Point Streak Ends as Stingrays Top Glads 3-1

Lacing up the skates for the first of back-to-back games, the Atlanta Gladiators returned to action for a matchup with the South Carolina Stingrays at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday night. Unable to get the offense to click, Atlanta fell on the road by a score of 3-1.

After a scoreless opening frame, South Carolina got on the board first with 9:36 left in the second period. Joe Devin skated the puck to the near circle of the offensive zone and dropped a pass to Tim McGauley. The second-year-pro fired a shot towards the net that was blocked in front, but Travis Walsh collected the rebound and tapped the puck into the net to give the Stingrays the 1-0 lead.

The home side doubled their lead to 2-0 with 5:29 remaining in the middle frame. Patrick Gaul brought the puck into the zone and sent a pass to Taylor Cammarata in front of the net. Despite being covered by a defenseman, the Minnesota native made a backhand pass on a spin move to Devin, who struck the puck into the net for his second point of the game.

South Carolina then scored to go up 3-0 at the 11:25 mark of the third period. Kelly Zajac took a shot from the near circle that was stopped by Dan Vladar. However, Steven Whitney stood in front of the net and knocked in the rebound for his 12th goal of the season. McGauley notched his second point of the game with the secondary assist on the play.

Atlanta would get on the board with a shorthanded goal with 1:42 left in the game. Taylor Stefishen stole the puck off the stick of a defender in the neutral zone and skated in on a breakaway. The North Vancouver, BC native beat Jeff Jakaitis with a snapshot from the hash marks to cut the lead to 3-1.

Unable to defeat the Stingrays on Friday night, Atlanta dropped to 17-19-1-2 and fell to fourth in the South Division with 37 points. Meanwhile, South Carolina improved to 22-8-3-1 with the win on home ice and remain in second in the division with 48 points.

Up next, the Gladiators will return to Duluth for a matchup with the Swamp Rabbits tomorrow. The puck drop between Atlanta and Greenville is scheduled for 7:05pm at the Infinite Energy Arena on Saturday night.