INDIANAPOLIS, In. – The South Carolina Stingrays (41-19-1-6) fell to the Indy Fuel (27-29-4-5) 3-2 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum Saturday night, ending the team’s record-setting 23-game winning streak and 13-game road winning streak.
The Fuel broke open the scoring on the power play at 16:30 of the first period as forward Chris DeSousa knocked in a rebound past the blocker of Stingrays netminder Keegan Asmundson (L, 20 saves on 23 shots). The Stingrays tied the game with 10 seconds remaining in the frame as defenseman Jason Binkley buried his first professional goal off a wrist shot over the glove of Fuel goaltender Mac Carruth (W, 36 saves on 38 shots) from the left-wing point. Forward Rob Bellamy added the lone assist.
In the second period, the Fuel found the back of the net twice to take a 3-1 advantage. Defenseman Justin Holl lit the lamp at 5:24 followed by forward Garett Bembbridge’s team-leading 27th of the season at 14:15. With 1:17 left, Stingrays Captain Andrew Rowe pulled the contest within one with his 200th professional goal deflecting a Drew MacKenzie shot on top of Carruth’s goal crease. Forward Wayne Simpson registered the second assist.
The Stingrays poured on the pressure in the third period firing a game-high 15 shots and were awarded a power-play with 1:45 to play, but could not slip the game-tying tally past Carruth. The Stingrays finish the contest 0-for-4 on the power play while the Fuel went 1-for-3.
The Stingrays continue a season-high seven-game road trip tomorrow, Sunday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. against the Evansville IceMen at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The road trip wraps up with a trio of contests in the Sunshine State April 2-4 with tilts against the Orlando Solar Bears and Florida Everblades.
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