Augusta rookie goalie closes door this time

The last time Trevor Cunning was in the net for the Augusta Lynx, the game went to a shootout and the Florida Everblades scored on all three of their chances against the rookie.

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So, when Saturday's game against the South Carolina Stingrays went to a shootout, Cunning was determined not to have a repeat performance.

Cunning stopped all three Stingrays shooters, and forwards Joel Stepp, Nicolas Corbeil and Brian Passmore all scored on their chances to give the Lynx a 3-2 win at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

"It definitely was a way to show the guys I could do it whenever it comes down to a shootout, I can win one for them," said Cunning, who had 22 saves in regulation.

Cunning, who was hit in the neck by a shot during warm-ups, got his glove on Ty Morris' shot to begin the shootout, then kept his body in front of shots by Matt Reid and Jeff Legue.

"I just see him gaining confidence with each game," coach Bob Ferguson said of Cunning. "Tonight will be huge for him, because not only did he get the win, but he came up with some big saves in the shootout and made some good saves in some out-numbered situations."

All three Lynx shooters went to the blocker side of South Carolina goaltender Maxime Daigneault and succeeded.

"Once (Cunning) stopped the first one, we knew we were going to win, and so did everyone else," Passmore said. "When we got the first one, we just kept it rolling, the fans got on us, it was good."

Passmore also scored the game-tying goal on a power play with 1:19 left in the third period to keep the game going. Daigneault was able to block Eric Lundberg's initial shot from the point, but the rebound fell behind Daigneault and right in front of Passmore.

"That's how we're going to score goals," Passmore said, "just going to the net and trying to get rebounds."

That was a point of emphasis heading into the game from Ferguson, and the Lynx followed through with their coach's suggestion. They out-shot the Stingrays 38-24 and had multiple close-range shots blocked on nice saves from Daigneault.

" I thought for the most part we did a good job getting traffic to the net, creating chances, second and third opportunities," Ferguson said.

The Lynx killed off seven Stingrays power-play opportunities, including four in the third period.

Reach Kristy Shonka at (706) 823-3216 or kristy.shonka@augustachronicle.com.