It's hats off to Magowan

Ken Magowan watched as the puck rolled on its side ever so slowly down the ice. The rookie was getting nervous that he might have just iced the puck with an empty net and less than a minute to go.

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But just as it looked like it might hook away, the puck sneaked just inside the right goal post.

"It just kept turning left," Magowan said. "I think the crowd helped it in."

Instead of an icing call, Magowan's goal iced the Augusta Lynx's biggest win of the season - a 4-1 battle with the South Carolina Stingrays (8-9-1) on Tuesday.

"I think that's the break we needed," goaltender Jason Saal said.

"A bounce here or there and we might have a winning record," Magowan added.

The bounces mostly went the Lynx's (6-8-2) way, as they earned their first regulation win at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center and had their highest scoring game of the season.

Fans will remember this game for the best individual performances of the season by both Magowan and Saal.

Magowan's empty-net goal in the final minute gave the rookie his first career hat trick.

Not to be overshadowed, Saal was one second shy of his and the Lynx's first shutout of the year. The veteran goaltender blocked 35 shots to even his record at 4-4-2 in his fourth consecutive start.

"Goaltending is the difference most nights," Lynx coach Stan Drulia said.

And for the first time all season, the Lynx's offense let its goaltender enjoy a little bit of a cushion.

Augusta got offense from players not named Jamie Johnson or Jim Shepherd for the first time since before Thanksgiving. Another rookie - Colt King - scored the Lynx's third goal early in the final period, helping the Lynx make up for a poor effort to end the second period.

Despite several chances to clear the puck in the final 30 seconds of the middle stanza, the Lynx couldn't get it past the blue line. South Carolina, meanwhile, kept the pressure on Saal despite being short-handed.

The Stingrays fired off four shots during that time and the fourth, which came from Matt Reid, got past Saal to cut the Lynx's lead to 2-1 going into the second intermission. It was Reid's fourth short-handed goal of the season.

"We're giving up one of those kinds of goals a game," Saal said. "We've got to limit those chances."

Saal said Drulia had "some words" for the team during the second intermission, and whatever he said seemed to work. King's goal restored the Lynx's two-goal lead and Saal took over from there.

He stopped 14 shots - including two from point-blank range with less than 2 minutes to go - in the third period to make sure that gaffe didn't cost this struggling team a win.

The victory is just the fourth in regulation for Augusta, but marks the second time in three games the Lynx have come out on top.

Lynx Game Report

STAR OF THE GAME: Rookie forward Ken Magowan recorded the first hat trick of his career. Goaltender Jason Saal was one second shy of a shutout, while stopping 34 shots in his most dominating performance of the season.

TURNING POINT: Rookie Colt King's goal 3 minutes into the third period gave Augusta a two-goal advantage.

PLUS: Someone other than Jamie Johnson or Jim Shepherd scored for the Lynx. Johnson and Shepherd had accounted for Augusta's past four goals.

MINUS: Augusta gave up a short-handed goal with one second remaining in the second period that sliced their two-goal advantage in half.

NEXT GAME: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Lynx at Columbia