MacLean scores twice to propel Rays by Florida

Stingrays 4, Everblades 2

The old man can still get it done.

Cail MacLean scored two goals and Davis Parley turned aside 46 shots to lead South Carolina past Florida, 4-2, Friday night before a crowd of 4,521 at the North Charleston Coliseum.

With the victory, the Stingrays improved to 41-22-3 (85 points) and remained in third place in the ECHL's South Division. The Everblades dropped to 35-23-8 (78 points).

At 31, MacLean is considered a senior citizen by minor league hockey standards, well past retirement age. Despite the years and mileage he has put on his body, MacLean proved Friday that he can still be a factor on the score sheet.

"Cail's not done, he still has something left in the tank," said Parley, who won for the fifth straight time. "Cail is an unbelievable captain and he would be a huge asset to the team even if he wasn't getting on the score sheet every night. I think he showed everyone tonight that he can score goals, but that's something everyone in this locker room has known all along."

MacLean had two goals by the end of the first period and probably should have had two more goals over the final two periods.

"Everyone once in a while I get lucky and the puck goes in for me," said MacLean, who notched his 20th and 21st goals of the season. "I was the beneficiary of some good passes tonight. Travis (Morin) gave me a great pass on the first goal and the second came off a rebound. If I would have missed that shot I would have retired on the spot."

South Carolina coach Jared Bednar said MacLean is being much too modest.

"Cail is a competitor and he knows how to score goals in this league," Bednar said. "All of his goals are big goals. We were down a goal early and the team is hanging their heads and he gets a big goal driving the net. He does everything we ask of him. He certainly was our first star tonight."

Parley, who is unbeaten in his last five starts, dominated the Everblades for the second time in less than a week. Parley, who improved to 21-9-2 on the season, certainly earned the win stopping 31 shots over the last two periods.

"I can't remember the last time this team gave up that many shots, but it's good to get a workout in every once in a while," Parley said. "I still thought the guys played great in front of me. They were blocking shots all night. We had a tough stretch in the second period, but other than that I thought we played well."

Bednar said Parley kept the Stingrays in the game, especially in the second period.

"I thought we had a great first period," Bednar said. "We had the bulk of the scoring chances and I felt like we outplayed them. Second period was a different story. We started slipping early and then at the 10-minute mark on it was all Florida.

"We very easily could have been down a couple of goals had it not been for Davis. There were a couple of flurries where I couldn't believe the puck didn't go in the net. Davis came up big in the second period for us."

After giving up an early goal to Florida's Jarrett Lukin, MacLean scored back-to-back goals to give the Stingrays a 2-1 lead going into the second period.

Matt Scherer pushed the Stingrays advantage to 3-1 with a nasty wrist shot three minutes into the third period.

Florida's Preston Callander cut the gap to 3-2 with 14 seconds left in the second period.

Todd Griffith got the final goal of the game when his pass to Travis Morin bounced off the skate of a Florida defender into the net with 5:19 left in regulation.

"They don't how, they ask how many," said Griffith, who has three goals in six games with the Stingrays since coming over in a trade from Bakersfield. "Sometimes you get lucky. I'll take it."

Coming up

The Stingrays will take on Charlotte Tuesday night beginning at 7 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum.

First Period: 1. F, Lukin 9 (Petterson, Prough), 3:57. 2. SC, MacLean 20 (Morin, Chaput), 8:47. 3. SC, MacLean 21 (Guerin, Rawlyk) 15:55. Penalties: Herauf, F (fighting), 1:36; Kiser, SC (fighting), 1:36; Caponigri, F (hooking), 14:16; Czsch, F (tripping), 15:33.

Second Period: 4. SC, Scherer 10 (O'Brien, Rawlyk), 2:42. 5. F, Callander 18 (Melanson, Damon), 19:46. Penalties: Czech, F (high sticking), 3:33; Campbell, SC (tripping), 4:59.

Third Period: 6. SC, Griffith 16 (unassisted), 14:41. Penalties: Griffith, SC (high sticking), 12:29; Damon, F (hooking), 17:47.

Shots on goal: Stingrays 15-9-7-31; Florida 15-13-18-46. Penalties: Stingrays 3-9; Florida 6-15. Power play: Stingrays 1 of 5; Florida 0 of 2. Goalies: Stingrays - Davis Parley (20-9-2) 35 shots, 34 saves. Florida - David Shantz (9-4-3) 31 shots, 27 saves. Att: 4,521.