Erratic Rays 'in dogfight'Erratic Stingrays now 'in a dogfight'

  • Andrew Miller
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  • Posted: Monday, February 13, 2012 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 9:51 p.m.
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The Stingrays team captain Matt Scherer (42) in action against the Greenville Road Warriors in the teams' matchup Tuesday night, Feb. 7, 2012 at the North Charleston Coliseum. (Tyrone Walker/postandcourier.com)
Tyrone Walker /The Stingrays team captain Matt Scherer (42) in action against the Greenville Road Warriors in the teams' matchup Tuesday night, Feb. 7, 2012 at the North Charleston Coliseum. (Tyrone Walker/postandcourier.com)

The last three months have been a roller coaster of highs and lows for the South Carolina Stingrays.

Stingrays coach Spencer Carbery would just as soon get off the amusement park ride and find some consistency over the final six weeks of the regular season.

The Stingrays, who face Florida today at the North Charleston Coliseum at 7 p.m., had a disastrous December, winning just three of 13 games.

South Carolina rebounded with a strong January, winning nine straight at one point while notching 11 wins.

Two weeks into February, the Stingrays are 2-4 after coming off one of their best performances in a 4-1 win Friday over Chicago, and then one of their worst in a 5-3 loss Saturday to Florida.

"We're in a dogfight right now, and .500 hockey just isn't going to get it done," Carbery said. "We had a great run in January to get ourselves back in the conversation, and now it seems like we've kind of taken our foot off the gas pedal. We don't have the luxury of taking a night off for the rest of the season."

Six points separate the Stingrays from first-place Gwinnett in the ECHL's South Division standings. However, like a lot of teams in the Eastern Conference, the Gladiators have two games in hand on Rays.

"When everything settles down we're going to find ourselves in the middle of a very tough fight down the stretch," Carbery said. "Everyone is going to be jockeying for the best possible playoff spot, and one or two points could mean the difference in winning the division and having home-ice advantage for the playoffs."

The next nine games for the Stingrays come against division foes, including four straight against the Everblades. Florida dominated the Stingrays on Saturday, scoring early and often, and forcing the Stingrays into uncharacteristic turnovers in all three zones.

"That's not the team we really are," said forward Maxime Lacroix. "We didn't make the easy play. We were trying to be too fancy with our passes, and with ice conditions the way they were, we turned the puck over. It was a very frustrating night."

The loss was especially hard on Carbery.

"After what we did against Chicago, I guess guys thought it would just happen for us," Carbery said. "With everything that was at stake and the importance of the game, it just irked me the way we came out and played. It just looked like we had zero commitment to winning that game."

Stingrays captain Matt Scherer said the team will have to put Saturday's performance behind them as quickly as possible.

"We can't dwell on what happened (Saturday)," Scherer said. "We have to watch the video, learn from our mistakes and work to get better. There's still a ton of hockey left to be played, and all of our goals are still out there to be achieved."