NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - A goal from Matt Reid with six seconds left in the third period propelled the South Carolina Stingrays past the Gwinnett Gladiators 8-7 on Friday night from the North Charleston Coliseum.
Stingray netminder Maxime Daigneault picked up the only assist on the game winning goal. The first period was a goaltending nightmare as the two teams combined for nine goals in the first period while the Gladiators fifth goal chased South Carolina starting goaltender Davis Parley from the South Carolina net.
The Stingrays opened the scoring as Deryk Engelland beat Gladiators netminder Sean Fields on a breakaway to give South Carolina a 1-0 lead. Brad Parsons and Matt Reid had the assists on the goal 1:10 into the first period.
The lead didn't last long as the Gladiators answered with two goals just 47 seconds apart. Pascal Pelletier jammed home a loose puck along the goal line to tie the game at 1-1 while Ryan Fultz's 3rd goal of the season gave Gwinnett a short lived 2-1 lead.
Matt Reid tied the game up with the first of two consecutive power play goals for the Stingrays posted on the front and back half of a double minor penalty to the Gladiators. Reid took a pass from Aaron Power in the slot and beat Fields for the tally 7:22 into the opening period.
Jeff League then gave the Stingrays a 3-2 lead beating Fields on a breakaway at
7:49 of the period. John Hecimovic and Ty Morris picked up the assists on the goal for South Carolina.
It was then the Gladiators turn as Gwinnett took a 4-3 lead on South Carolina with two more back-to-back goals in the opening stanza. Derek Nesbitt, parked off the far post, took a pass from Jeff Campbell and beat Parley for the power play tally at 9:57 of the period.
Scott Mifsud then put the Gladiators back in the lead with his 4th goal of the season
finding a loose puck off the far post and ripping it past Parley. Adam Smyth and Nesbitt picked up the assists on the goal for Gwinnett at 12:13 of the period.
South Carolina tied the game at 4-4 less than a minute later as Legue picked up his second goal of the game taking a pass from John Hecimovic in the slot and beating Fields from point blank range as Legue was wide open in the slot. The goal came at 12:52 of the first period.
Gwinnett took a 5-4 lead on Scott Kelman's 5th goal of the season backhanding the puck over the shoulder of Parley into the top of the net for the tally. Durno found Kelman at a bad angle along the goal line to set up the goal. Nesbitt picked up the only assists on the goal at 16:59 of the first period that chased Parley in favor of Maxime Daigneault.
South Carolina picked up the only goal of the second period tying up the game at 5-5 as Brad Parson's beat Sean Fields with a snapshot from the left wing circle 6:23 into the middle stanza. Finnerty and Aaron Power added the assists on the goal.
In the third, South Carolina scored twice early in the period to take a 7-5 lead on the Gladiators. It was Hecmovic from Legue and Power at the 3:08 mark of the period to give the Stingrays a 6-5 lead. The Stingrays took a 7-5 lead 16 seconds later as Cam McCaffrey beat Fields off a feed from Ty Morris.
Ryan Finnerty added an assist on the tally at 3:24 of the period.
Gwinnett battled back to tied the game win two goals late in the period but it wasn't enough to send the game to overtime. Desbiens got the Gladiators their first tally of the third period finding a loose puck in the slot and beating Daigneault at the 7:09 mark of the period from Brown and Pelletier.
Adam Smyth equalized the game at 7-7 with a backhander over the shoulder of Daigneault at 16:38 of the third period. Scott Mifusd and Steve Slaton picked up the assists on the tally.
Gwinnett outshot the Stingrays 53-31 in the loss while getting back on the scoreboard on the power play going 3-for-5 on the man advantage in the loss. Sean Fields finished with 23 saves in the loss for Gwinnett as the Gladiators fall to 7-3-2 on the season.
Saturday
February 8th, 2025
6:53AM
