Stingrays even series with 4-2 win

The South Carolina Stingrays defeated the Fort Wayne Komets 4-2 on Sunday in Game 2 of the 2021 Kelly Cup Finals at the Carolina Ice Palace. The best-of-five series is now tied 1-1 following Fort Wayne’s 7-2 win in Game 1 on Friday.

Box Score

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After a scoreless first period, South Carolina’s Max Novak opened the scoring with a power-play tally 2:30 into the second period, beating Dylan Ferguson from the right-wing circle, but Fort Wayne answered just 18 seconds later as Anthony Nellis notched his playoff-leading seventh goal when he slipped a rebound past Hunter Shepard.

The Stingrays went back on top 6:28 into the middle stanza as Novak centered a pass to Dan DeSalvo who roofed a shot past Ferguson from the slot for his third goal of the postseason.

South Carolina extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:22. Matthew Weis gathered in the puck along the right-wing boards, and fed Cole Ully in the slot, who beat Ferguson for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

For the second time in the period, the Komets responded quickly, as Stephen Harper found the puck in a mass of bodies and the top of the crease and found the back of the net just 18 seconds after Ully’s tally. But, the Stingrays restored their two-goal advantage 38 seconds later when Caleb Herbert picked up a rebound in the left-wing circle and beat Ferguson for his second postseason goal.

The three goals in a span of 56 seconds set a Riley/Kelly Cup Finals record for the quickest three goals by both teams while the six combined goals in the second period are tied for the third most in a single period in Finals history.

The series shifts to Fort Wayne for Game 3 on Wednesday with face-off at Memorial Coliseum set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

2021 Kelly Cup Finals

Game 1 – FORT WAYNE 7 at South Carolina 2Game 2 – Fort Wayne 2 at SOUTH CAROLINA 4Game 3 – Wednesday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IndianaGame 4 – Friday, July 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IndianaGame 5 – Saturday, July 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana (If Necessary)