NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Two minutes and 19 seconds into the third period of Monday night’s game three of the Eastern Conference finals, the host South Carolina Stingrays faced what could have been a very bad situation: down by one and facing the Manchester Monarchs power play that had just scored less than a minute earlier.
As it turned out, that penalty killing opportunity may have been exactly what the Stingrays needed.
Thanks to a kick start from Olivier Archambault’s short-handed goal on that penalty kill, the Stingrays went on to a 5-3 win over the Monarchs in front of a loud and thankful announced crowd of 2,895 at the North Charleston Coliseum. With the victory in its final home game of the series, South Carolina cut Manchester’s lead in the best-of-seven series to two games to one before the teams head north to SNHU Arena starting on Friday.
Archambault’s tally was followed by a goal by Steven McParland 1:41 later that gave the Stingrays their first lead of the series. Rob Flick later put the game out of reach with his ninth goal of the playoffs.
The opening period of game three had a similar look to last Friday’s game one. South Carolina came out hard and fast, peppering Manchester goalie Sam Brittain thanks to two early power play attempts.
Brittain looked to be on his game again, turning away shot after shot and frustrating the home team. Brittain’s work allowed his teammates to relax and when they got the opportunity, the Monarchs pounced.
The visitors took the lead during a power play midway through the frame with some pretty passing and heads-up passing. Former Stingray Colton Saucerman moved the puck down the half boards and made a pass to Daniel Ciampini. Ciampini was in a position to shoot but as the South Carolina defense and goalie Parker Milner shifted toward him, he made the extra pass to Zac Lynch who was wide open on the back side. All Lynch had to do was collect the feed and fire it into the open net for his seventh goal of the post-season.
Lynch had an opportunity to extend the lead to two late in the frame when he was slashed from behind by Archambault on a breakaway. The referees awarded Lynch a penalty shot and the Monarchs forward beat Milner with his attempt but the puck rang off the goal post and stayed out.
The second period mirrored Saturday’s final frame with the teams combining for three goals in the first eight minutes. Just 44 seconds in, Archambault had a shot blocked but the puck bounced back to Cody Corbett at the point. With a number of bodies in front, Corbett sent a wrist shot toward the net and it snuck past Brittain for the defenseman’s first playoff tally.
Manchester upped its game after the score and regained the lead at the 5:21 mark. It came when the Stingrays failed to clear their defensive zone, turning the puck over to Ashton Rome. Rome skated the disc into the slot area and fired off a backhander that eluded Milner’s glove hand for Rome’s seventh goal of the playoffs.
South Carolina knew it needed a response and got it 2:39 later when Joey Leach took a point-to-point pass from Corbett and with all three Stingrays forwards in Brittain’s line of sight fired a shot that found the back of the net. Like Corbett, the goal was Leach’s first of the post-season and could not have come at a better time.
As the third period began, the Stingrays were hit with a tripping penalty on Domenic Monardo that gave the Monarchs a man advantage. The visitors took full advantage when Matt Leitner made a pass from below the goal line to Ciampini who jammed it in for his third playoff goal and Manchester’s third lead of the night.
The Stingrays were called for too many men on the ice not too long after, giving the Monarchs an opportunity to stretch the lead but this time it was the home team that took advantage of its special teams.
Late in the penalty kill, Kelly Zajac and Archambault busted out on a two-on-one rush. Zajac carried the puck into the Manchester end and waited until he saw Archambault steaming toward the net to make a pass. Zajac’s timing was perfect as the feed hit Archambault’s stick blade and into the net for the big forward’s third goal of the playoffs and a tie game.
The score brought the crowd back into the contest and the Stingrays fed off the energy. Less than two minutes later, with the crowd still on its feet, Max Nicastro took a shot that Brittain stopped but could not hold on to the rebound. The puck fell to the ice and McParland got to it first, sweeping it into the cage for his third of the post-season and sending the fans into a frenzy.
Playing with the lead for the first time in the series, the Stingrays and Milner clamped down on the Monarchs offense, limiting Manchester to just one shot over the final seven minutes of regulation.
The defensive effort was more than enough as Flick, South Carolina’s leading scorer, took a feed from Andrew Cherniwchan and lasered a one-time shot past Brittain’s blocker side to put the Stingrays up by two. He nearly made it a three-goal lead on his next shift but rang a shot off the post before Brittain made the save of the series, diving back toward the net and using his stick to thwart a subsequent scoring attempt.
Manchester pulled Brittain (27 saves) with 2:20 to go but never really had a good look to inch closer as Milner (23 saves) won his fourth consecutive Monday night start of the playoffs.
Notes: Manchester’s power play finished the night going 2-for-5 while South Carolina went 0-for-3… With his assist on Flick’s goal, Cherniwchan ran his consecutive games with a pint streak to eight games… Manchester’s Lynch scored for the second straight game… The final four games of the series will be played in Manchester where the Monarchs took two of three meetings between the two teams back in February. The lone Stingrays win at SNHU Arena came in overtime.
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