From start to finish, the South Carolina Stingrays left no doubts about their efforts on the ice. They played to eliminate the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, and a 4-0 shutout did just that.
South Carolina wins the South Division semifinals four games to two. They move on the the Division finals to face either the regular season champion Florida Everblades, or the Orlando Solar Bears. Should it be the Solar Bears, South Carolina will have home-ice advantage.
After Rob Flick — who started tonight’s game after getting tossed from game five — got hit up high by Evan Jasper, the Stingrays went to the power-play for their first goal. Derek Arnold passed for Joe Devin, who opted to one-touch it back to Arnold. Arnold’s shot passed through four screeners and Jeff Malcolm for his second goal of the playoffs.
Arnold left in the second period after a hard hit from DaSilva and did not return.
Parker Milner needed attention after he slid from the left to right post to stop Joe Houk on a five-foot shot. Milner ran hard into the post, but was able to get up and remain in the game. He finished the night with 26 saves.
A penalty by Wade Epp put South Carolina shorthanded for the third time in the game. A clearance from Joey Leach took a carom off the glass to find John Parker, with 120 feet of open ice ahead of him.
With the crowd roaring in anticipation, the one-time healthy scratch took the puck between the faceoff circles. Malcolm went down and leant to his glove side, so Parker shot to the stick side. for the shorthanded goal. Parker has three goals in as many playoff games this year.
Greenville again allowed South Carolina an easy exit from their defensive zone with two minutes to go in the middle frame. Epp hit Steven McParland with a two-line pass, but Prapavessis stood up the entry at the line. Patrick Gaul said “thank you very much,” and drove at the net.
Malcolm in the butterfly, Gaul lifted the puck above his left shoulder to pick out the top right corner of the net.
Gaul had a fairly complete night with numerous blocked shots, including one off his butt during a third period five-on-three.
Looking to start a fire of some kind after Flick decked Joe Houk, Tyler Brown hit Olivier Archambault up high, then took a swing at his head. Archambault lost the puck, turned around, and laid a retaliatory cross-check on Brown. Houk hit Archambault shortly after, causing four-on-four to end the period.
Spiro Goulakos, after a chance for the Swamp Rabbits, slashed Andrew Cherniwchan on the way to the bench. On his way off the ice to serve the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, he pumped his arms to goad the crowd reaction.
Greenville head coach Brian Gatz pulled Malcolm for the extra skater with four-and-a-half minutes to go. After four icings, Flick gained the lines on a breakaway. Allan McPherson dove and chucked his stick, taking down Flick. The puck rolled in anyway.
Flick scored six goals in the six-game series.
Stingrays fans gave their team a standing ovation for the fourth consecutive win of the playoffs.
They will now sit and await the Everblades-Solar Bears series to play out. Orlando leads three games to two, and game six is tomorrow night from Germain Arena.
Fans going wild as @SCStingrays move on in the #KellyCupPlayoffs! #RaysYourGame #chssports pic.twitter.com/puZRt7a9YS
— Karina Bolster (@KarinaHCPD) April 25, 2017
