Thompson stymies 'Blades to lead Stingrays to 4-1 win

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Florida Everblades put up 42 shots on goal, but the South Carolina Stingrays received a 41-save effort from Logan Thompson to earn a 4-1 win on Saturday night at North Charleston Coliseum.

BOX SCORE

The Everblades (22-11-2-2, 48 pts.) put up more than 40 shots on goal for the second straight game, but Joe Pendenza was the only player to find the back of the net against Thompson as South Carolina (26-5-3-1, 56 pts.) snapped a three-game winless skid against the ‘Blades.

South Carolina opened the scoring less than 10 minutes into the first on its first power play of the game. From the slot, defenseman Tom Parisi delivered a pass to the left circle, and Jonathan Charbonneau buzzed it past the blocker of Everblades goaltender Ken Appleby (22 saves) to put the Stingrays ahead 1-0.

Mark Cooper then doubled South Carolina’s lead just 1:29 later with his fourth goal against Florida this season. He took a pass from Andrew Cherniwchan and fired a wrist shot over Appleby’s blocker from the top of the right circle at 9:40 of the opening period.  

South Carolina struck for its third goal of the night off a zone rush in the second period. Max Novak dropped a pass with Tariq Hammond in the left circle, and Hammond curled behind the net and tucked it past the post seven minutes, 40 seconds into the middle frame.

Florida got on the board in the last three minutes of the second to pull within two. Pendenza started the push into South Carolina’s zone. The puck found its way to Logan Roe in the left circle, and he fired a shot that Pendenza tipped in past Thompson from the top of the crease.

The ‘Blades ratcheted up the pressure even further in the third period, firing 23 shots on Thompson’s cage. But Thompson stopped all 23, and Max Novak scored an empty-net goal in the last 95 seconds to seal the win.

‘BLADES BITES

• Florida’s 23 shots in the third period set a team season-high for one frame. That total is tied for the third-most in the third period of an ECHL game this season.
• The ‘Blades fired 16 shots more than South Carolina (42-26) and have now outshot their opponent in 11 straight games, tying a season-high.
• South Carolina entered the game averaging 34.23 shots on goal per game. The ‘Blades held the Stingrays under 30 shots for the fifth time in the seven matchups this season.
• With South Carolina scoring first on Saturday, the ‘Blades have permitted the first goal in five straight games.  

NEXT UPFlorida begins its final stretch of non-conference road games with a Wednesday night matchup against the Kalamazoo Wings. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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The Florida Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and AHL's Milwaukee Admirals