The South Carolina Stingrays swept the Orlando Solar Bears in North Charleston, winning 4-1 on Nov. 6, and 3-0 on Nov. 7. The two victories improved South Carolina to 7-1-0-0 and placed the team second in the ECHL South Division, two points behind the Florida Everblades and Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
The Stingrays went 2-0-0-0 during the previous week. South Carolina also held one game in hand on Florida and two games in hand on Greenville.
South Carolina Stingrays Get Strong Goaltending
Ben Kraws stopped 25 of 26 shots in the 4-1 victory for his fifth win in as many starts. Kraws led the Stingrays with five victories.
Garin Bjorklund made a season-high 29 saves in the 3-0 shutout and recorded the fifth shutout of his professional career. Bjorklund also led South Carolina with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Stingrays Get Production From Multiple Players
Four different South Carolina players scored in the Nov. 6 victory. In the shutout the following night, Tyler Weiss scored in the first period, Josh Wilkins added a goal in the second, and Luke Prokop scored an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.
The goal was Prokop’s first with the Stingrays. Tyler Weiss led South Carolina with 10 points, while Alex Gaffney led the team with six assists. Tyler Kopff posted a team-best plus-8 rating, and Zack Andrusiak led the Stingrays with 23 penalty minutes.
South Carolina Stingrays Rank Among ECHL Leaders
Through eight games, South Carolina had scored 35 goals, the most in the South Division and tied for the second most in the ECHL. The Stingrays had allowed 16 goals, tied for the second fewest in the league.
South Carolina was 10-for-31 on the power play, a 32.3% rate that ranked first in the ECHL. The Stingrays’ 91.7% penalty-kill rate was tied for third best, and South Carolina was the only ECHL team ranked among the top five in both categories.
The Stingrays’ 7-1-0 start was their best since the 2019-20 campaign. South Carolina was scheduled to visit the Florida Everblades on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. EDT and Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. EDT, with video coverage on FloHockey and radio coverage on Mixlr.
The Stingrays were also scheduled to host the Greensboro Gargoyles at the North Charleston Coliseum on Nov. 20 at 7:05 p.m. for Ray-Con Night.
Maryland Sports Blog Take
The South Carolina Stingrays paired two shutout-level goaltending performances with top-ranked power-play production during the weekend sweep. Their 7-1-0-0 record and games in hand on the Florida Everblades and Greenville Swamp Rabbits give the team an opportunity to gain ground in the South Division.
Source: Original report
