Go Stingrays! (Caps Outsider file)
Capitals fans should be happy to know that one of their affiliate teams are still in contention for their league’s championship. The South Carolina Stingrays are up 2 games to none on the Toledo Walleye as the series shifts home to the North Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday. Last night, they mounted a second period comeback and held a third period lead to defeat Toledo, 4-3, for their sixth straight road playoff win
The Stingrays are no stranger to streaking: from February 7th to March 28th, the Stingrays won 23 consecutive games before losing to the Indianapolis Fuel. During that time, the Stingrays had seven total shutouts, goalie Jeff Jakaitis had a streak of 321 minutes and 46 seconds without allowing a goal, falling 10:16 short of Brian Boucher‘s all-time record from 2003-2004. These streaks garnered enough national attention to earn a mention during a Caps game on NBCSN.
South Carolina ended up with the fourth-best record in the East to be second in their division and face the Reading Royals, the Caps’ old ECHL affiliate, in the first round. After a seven game series (stop me if that sounds familiar) against the Royals, the Stingrays beat the first-seed Florida Everblades in six games. They now sit two victories away from the Kelly Cup Finals against either the Allen Americans or the Ontario Reign.
Despite going 1-3 against them in the regular season, the Stingrays are eyeing domination in this Conference Finals series. Should they win this series, it would be the franchise’s fourth Conference championship. It’s interesting to note that in their previous three trips to the Kelly Cup Finals, the Stingrays won all of them, including most recently in 2008-2009.
For those still trying to keep the Caps playoff spirit alive despite both the Caps and Hershey Bears being out, it costs $9.99 to stream each game of the playoffs, the ECHL app is free on iOS and Android devices, and the Stingrays website has a link where anyone can listen to the game live. The playoffs are still alive in the Caps franchise and a Kelly Cup is within reach.
