Stingrays clinch spot in playoffs with win over Sea Wolves

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays became the second team in the ECHL’s South Division (American Conference) to clinch a playoff spot this season. The Rays clinched their 15^th trip to the ECHL playoffs in their 16 years of existence with a 3-0 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves before 5,460 at the North Charleston Coliseum. Travis Morin scored two goals and James Reimer stopped all 29 Sea Wolves’ shots he faced to pace the Stingray’s effort.

Riding the play of the newly acquired Reimer, who recorded his second straight shutout and third straight win, the Stingrays scored the first goal of the evening at 9:07 of the first period. Morin, who leads the ECHL in assists, was one of the games goal scorers. Morin got his first goal of the evening by picking up a loose puck in the slot and lifting it over losing goaltender Ryan Munce. The Mississippi goalie was down after saving two point blank shots off the stick of Maxime Lacroix when Morin aced the rebound. It was Morin’s, 21^st goal of the season. The goal proved to be the game winner with Lacroix getting the only assist. The Stingrays went into the game with a full roster for one of the few times since the earlier part of the season, and it paid dividends in the second period. The Stingrays newly signed forward Mick Berge, from Minnesota State-Mankato and the United States Hockey League, was playing in his first professional hockey game. He scored the Stingrays’ second goal at 11:18 of the second period. An assist was credited to defenseman Josh Godfrey. A quick pass from Godfrey allowed Berge to fire a hard wrist shot off the shoulder of Munce. The Mississippi goalie grabbed for the puck unsuccessfully as it bounced over his shoulder and dropped behind him into the net. A temporary addition to the roster made his presence known with a series of bone rattling body checks and tenacious forchecking in the Sea Wolves zone. Forward Kip Brennan, assigned to South Carolina on a three game conditioning assignment from the Hershey Bears, is a veteran of the AHL and has significant NHL game experience. Newly signed defenseman David Grimson (Sacred Heart University) also made his professional debut. Morin scored his second goal of the game (22^nd of the season) into an empty net at 19:03 of the third stanza. Assists on the goal came from Keith Johnson and Spencer Carbery shortly after Munce was pulled for an extra attacker in the final two minutes of the game. In addition to clinching a playoff spot, the Rays were also able increase their lead for second place over Charlotte to seven points and from .609 to .555 in winning percentage as host Charlotte fell to Florida 4-3 in a shootout. The demise of the Augusta Lynx and the subsequent revised schedule has Gwinnett playing one more game than the other teams in the American Conference South Division of the ECHL. Accordingly, the South Division playoff standings are determined by winning percentage rather than points for this season only. The Sea Wolves and Stingrays continue the weekend series in North Charleston Saturday night in with a 7:05 PM face-off and conclude the three game series with a 5 PM afternoon game Sunday at the Coliseum. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com