TOLEDO, Ohio – The South Carolina Stingrays (10-5) erased a two-goal first-period deficit to comeback and defeat the Toledo Walleye (8-8) 4-3 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Huntington Center Friday night. The Stingrays lead the best-of-seven series 2-0.
The Walleye capitalized on a pair of Stingrays turnovers in the opening period to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. Forward Kyle Bonis lit the lamp at 6:55 catching a pass from A.J. Jenks and lifting a shot over the glove of Stingrays netminder Jeff Jakaitis (W, 22 saves on 25 shots). Forward Justin Mercier buried an unassisted tally at 16:20 to give the Walleye a two-goal advantage.
In the second period, the Stingrays roared back to take a 3-2 lead. Forward Caleb Herbert cut the lead in half at 9:52 redirecting a shot from defenseman Frankie Simonelli over the glove of Walleye goaltender Neil Conway (L, 29 saves on 33 shots). Forward Patrick Gaul picked up the second assist. Moments later, Herbert grabbed his second goal of the game and second of the postseason ripping a shot past Conway from Gaul at 15:13. With the momentum shifted, defenseman Michal Cajkovsky put the Stingrays in front at 18:33 with help from forward Wayne Simpson.
Stingrays forward Derek DeBlois made it 4-2, bouncing the puck over Conway 5:54 into the final frame. Toledo’s A.J. Jenks made it a one-goal game late in the contest while skating 6-on-5 with the Conway off for an extra skates at 17:23. The Walleye continued to fire on the Stingrays’ defense, but the wall held for the victory. The Walleye received the only power play of the game, going 0-for-1.
The best-of-seven series moves to the North Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday, May 20 for Game 3 and Game 4 on Friday, May 22
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