapped a shot by Rush goaltender Christian Propp to get South Carolina a 1-0 lead and the fans an opportunity to throw their packaged underwear on the ice. Lee and Perrott picked up the assists on Engelbert’s team-leading 11th goal of the year.
South Carolina doubled their lead just 30 seconds into the second period. Catching the Rush off guard, Blake Thompsonsent a pass through the red line to a wide-open Miller. Miller had time and space to come in on a breakaway and beat Propp to get South Carolina a 2-0 lead. Thompson picked up the only assist on Miller’s ninth goal of the year.
The Rush responded a little more than a minute later. Simon Boyko took his rebound and found just enough space behind Bjorklund to make it 2-1.
The Stingrays regained their two-goal lead five minutes later. Thompson entered the open zone, sent a drop pass back to Hofer, and Hofer picked the top corner to make it 3-1 Stingrays. Thompson and Ben Hawerchuk picked up the assists on Hofer’s second goal in his last two games.
Two minutes later, South Carolina picked up a three-goal lead. A lead feed from Justin Nachbaur sent Combs on a breakaway, and he made no mistake to pick up his seventh goal of the year. Nachbaur and Webb got the assists.
Three minutes after that, South Carolina got their fifth goal. With the numbers advantage across the blue line, Jordan Wilkins patiently waited before sending a cross-ice pass to Perrott, who buried his third goal of the year to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick. Wilkins and Miller got the helpers.
Combs picked up his second goal of the game and eighth goal of the season five minutes later to give the Stingrays a five-goal second period. Lee sent an outlet pass to Miller, and he did all the dirty work before feeding the puck in front to Combs to make it 6-1.
The Stingrays added the extra point early in the third. Thompson kept the puck in the zone following a Rapid City clearing attempt and fired a shot on net. Magera was there for the rebound, shifting to his backhand to make it 7-1.
The Rays made it 8-1 soon after. After Webb got the puck close to the blue line, he hammered a slap shot that found its way to the back of the net for his first professional goal and point. Nachbaur and Engelbert picked up the helpers.
The Stingrays will be back in action against the Atlanta Gladiators at Gas South Arena on Wednesday, December 11 at 7 P.M.
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