ESTERO, FLA – No matter the sport, there is nothing like a winner-take-all final game to decide a playoff series. In hockey, players live for the opportunity to score a game-winning goal to end a series, especially if it comes in a do-or-die situation. Monday night at Hertz Arena in Estero, South Carolina Stingrays forward Cole Ully felt that excitement to the max.
Ully scored two goals, the second being the game-winner midway through the third period to lead the visiting Stingrays to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Everblades in the fifth and deciding game of their best-of-five Eastern conference semifinal series. The win, South Carolina’s second straight on hostile ice, sent the Stingrays to the conference final against an all-too familiar foe – the Greenville Swamp Rabbits – starting on Wednesday.
Ully wasn’t the only hero in the contest for the Stingrays. Goalie Hunter Shepard willed his team to the win, making 25 saves including several jaw-dropping stops, as he outdueled Florida’s Jake Hildebrand, the league’s goaltender of the year.
With everything on the line, neither team could afford any mistakes and the intensity of the emotions was at a fever pitch from the opening faceoff. Both teams went back and forth testing the netminders, looking for the early edge but none was forthcoming.
South Carolina thought it had scored the game’s opening goal at the 10:57 mark of the first period when Ully looked like he had beaten Hildebrand with a rebound shot. However, the Everblades’ Alex Kile had his goalie’s back, aiding in blocking what would have been a sure goal.
The Stingrays did eventually net the first goal of the contest a bit later in the frame. Off an offensive zone faceoff, Mark Cooper raced behind the Florida net to get a loose puck and backhanded it behind him. Dylan Steman was there to take the pass and tuck a wraparound inside the left post for his first career ECHL postseason tally at 15:49 to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second, Hildebrand showed off his skills by making back-to-back stops. He initially stoned Dan DeSalvo and then somehow got to the other side of the cage to repel a rebound attempt.
Those two saves came in handy a couple of minutes later when his teammates got him a game-tying goal. It came during a power play when Kile made a brilliant cross-ice pass to Joe Pendenza in the faceoff circle to Shepard’s right. Pendenza took a second to settle the puck before rifling a shot past the lunging netminder for his second tally of the series.
Tied at one just past the eleven minute mark of the middle frame, the teams found themselves playing four-on-four hockey thanks to a pair of overlapping penalties. It freed up enough room for Ully to take advantage. He outhustled a Florida opponent along the boards behind the Stingrays net. Finding some space, Ully swung around to the base of the faceoff circle to Hildebrand’s left and fired inside the far post for his second of the playoffs and a 2-1 South Carolina lead.
In the final minute before the second intermission, South Carolina’s DeSalvo was sent to the penalty box and it would be costly. The Everblades won the ensuing offensive zone faceoff and worked the puck around the perimeter to Colby Sissons at the point. Sissons quickly laid a perfect pass to the top of the right side circle where Caleb Hebig stepped into a one-time blast that beat Shepard for Hebig’s first and a 2-2 tie heading to the final stanza.
Shepard and Hildebrand matched save for save to open the third period, adding to the tension that filled the arena. The anxiety for the home team and its fans grew at the 8:17 mark when the Stingrays struck for what proved to be the game-winning tally. DeSalvo triggered the goal, skating behind the Everblades net and turning back around to allow him to be on his forehand. He saw Ully in the slot and fed a pass right to Ully’s stick blade. In an instant, Ully snapped off a shot that found the back of the net for Ully’s second of the night and third of the series.
Once they were back in front, the Stingrays’ defense took over. They limited Florida to just three recorded shots on net over the final 11:43 of regulation. With Shepard doing his job, South Carolina was able to run the clock out before starting a well deserved celebration on the ice.
Hildebrand played well in net for the Everblades, making 24 saves on 27 shots faced in suffering his second straight tough loss.
South Carolina headed back north right after the game to prepare for Game 1 against Greenville on Wednesday night at the Carolina Ice Palace. The ECHL announced the schedule for the best-of-five series in this format:
Eastern Conference Finals
#2 Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs. #4 South Carolina Stingrays
Game 1 – Wednesday, June 16 at 7:05 p.m. ET at South Carolina
Game 2 – Friday, June 18 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Greenville
Game 3 – Saturday, June 19 at 7:05 p.m. ET at Greenville
Game 4 – Monday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. ET at South Carolina (If Necessary)
Game 5 – Wednesday, June 23 at 7:05 p.m. ET at South Carolina (If Necessary).
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews
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