Stingrays turn tables on Everblades 3-2
It was another hard-fought contest for the Florida Everblades and South Carolina Stingrays Friday night at Germain Arena.
Unlike Wednesday’s first meeting, however, the Blades were on the short end of this one, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Stingrays.
“It seems like we are struggling to put the puck in the net right now,” Blades coach Malcolm Cameron said of his team’s lackluster offensive output through the first seven games, “The bounces aren’t going our way. We are shooting wide or missing rebounds and when that’s happening you have to be tough mentally and not have the breakdowns like we had.”
The game started much the same way as Wednesday, with a first-period Everblades goal off the stick of Mattieu Roy, who deflected a rip by A.J. Thelen from the blue line.
The Everblades (3-3-1) carried that one-goal lead into the second period, but in a duplication of Wednesday’s game the Blades put up another poor effort in the second as more bad defensive play and untimely turnovers allowed the Stingrays to capitalize with two goals against goalie Mike Morrison (25 saves) to take a 2-1 lead into the final period of play.
“When you’re not scoring you can’t have mental breakdowns,” said Cameron. “That’s what happened tonight (in the second period).”
Mattieu Roy came through for the Blades again when Colin Nicholson found him skating away from the defense in the neutral zone. Roy fired the puck past Stingray goaltender Todd Ford (33 saves) to tie the game at 2-2 with just under 10 minutes to play.
“We tried everything at the end,” said Roy, “but we just couldn’t find the net. We have to forget about our skill and shoot the puck deep, instead of relying on our skill.”
Poor puck handling doomed the Blades again, as Stingray Trent Campbell beat Morrison for the game-winner 2 1/2 minutes later.
The Blades and Stingrays (3-2-1-1) square off again Saturday night.