The South Carolina Stingrays scored three unanswered goals in a third-period victory over the Toledo Walleye. The Stingrays now have 71 points and hold a five-point lead over the Orlando Solar Bears for the fourth and final playoff spot in the South Division standings.
Garet Hunt opened the scoring for the Stingrays 7:42 into the game. Hunt stole the puck in front of Toledo’s net and snapped it past Walleye goaltender Jan Bednar for his second goal of the season.
Ryan Leibold doubled the South Carolina lead with a shot from the top of the left circle to make it 2-0.
Riley Sawchuk and Alexandre Doucet scored for the Walleye to tie the game before the end of the first period. Sawchuk added two goals in the second period to complete his hat trick and give the Walleye a two-goal lead. After Toledo’s fourth goal, Stingrays Head Coach Brenden Kotyk called a time-out and made a goaltender change. Garin Bjorklund had made 19 saves on 23 shots, but Kotyk elected to put Reid Cooper in for the remainder of the game.
The Stingrays responded in the third period. Tyson Empey pulled South Carolina within one with his 18th goal of the season. Jacob Hudson stole the puck in the neutral zone and sped up the left wing side into Toledo’s zone before dropping it to Empey, who snapped it past Bednar to make it 4-3.
Magera tied the game at 4-4 with his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. He attempted a centering feed, but it deflected off a Walleye defender and into the net.
With five seconds remaining in regulation, Michael Kim delivered the game-winning goal. Jonny Evans held the puck behind the Walleye net and sent a feed to the right point for Kim, who wired home his sixth goal of the season to put South Carolina in front for the first time all night. The Stingrays held on for a 5-4 victory, and Cooper finished the night with five saves on five shots.
The Stingrays return to action on Friday night for a massive tilt against the Orlando Solar Bears. Puck drop is set for 7:05 pm at the North Charleston Coliseum.
