ECHL Recap: South Carolina Stingrays vs. Florida Everblades | 03/01/2024

Bernie Walls/InsideTheRink

The South Carolina Stingrays were back in the North Charleston Coliseum to take on the Flordia Everblades in the first of a three-game weekend series. Two new faces joined the club, with one joining the ice tonight, Sean Ross and Ethan Strang. Ross joined the third line with Garet Hunt and Ryan Leibold, with Mitch Gibson going up against Cam Johnson.

The first period was rough start for the Stingrays, as a little miscommunication between Benton Maass and Mitch Gibson caused a goal to Florida to take an early lead. The Stingrays wouldn’t get their first shot on goal until almost eight minutes into the period when Ryan Leibold would put a nice one on Johnson. Nicky Leiverman would send a rocket soaring past Cam Johnson not long after to even the score at one.

The second period would truly be a playoff-worthy period. Every minute of ice time was a true battle for who wanted it more. Garet Hunt was called for interference and the penalty would expire as he exited the box, he would soon scrap with the rat himself, Kyle Neuber. This would mark Hunt’s 10th fight of the season, and we should be expecting a suspension coming soon. A backhander from Riese Zmolek past Gibson. On the Rays power play, the refs waived off a goal 25 seconds into the man advantage, which would have tied things up at two a piece. This caused havoc on the ice and amongst fans, as it clearly caused the goal line, but was waived off in the end.

Things steadily went downhill in the third period, as the Stingrays would get a powerplay on a Darcy tripping calling almost seven minutes into the period to attempt to tie things up again. They would get no shots on goal. Garet Hunt would once again spend time in the penalty box, where Mark Senden would score on Gibson, extending the lead. A minute later, Joe Pendenza would get in on the action and score again for the Blades on a pass from Stanislav Demin. Less than a minute after the captain’s celebration, Mark Senden would once again score for Flordia, bringing it to a grand total of three goals in less than three minutes, putting the score at 5-1 for the Everblades. The Stingrays tried to battle back but were outskated and just looked out of place in the final minutes of play.

They will be back in action on Saturday for redemption against the Everblades on home ice again.


Discover more from Inside The Rink

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

Charles Martin

AHL: Laval Rocket Sign Quebec Native

The Laval Rocket has announced that they signed 6’0″ defenseman Charles Martin from Blainville, Quebec for the 2025-26 season. Junior and Collegiate Career Charles Martin got his start in collegiate hockey with the Collège Lionel-Groulx Nordiques of the QCHL in the 2016-17 season. In 28 games with the Nordiques, Martin had one assist and 36 […]

Read More

ECHL: Cole Donhauser Returns to Worcester

The Worcester Railers have announced that they’ve re-signed forward Cole Donhauser for the 2025-26 season. In his first full season in the ECHL, Donhauser put up 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, along with 92PIMs in 71 games. Donhauser would lead all rookies in the shorthanded assists (3) and shorthanded points (5). The […]

Read More

AHL: Ryan Wheeler Signs AHL Deal with Utica Comets

The Utica Comets have signed defenseman Ryan Wheeler to an AHL two-way contract for the 2025-26 season. The Lancaster, NY, native played in 62 games with the Adirondack Thunder last season, putting up nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points. Wheeler would be named the Adirondack Thunder Unsung Hero Award for the 2024-25 season. […]

Read More