The Stingrays, who tied the game late on, via a Shaun Thompson shorthanded goal, outshot the Phantoms 48-32 but could not find a way past netminder Wall in the final two periods to squeeze out a win.
The Rays found themselves 3-0 down after the first period but, after some, likely, stern words from Sylvain Cloutier in the first intermission, they pulled the Phantoms lead back to 4-3 at the end of the second, thanks to Jeff Glowa and a double from Curtis Huppe.
Without Matt Reynolds, Lee Mitchell, Konstantin Kalmikov, Slava Koulikov and first choice netminder Tommy Sandahl, the Stingrays finally managed to level the scores in the final minute through Thompson after coach Sylvain Cloutier had bagged his first in a Stingrays jersey, restoring some of the pride in what could have been a somewhat embarrassing loss.
Cloutier's Comments
"I was happy with the second 40 minutes. We were three down in the first but Andy settled down after that and played well."The young guys came in and did a great job. They had a chance to skate with us and they worked hard but I had to cut the bench to get us back in the game and it was a shame I couldn't throw them in more. But now we will prepare for a tough weekend against Cardiff."
