STINGRAYS CAN’T OVERCOME THREE OPENING GOALS

BOISE, ID – Three opening period goals set the tone early as the Idaho Steelheads (14-7-0-1) finished off the sweep of the South Carolina Stingrays (9-9-2-0) behind a 4-1 victory on Saturday night at the Idaho Central Arena.

Michael Prapavessis sent the teddy bears flying only 44 seconds into the opening period, firing one past the sliding netminder for South Carolina. Matt Tugnutt made a quick cutback that opened a passing lane where he found Prapavessis for the 1-0 lead.

A defensive turnover gave Luc Brown a shot on goal that Cédrick Andrée saved before Zack Andrusiak found the puck alone in front of the crease for the 2-0 lead. Shawn McBride added another tally shorthanded, breaking behind the defense of the Stingrays, receiving an outlet pass from Kyle Marino, and firing one through the five-hole of Andrée with just over a minute remaining in the opening frame.

Idaho added on early in the third period on the power play, sending a one-timer top shelf past Andrée on a precision pass from McBride to Yauheni Aksiantsiuk in his first game since returning from the AHL’s Texas Stars.

The Stingrays tallied one of their own midway through the third period on the man advantage as Dominick Sacco fired home a rebound for his third goal of the season. Alex Brink fed Carter Cowlthorp in the slot for the initial save from Jake Kupsky before Sacco cleaned up for the goal.

Andrée turned back 30 shots in the loss while Kupsky turned back 23 of his own on limited shots faced.

The Stingrays return home on Friday, December 17th as they take on the Toledo Walleye for the only time this season. It’s another Frothy Friday with $5 Frothy Beers presented by Frothy Beard Brewing Company at 7:05pm at the North Charleston Coliseum.

Single game tickets for all your Stingrays home games for the upcoming 2021-22 home season are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

Season ticket plans are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248 or submit this form.

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--StingraysHockey.com--