Evansville, Ind. – The IceMen outlast a 6-on-3 man advantage for the South Carolina Stingrays late in the game as Evansville earns its third triumph of the season.
IceMen Goaltender Rob Madore stopped all fourteen Stingrays shots in the final period alone, as he shut the door on a hopeful South Carolina power play unit. The Stingrays were presented with four man advantages in the final twenty minutes of the game, but would not find the back of the net.
Leading the way for the IceMen was Left Winger Josh Beaulieu, who tallied both Evansville goals on his way to his fifth and sixth goals of the season. Beaulieu’s first goal came entering the latter part of the first period, officially at 18:05, when Center Todd Robinson found him on South Carolina Goaltender Ryan Zapolski’s weak side. Credited with the second assist on the score was Defenseman Matt Gens.
South Carolina’s lone goal came 4:23 into the second period when Defenseman Ryan Turek top-shelved Madore off an IceMen turnover. Turek’s goal was his first goal of the season and was unassisted.
Providing the game-winning goal for the IceMen was Beaulieu 9:52 into the second period. Like South Carolina’s goal, Evansville’s second goal came off of a turnover. Receiving the assist on the marker was Matt Gens, who finished the game with two assists and a +1 rating.
The IceMen were outshot 29-21 by the Stingrays with nearly half of South Carolina’s shots coming in the third period. Evansville’s penalty kill was perfect for a second consecutive night, prevailing in all eight Stingrays’ power play opportunities. The IceMen penalty kill has not allowed a power play goal in thirteen straight attempts.
South Carolina’s penalty kill was also strong on the night, holding Evansville’s man advantage to 0-for-3.
The winning goalie was Madore, denying 28-of-29 shots faced, accumulating a season-best .966 save percentage.
Receiving the loss was South Carolina’s Zapolski, who saved 19-of-21 shots. He finished the game with a .905 save percentage.
The IceMen improve to 13(3-9-1) and now have 7 points on the season.
Evansville will travel to Cincinnati on Thursday, Nov.15 to take on the Cyclones for the first time. The game is scheduled to start at 7:35 p.m. EST. The game can be heard on Evansville’s ‘Magic 98.5’ WEOA FM.
