South Carolina Stingrays Unable To Hold Lead Fall To Garett Bembridge And Augusta Lynx 6-5 In Shootout - ECHL

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – AUGUSTA, Ga. – Garett Bembridge scored twice in regulation and the deciding goal in the shootout to lead the Augusta Lynx to a 6-5 come-from-behind shootout win over the South Carolina Stingrays before 2,049 at James Brown Arena.

With the shootout loss, the Stingrays collect one point and remain in fourth place in the ECHL’s South Division, three points ahead of idle Charlotte and three points up on Augusta. The top four teams make the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

“We got complacent in the third period,” South Carolina coach Jason Fitzsimmons said. “Guys stayed out too long on their shifts and we didn’t generate much in the third. We can’t dwell on this loss, but be thankful that we picked up one point.”

Augusta (35-26-3, 73 points) opened the score on the power play. Bembridge beat Davis Parley in close for his 15th goal of the campaign at 11:07 of the first period, assisted by Weston Tardy and J.B. Bittner.

South Carolina (34-24-8, 76 points) answered just 37 seconds later. Peter Szabo, who was celebrating his 26th birthday, buried a feed from Jarrett Konkle for his 12th tally of the season.

Stingrays went ahead with the man advantage at 16:23, as Chris Chaput converted at the side on a pass from Matt Stefanishion to make it 2-1.

In the second, Stefanishion let go with a shot from the slot for an unassisted goal to count his 16th of the year at 2:08.

On the penalty kill, rookie Travis Morin beat McKee on a right circle shot for his second goal in as many games to give South Carolina a 4-1 lead.

Aaron Slattengren cut the margin in half at 12:03 of the second, burying a rebound shot for his 15th marker of the season from Joe Pereira and Ken Scuderi.

However, the Stingrays regained their three-goal lead at 16:14. Rookie Micheal Haley, who was making his professional debut, deposited a shot from the slot for his first pro goal. Donny Grover had the lone helper.

In the third, Greg Watson, Bembridge and Mike Erickson netted goals to tie the score at 5-5 and send it to the extra time.

Bembridge scored in the fourth round of the shootout, and McKee stopped all five South Carolina shooters to register his league-leading sixth shootout win.

South Carolina went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Augusta converted on 1-of-6 chances with the man advantage. Lynx outshot the Stingrays 44-27.