After two consecutive comeback wins by the Wheeling Nailers, the South Carolina Stingrays reversed roles with their opponents to win Game 4, 4-2, and tie the Eastern Conference Finals series at two games each. Vitek Vanecek finished with 17 saves on 19 shots; Franky Palazzese stopped 21 of 24, but only nine of 11 he faced in the third period.
The pre-game kept head coach Spencer Carbery busy, as Joe Devin fell ill and needed to be replaced immediately. He got some help from AHL affiliate Hershey when they released Dylan Margonari from his Amateur Tryout with the team this morning. Margonari made it to WesBanco Arena, a four-hour drive from GIANT Center, in time to be assigned the number 26 and take warm-ups with his new team. He finished with a +1 rating and one shot on goal.
The Stingrays were fortunate to finish the first period scoreless after giving up over two minutes of five-on-three power play time in the opening five minutes of the first. The Rays and Nailers ended the first tied in shots on goal with five a piece.
For the fourth straight game, the Stingrays opened the scoring. Austin Fyten hit Caleb Herbert with a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone, sending him in to the zone with speed. Herbert’s shot blew past Palazzese and over his outstretched blocker for Herbert’s ninth of the playoffs.
62 seconds later, Riley Brace gave the Nailers their first goal of the night. Clark Seymour entered the zone and flipped a pass over the blocking Joey Leach. Brace got around Marcus Perrier and whacked the puck past Vanecek into a semi-open net. That was how the period ended, tied at two in goals and tied at 13 in shots on goal.
48 seconds into the third, Wheeling took the lead on a goal from Ty Loney‘s fifth goal of the playoffs. Suddenly, the Stingrays were in position to mount a comeback of their own, and with plenty of time to do it.
The best opportunity of the night came for, of all people, Marcus Perrier. Riley Brace carelessly threw the puck high over the middle of the ice with Perrier coming in to forecheck. Perrier leapt into the air and gloved the puck down before looking up to see open ice between him and Palazzese. Perrier wound up, hit his stick on the ice to get a read on the goaltender, then fired a wrist shot past the blocker. His first of the playoffs gave the Stingrays a tie game with 8:03 left to play.
The Stingrays power play was 0-for-14 in the series when James Melindy took a tripping call late in the third. After successfully killing the first 21 seconds, the Nailers lost a defensive zone faceoff to Kelly Zajac, with a little help from Stephan Vigier. Zajac saucered a pass over the stick of Danny Fick in tight and Brett Cameron finished the play for the 3-2 Stingrays’ lead.
Austin Fyten took an ill-advised offensive zone penalty trying to prevent the Nailers from breaking out of their zone, leading to a tense penalty kill with nearly the balance of regulation left to kill. Within seconds of Palazzese going to the bench for the extra skater, David Pacan hit the empty net for the 4-2 finale.
The Stingrays’ victory guarantees a Game 6 to be played at North Charleston Coliseum. Game 5 will be back at WesBanco Arena tomorrow night.
