‘Blades stung late in 3-2 loss to Stingrays

ESTERO, Fla. — Jonathan Charbonneau scored a power-play goal with 6:57 left in the third period to help guide the South Carolina Stingrays past the Florida Everblades on Friday at Hertz Arena.

BOX SCORE

With the two teams tied atop the South Division at the start of the night, the Stingrays (12-2-0-0, 24 pts.) overcame two separate deficits and scored the final two goals of the game to top the ‘Blades (11-5-0-0, 22 pts.) in the first matchup between the storied rivals this season.  

Florida’s Zach Magwood put the first goal on the board with time winding down in the first. Logan Roe chopped the puck out to the neutral zone and caught the Stingrays out of position changing behind the play. Magwood snatched the puck from South Carolina’s lone man back, walked in all alone on Stingrays goaltender Parker Milner and sizzled a red-hot wrister from the left circle over Milner’s glove hand.

The Stingrays tied the game at one just 24 seconds into the second frame with a slapshot from the point from Tommy Hughes that deflected off Mitch Vanderlaan’s skate past Florida goaltender Ken Appleby.

But Florida answered back 36 seconds later with a goal of its own from Blake Winiecki. Justin Auger took the puck in along the right-wing wall, and Winiecki caught his man pinched in the neutral zone. Winiecki took a pass alone in front of Milner that he slid through the five-hole for the tally.

The Stingrays tied the game at two at 2:41 of the second period with an individual effort by Dan DeSalvo. He took a shot from the slot that bounced off Appleby into the air before falling over the goal line.

The Stingrays then took their first lead of the game on Charbonneau’s power-play goal in the third. Andrew Cherniwchan’s backdoor pass found Charbonneau in the left circle, and Charbonneau squeezed through the right side of Appleby to give the Stingrays what proved to be the game-winning goal.  

Florida pulled Appleby for the extra attacker with 1:40 to play in the third period. With 27 seconds to play, the ‘Blades found themselves on the power play and a 6-on-4 advantage with Appleby still pulled. Despite a late flurry in the waning seconds, the ‘Blades fell short.

BLADES BITES

• Zach Magwood, who had just one goal in his first 12 games, has four goals and five points over his last four contests.
• Captain John McCarron had his career-high 10-game point streak halted in the loss.
• Defenseman Greg Campbell and forward Lukas Craggs both made their debuts with the team. Forward Levko Koper suited up in his first game after signing with the team on Tuesday.
• Magwood’s goal in the first was the ‘Blades first goal in the first period of a home game this season. It was also the first time Florida has scored first on home ice.
• Florida held a 28-22 edge in shots on goal and has outshot its opponent in nine straight games. Friday was just the third time Florida has lost when outshooting its opponent (11-3-0-0).  

NEXT UPFlorida is back on home ice Saturday, as it hosts the Stingrays in the finale of the two-game series. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at Hertz Arena.

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