NORTH CHARLESTON , S.C. – The Kalamazoo Wings blasted the South Carolina Stingrays 7-3 here Monday night before a crowd of 2,155. The second straight loss at home was uncharacteristic of the Stingrays, as they are now mired in a last place tie with Trenton in the ECHL Eastern Conference with a record of 8-12-1 (17 points). What is unique about the South Carolina setback is the fact that even though they have been losing more than winning, when they have lost, it has generally been due to lack offense not defense. Before tonight’s contest, they had the second best goals-against-average in the Eastern Conference. Tonight however, while the Stingrays launched 46 shots on goal and scored three times, they ended up allowing seven goals on just 24 K-Wings’ shots. The teams waged a defensive battle for the first two periods. Matt Scherer gave the hometown faithful hope when he scored before the strains of the National Anthem had died away. Just 34 seconds into the game, Scherer picked up his fifth goal of the season to stake the ‘Rays to a 1-0 lead. He used a long distance slap shot to shock the visitors. The K-Wings came back at the 7:18 marker to tie the score 1-1. Patrick Asselin netted his first of two goals on the evening to forge the first period tie. The defensive battle continued in period two. Rob Ricci gave South Carolina their second and last lead of the game 2-1 with his eighth goal of the season at 4:18. His strike was answered by Kalamazoo at 10:18 when Mitch Versteeg popped the tying goal past losing goal tender Jared DeMichiel. A late second period power play goal gave the K-Wings their first lead of the night and a 3-2 lead which they carried into the third period. Asselin struck for his second tally at 17:24 and Kalamazoo never looked back. The two teams traded two early third period goals when Kalamazoo got a strike from Justin Taylor and the ‘Rays answered with fan favorite Nikita Kashirsky banging home his sixth goal of the season. The Moscow native currently leads the Stingrays with 15 points on the season. Both goals came in the first four and half minutes of period three. Winning goal tender Ryan Nie was able to protect the 4-3 lead despite 16 shots in the last period by South Carolina. The 4-3 lead held up until the Wings exploded in the last four and half minutes of the game with three more goals to provide the final 7-3 margin. First Kory Karlander picked up a Kalamazoo power play goal at 15:32 to go along with two previous assists for a three point night and a 5-3 lead. Next up, Sam Ftorek who also had a three point evening scored a shorthanded empty netter at 18:23. The goal came as the ‘Rays tried to cash in on a late power play opportunity by pulling the goaltender for a six to four man advantage up front. Kalamazoo then added insult to injury by scoring again while the teams were at even strength. Brady Leisenring got their seventh goal at 19:28 and sent the Stingrays to their second straight loss at home. Many fans attribute the ‘Rays’ last place position and record to date as a slow start. However, as the season wears on concern may be deepening. The Stingrays have only failed to make the playoffs one time, in the past 17 seasons. They have now played a quarter of their season to date, and have been unable to string together a real winning streak. They will get a chance to start anew tonight as they host Kalamazoo for the second straight night in a 7:05 p.m. face-off. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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