gordie howe hat trick

gordie howe hat trick

CHARLOTTE, NC  With the days and games remaining swiftly peeling off the calendar, the South Carolina Stingrays headed into an important weekend with a Thursday night road game against the Checkers in Charlotte. The first of three games in three nights (the Rays return home to host the Reading Royals on Friday and Saturday), this weekends slate represents 20 percent of South Carolinas remaining games this season. The fact that the Checkers currently occupy the fifth and final putbeginwhy.easyjournal.com spot in the ECHLs South Division only added to the magnitude of the contest.

The Stingrays got the job done, and in fine fashion. They put a convincing 6-2 hurting on the Checkers to pull within two points of Charlotte in the standings. The two teams meet for the final time this season on Mar. 25 at North Charleston Coliseum, one of the Rays six remaining home dates in 2006-07.

Obviously the win is huge for us right now, said Stingrays coach Jason Fitzsimmons after the game. The way we did it was convincing. It was gritty. There are guys in this lineup who shouldnt be in this lineup. They know its a big game, led by one of our leaders, [defenseman] Nate Kiser. Words cant explain how big of an emotional boost to the team it was seeing Nate playing tonight when he was still supposed to two weeks away [from returning to the lineup]. I think that emotional boost alone really jump-started us tonight, and the guys went out and played a good hockey game.

Thursday nights game did not get off to a great start for South Carolina. The Stingrays Cam McCaffrey went off for tripping at 5:19 of the first (he would more than redeem himself later), and the Checkers jumped out in front on a Blake Bellefeuille power play strike. Two nights after digging a 5-1 first period hole for themselves on home ice against Columbia, the Rays were determined not to let it happen again.

Just 46 seconds after the Checkers took the lead, the Rays evened it up on Chris Chaputs 18th goal of the season. Chaput drove the net and chipped home a feed from the circle after Charlotte goaltender Chris Holts ill-advised clearing attempt was kept in at the blueline. McCaffrey and Peter Szabo assisted. Eighty seconds after Chaputs goal, Bellefeuille struck again. As the late man entering the zone, he converted a perfect feed from Mark Lee to restore Charlottes one-goal advantage.

Lee went off on a kneeing minor at 15:27 of the first, giving the Stingrays their first extra-man chance of the night. Just a few seconds into the advantage, Szabo drifted to the high shot and let go of a shot that dribbled off a skate and wide of the cage. But Chaput was in perfect position, parked just to the side of the crease. He tapped it in to even the score at 2-2 with less than four minutes remaining in the initial frame. Brendan Bernakevitch also assisted.

Less jingle cats five minutes into the second period, defenseman T.J. McElroy took the puck wide down the right wing and into the offensive zone. As he approached the goal line, his options for a pass to the front dried up. Rather than trying to force a low percentage play, he did the smart thing. He put the puck on the net and it found a hole, Holts five-hole to be exact. McElroys seventh of the season gave the Stingrays a lead they would not relinquish.

Charlotte got into some penalty trouble midway through the second period, allowing South Carolina to add to its lead. The Checkers were 24 seconds away from killing a Lee tripping minor when Kenton Smith was whistled for slashing. The penalty gave the Rays a black hole advantage for 22 seconds, and a crucial offensive zone draw ensued. South Carolina won the face-off, pulling the puck back to the point. It came to Marc Busenburg nonnontarget.easyjournal.com the right side, and he cruised in a few feet before blasting a shot that Holt was able to stop, but not corral. Bernakevitch was able to whack it into the cage before Holt could cover up.

Less than four minutes later, the Rays lead would balloon to three goals. Kiser, a surprise starter just nine days removed from elbow surgery, whacked a waist-high change-up past Holt after a Checkers turnover in the neutral zone. The puck had pinballed around before popping into the air, and Kiser hit a line drive with the shaft of his stick. It was a nice reward for a guy who was nowhere near 100 percent, but who insisted on playing anyway. Kiser and Viktor Dovgan  who had another impressive night with both his stick and his body in his own end  form a formidable shutdown tandem.

Another nice reward came in the third period when McCaffrey netted his 11th of the season after another Charlotte turnover. The goal completed the Gordie Howe Hat Trick for McCaffrey, who also finished at plus-3 on the evening. He had dropped the gloves with Charlottes Zdenek Bahensky in the first period. McCaffrey had been a bulldog all night, especially on the South Carolina penalty kill. Szabo collected his third assist of the contest on the play, and his 40th of the season. Szabo has had three assists in each of the last two games and is now 11th in the ECHL in that department.

Stingrays goaltender Davis Parley had an extremely solid night, making big saves when they were needed, both at even strength and on the power play. He stopped 36 of 38 shots to record his 26th win of the season. Parley is tied with ex-Cap Matt Yeats of the Texas Wildcatters for second in the league in wins. Idahos Steve Silverthorn leads with 29.

Getting two points from Charlotte is huge, but the Rays will have little time to rest on their laurels. Just as the South Carolina team bus was pulling out of Charleston for the three-hour ride to Charlotte for Thursdays game, the Reading team bus was pulling into its North Charleston hotel. The Royals were resting and relaxing while the Rays were combating the Checkers in Charlotte. After three games in three nights this weekend, South Carolina plays five times in six nights from Mar. 13-18. Three of those five contests come against the second place Florida Everblades.

Everyone contributed tonight, said cnngoradio.blogspot.com It was all business here and its got to be all business from here on in. [Friday] is a huge game. We can enjoy this on the bus ride home and then tomorrow weve got Reading, who is sitting at home idle listening to this game. Were going to have to enjoy this for a couple hours and then start focusing on the Reading Royals.

NOTES: South Carolina is now 7-18-4 when the opposition scores the games first ok! magazine & The Rays are a perfect 21-0 when leading after 40 minutes of play & Goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck, a member of the 2006 Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears, will be in Charleston on Friday when he is inducted into the Stingrays Hall of Fame & Holt was 6-1 with a 2.36 goals against average in eight previous games against the Stingrays this season, prior to Thursday nights tilt.

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Post je objavljen 21.12.2007. u 22:35 sati.