CHARLOTTE , NC – The Charlotte Checkers finally found a way to stop the South Carolina Stingrays. The Stingrays were on a franchise record win streak of 13 games and had beaten the Checkers in the last four games of the streak. The ‘Rays let a one-goal lead slip away as the Checkers put an end to their winning streak this afternoon in a 4-2 final. The win came before 4,440 fans at the beautiful Time Warner Cable Arena. It all may have been a result of a combination of events. The Checkers caught the ‘Rays with only an emergency backup goalie behind starting goal tender Todd Ford, who had played three straight nights in goal and has played in nine straight games. They were also facing a ‘Rays’ team down to only two regular roster defensemen. In any case, the Checkers used three unanswered third period goals for the 4-2 win in a Sunday afternoon matinee. Randy Rowe scored twice and Andrew Carroll and Tyler Doig added single goals for the Checkers in the win. The combination of the ‘Rays’ win streak and the Checkers losses in head to head competition has the South Carolinians up 14 points in the race for the lead in the South Division of the American Conference of the ECHL. Matt Fornataro and Rob Ricci posted the goals for the Stingrays. The Checkers have played five fewer games than their division leaders. The winning streak came at a time of roster adversity for South Carolina. The Stingrays’ roster has been depleted on the blue line and in goal. First, goaltender Braden Holtby was called up to the Hershey Bears. Meanwhile, the defensive corps has seen Zack Tarkir and Patrick Weller promoted to the AHL, while Zach Jones, Joe Finley, Nate Kiser and Dylan Yeo have been sidelined by injuries. While Todd Ford took this loss, he has been the major contributor to the win streak. He has been especially hot in December. He won eight of the nine games he played and including today’s loss has 1.78 goals against average and a 0.946 save percentage during the month. Overall he has played in 22 games for the ‘Rays and has a season’s record of 15-5-1. He is carrying an overall goals-against-average of 2.77 and a 0.913 save percentage for the season to date. On the front line Matt Fornataro, Nikita Kashirsky, Rob Ricci and Keith Johnson have led the way. Fortanato slammed home nine goals and added 12 assists for an eye popping 21 points in the streak. Johnson hit for seven markers along with seven assists, as did Nikita Kashirsky. Rob Ricci produced 13 points including six goals. The ‘Rays and Checkers are still not finished despite playing five straight games, they each have one game against another opponent on Saturday the 27th of December, but then face-off against one another again on Sunday at the North Charleston Coliseum. Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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