ESTERO, FL. - Thanks to an overtime goal from Connor Moore, The Stingrays picked up a 4-3 overtime win against the Florida Everblades at Hertz Arena. Josh Wilkins, Jamie Engelbert, Micah Miller, and Moore scored for the Stingrays, while goaltender Garin Bjorklund stopped 28 of 31 shots in the victory.
The first period saw no goals but plenty of action from both sides. The Everblades outshot the Stingrays 14-5 in the opening frame.
The Stingrays picked up the game's first goal while on the power play. Austin Magera bumped the puck to Moore in the high slot, whose one-timer went wide. The rebound went off the end boards to Wilkins, who was there for the backhander for his 17th of the year. Magera and Moore picked up the assists.
South Carolina would strike again on the power play to make it 2-0. Miller would send the puck to Blake Thompson, whose wrist shot from just below the blue line was tipped in by Engelbert. Thompson and Miller assisted Engelbert's 15th goal of the year.
This Stingray would score again, this time at four-on-four. After Charlie Combs stole the puck from an attempted outlet from Florida, Combs and Miller started a 2-on-1 up ice. Combs hit the post on his initial shot, but Miller was there for the rebound to make it 3-0 on his 15th goal of the season. Combs picked up the only assist.
The Everblades cut the Stingray lead back to two less than three minutes later. Colin Theisen beat Bjorklund over his glove to make it 3-1.
The Everblades made it a one-goal game with 7:47 left in the third. With traffic in front, Sean Allen rifled a shot from the right point over Bjorklund's glove to make it 3-2.
Florida added another goal 30 seconds later. Off an odd-man rush, Bjorklund made the initial save on Florida's Alex Kile, but Theisen buried the rebound for his second goal of the game to tie it up at three.
The Stingrays buried the game-winning goal with 4:52 left in the overtime period. In the Everblades' zone, Wilkins kept the puck to the outside on the left. The forward sent the puck to the slot, and Moore got a stick on it to send it to the back of the net for his tenth goal of the season. Wilkins picked up his second point of the night with the assist.
South Carolina's next game is Friday evening at Hertz Arena against the Everblades. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm.
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