SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, dropped their regular season finale 6–3 to the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday night at Enmarket Arena.
South Carolina struck quickly, scoring twice on its first two shots of the game. Zac Funk opened the scoring with a shot from the slot, and Simon Pinard followed with a breakaway goal to make it 2–0 just 3:57 into the contest.
The Stingrays extended their lead to 3–0 later in the first period when Dean Loukus capitalized on the power play.
Savannah responded with 5:53 remaining in the opening frame as Reece Vitelli redirected a point shot from Ivan Chukarov to cut the deficit to 3–1. Riley Hughes earned the secondary assist.
South Carolina added another early in the second period when Josh Wilkins buried a rebound just 40 seconds in to make it 4–1.
The Ghost Pirates answered on the power play as Nicholas Zabaneh set up Connor Gregga in the slot, and he fired home to make it 4–2. Logan Drevitch added the secondary assist.
Savannah pulled within one later in the period when Liam Walsh found the back of the net from the right side, with assists from Nick Granowicz and Keaton Pehrson, making it 4–3.
The Stingrays pulled away in the third period with a pair of insurance goals from Kaden Bohlsen and Ludwig Persson to secure the 6–3 final.
Seth Eisele earned the win for South Carolina with 21 saves on 24 shots, while Vinnie Purpura made 20 saves on 26 shots for Savannah.
The Ghost Pirates now turn their attention to the Kelly Cup Playoffs, where they will face the Florida Everblades in the first round beginning Friday, April 24 at Hertz Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information about upcoming home games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
Adirondack Thunder
Allen Americans
Atlanta Gladiators
Bloomington Bison
Cincinnati Cyclones
Florida Everblades
Fort Wayne Komets
Greensboro Gargoyles
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Idaho Steelheads
Indy Fuel
Iowa Heartlanders
Jacksonville Icemen
Kalamazoo Wings
Kansas City Mavericks
Maine Mariners
Norfolk Admirals
Orlando Solar Bears
Rapid City Rush
Reading Royals
Savannah Ghost Pirates
South Carolina Stingrays
Tahoe Knight Monsters
Toledo Walleye
Trois-Rivières Lions
Tulsa Oilers
Utah Grizzlies
Wheeling Nailers
Wichita Thunder
Worcester Railers