With a 30-save shutout and 10/10 penalty kill, Mark Dekanich and the South Carolina Stingrays brought the boo-birds out of Glens Falls Civic Center en route to a 6-0 victory over the Adirondack Thunder. The win guarantees a Game 6 at North Charleston Coliseum on Tuesday, May 10.
Ken Appleby got yanked from the crease after allowing five goals over 40 minutes of play. He did not get much help from his offense, even with 23 shots and seven power play opportunities. The Stingrays defense, led by Wade Epp and his shot blocking, held fort with Dekanich.
Following the first stoppage, David Pacan won an offensive zone faceoff back to Colton Saucerman, celebrating his 24th birthday. He passed the puck below the goal line to Austin Fyten as Pacan set up in front of Appleby. Pacan’s screen allowed Caleb Herbert to send his shot past the Thunder starter just 60 seconds into the game.
South Carolina took the first of five minor penalties in the first 80 seconds after the goal. The penalty kill remained aggressive, even as it was met with shot after shot.
On the Rays first full power play, Kelly Zajac doubled the team’s lead with a laser beam over Appleby’s blocker. And despite going into the second shorthanded, Joe Devin scored his first of the night after Patch Alber fell down trying to poke check him at the blue line. In all alone, Devin beat Appleby clean to the stick side.
Birthday boy Saucerman blasted in a slapshot and Stephan Vigier on a rebound both generated power play goals for South Carolina while the Thunder could not get anything going on their end.
Drew Fielding stepped in the crease for period three. Fielding faced South Carolina twice prior this season, once with Brampton and another time with Adirondack after a mid-season trade. Head coach Cail MacLean tried to spark his team, and the fire did not ignite as he hoped.
Devin finished the scoring 2:17 in on a two-on-one with Derek DeBlois. Devin opted to shoot to the top-shelf for the Stingrays’ sixth goal of the night. By the end of it all, Adirondack went down swinging, literally.
With two minutes to play, the Stingrays iced it. At the other end of the ice, Marcus Perrier and Mitchell Heard were sent to the showers. 90 seconds later, after Ryan Lomberg knocked down Spencer Humphries, Trevor Gillies flung his gloves off and started swinging for his face. Even with linesman Tyler Landman trying to break them up, Gillies kept swinging. Lomberg got tossed for cross-checking Humphries and Gillies met the same fate with a four minute roughing minor.
Gunnar Hughes and Vigier took the ensuing faceoff, but Hughes slashed him repeatedly afterward. Hughes was escorted off after another player convergence by the boards. Off the next faceoff, Luke Curadi and Bobby Shea tried to get after each other. The linesmen separated them, but Humphries and Ryan Constant brawled to the ice with them occupied. They got up and continued fighting into a second round before the linesmen separated them.
By the final horn, each team had nine available players, five on the bench and four on the ice. The teams will rematch on Saturday night for the final time in Glens Falls looking for a series lead to take with them to North Charleston.
Pretty good birthday for @Sauce_2392! Goal, assist and a 6-0 win? Not too shabby! pic.twitter.com/qpa215cTml
— SC Stingrays (@SCStingrays) May 6, 2016
