With three second-period goals, the Stingrays defeated the Rapid City Rush 3-1 at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of 5,000+ fans on the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss night presented by Crews Chevrolet. Ryan Hofer, Ben Hawerchuk, and Alexander Suzdalev scored for the Stingrays, while Mitchell Gibson made 23 saves to earn his fourth consecutive win.
Rapid City got on the board first, just 26 seconds in. Zack Hoffman got the puck in the neutral zone, sped into the Rays zone, and beat Gibson to give the Rush an early 1-0 lead.
Hofer tied the game for the Stingrays six and a half minutes into the second period. Hofer intercepted the puck off the left side boards, was denied on his first opportunity, and tucked home the rebound on the backhand to send the North Charleston Coliseum into a frenzy and thousands of teddy bears onto the ice. Hofer's first goal of the season and first as a Stingray was unassisted.
The Stingrays took the lead midway through the second period. Hawerchuk received a pass from Andrew Perrott and skated in before roofing a backhander over the shoulder of Rush goaltender Matt Radomsky to make it a 2-1 game. Perrott picked up the only assist on Hawerchuk's second goal of the season.
South Carolina would strike one more time before the second period ended. After a faceoff in the neutral zone, Erik Middendorf got the puck over to Kyler Kupka. After crossing the offensive blue line, Kupka found Suzdalev for an open opportunity. Suzdalev then beat Radomsky five-hole to give South Carolina a two-goal lead. Middendorf and Kupka assisted Suzdalev's sixth goal of the year.
The third period saw no goals, but Gibson stopped all eight Rapid City shots he faced to give the Stingrays their fifth win in a row.
The Stingrays will finish their three-in-three against the Rapid City Rush tomorrow at 3:05 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum for Undie Sunday, sponsored by Gildan.
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