With all of that on the horizon, it's time for a check down on the farm with Joe Shetrom and the South Carolina Stingrays:

"The South Carolina Stingrays completed a successful four-game road trip, posting three wins to just one loss to Northern Division foes this past week. With 17 contests remaining on the 2008-09 schedule, Jared Bednar’s club stands in second place in the South Division with a 29-20-2-3 record.

The Buckeye State served as the first pit stop for the Rays, with a Tuesday faceoff against the Dayton Bombers at the Nutter Center on tap. Veteran Greg Labenski struck first for Dayton, converting a power play opportunity at 4:07 of the first period. Keith Johnson, who failed on a penalty shot at 7:53, atoned for the missed chance 21 seconds later, tallying a short-handed marker for the third straight game. Michael Dubuc continued his torrid pace of late, pocketing his team-leading 13th power play goal at 16:37. The goal, Dubuc’s 31st of the 2008-09 campaign, extended his point streak to nine games. Pierre-Luc O’Brien, who entered the night with 11 points in his last five contests, added to his streak with an insurance goal with 10 seconds left in the opening frame, giving SC a 3-1 advantage. Johnson bookended the visitors’ scoring, netting a man advantage lamp-lighter at 4:19 of the third to make it 4-1. Jonathan Boutin stood tall in defense of the Rays, who were down to three blueliners after Josh Godfrey left with an injury, stopping 25 of 26 shots as South Carolina avenged home losses to Dayton last March and November.

Heading east, the Stingrays pulled into Johnstown’s historic Cambria County War Memorial, immortalized in the 1977 cult classic Slapshot, for a Friday tilt against the North Division-leading Chiefs. 74 ticks into action, Keith Johnson registered a goal for the fourth straight game, beating Chiefs goalie Ian Keserich to give the visitors a quick 1-0 advantage. Midway through the first period, Johnstown tied it on Ryan Card’s first professional goal at 10:17. Less than a minute later, though, SC retook the lead on Pierre-Luc O’Brien’s 13th at 11:01. The Chiefs would again knot the score before taking their first (and only) lead during the waning moments of the first, going into the intermission with a 3-2 advantage. The Rays would counter with second period strikes from Michael Dubuc (at 3:57) and Nate Kiser (power play at 8:01), enjoying a one-goal lead after 40 minutes. In the third period the Stingrays tacked on two more goals, courtesy of Maxime Lacroix’s unassisted tally at 14:51 and Travis Morin’s short-handed empty-net goal at 19:39, South Carolina’s fourth straight game with a “shorty.” SC exited Western PA with a 6-3 win, their fourth consecutive victory. Boutin upped his mark with the Stingrays to 6-2, reeling in 25 saves.

Looking to snap a five-game slide to Trenton dating back to 2002, the Stingrays and Devils locked horns Saturday for the first time in three years. The 6,000-plus in attendance at Sovereign Arena came to see Trenton great Scott Bertoli’s number retired to the rafters, but were treated to a goal-scoring showcase, with both teams combining for a whopping 16 lamp-lighters. Great for fans, bad for goaltenders’ goals-against averages. The Devils departed the first period with a 3-0 lead before SC struck for two goals 42 seconds apart in the second. Trenton answered with three more in the middle period, and the Rays responded with two to trail 6-4 after 40 minutes. Keith Johnson’s power play marker less than four minutes into the third trimmed Trenton’s lead to one goal, but Jeremy Akeson and Brad Snetsinger, who amassed five points on the night, provided the home team with a three-goal advantage. Rookies Michael Dubuc and Maxime Lacroix again reduced Trenton’s lead to 8-7, but Jim Henkel’s even strength tally with under a minute remaining in regulation solidified the Devils’ victory, 9-7. Jonathan Boutin allowed all nine goals, which is the most South Carolina has given up this season. Gerald Coleman, the ECHL leader in goals-against, stopped 26 of 33 for the win.
Returning to the Keystone State to conclude their road trip, the Rays faced off against the Reading Royals, owners of the league’s worst mark, Sunday at Sovereign Center. Nate Kiser, the team leader in penalty minutes, converted SC’s first man advantage opportunity by collecting his career-high seventh goal at 7:29 of the first, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. Trent Campbell followed with a five-on-five marker at 9:15, assisted by former Royal and Boothwyn, PA, native Jeff Corey, who amassed a trio of playmakers the night prior. First-year pro Josh Godfrey cushioned the Rays’ lead to three goals late in the second stanza, striking for his third goal of the year at 19:40. Reading, however, managed their first of the game with four seconds left in the period, making it a 3-1 affair. Travis Morin hammered the final nail into the coffin, though, depositing an empty-net goal at 18:08 of the third to send the Stingrays back to the Lowcountry with a 4-1 win. Dubuc saw his season-high 11-game point streak end, while Keith Johnson (six games) and Pierre-Luc O’Brien (nine games) saw theirs extended. Boutin, making his tenth consecutive start, stopped 30 of 31 shots while Michael Ouzas fell to 6-9 with a 28-save effort.

South Carolina closes out the final week of February with home dates against Charlotte on Tuesday and Mississippi on Saturday, and then opens March with a game versus Gwinnett on Sunday. "