Greenville comes back with a vengeance to pick up a statement win
BY: Jordan Kuhns, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Greenville Swamp Rabbits needed a statement response against the Norfolk Admirals and got it. Four goals in the first period, and a highly-precise 22.8% shooting percentage led the way, along with a perfect penalty kill, in an 8-2 drubbing of the Norfolk Admirals on Thursday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Greenville has won in two of the last three games heading into a busy weekend.
Greenville started the night as good as one could, with two goals on the game’s first two shots, both on special teams. Will Merchant got the scoring party started just under two minutes into the game with a snapshot from the right circle found a way past Ty Reichenbach for the opening salvo, and on the penalty kill, a fierce play on the penalty kill saw Austen Brassard finding captain Michael Pelech breaking away and scoring shorthanded to give Greenville the 2-0 lead.
A shot from the point from Chad Duchesne pinballed out in front and caught the tape of Johno May to extend Greenville’s lead to 3-0, and late in the period, Travis Howe kept the momentum going with his first of the season on a slick feed from Trevor Owens behind the net after a near-miss at the side of the goal to pull further ahead.
May started the second period with his second of the game with a power play goal.
Norfolk made a comeback effort, near-singlehandedly, from Taylor Cammarata, whose two goals in the second period, pulled the visiting Admirals to within three goals at 5-2, and with a 5-on-3 power play directly after that, the Swamp Rabbits’ penalty kill and Garrett Bartus were forced into action, and both survived the storm.
Stephen Pierog, Thomas Ebbing, and Jake Bolton completed the scoring for Greenville. Bolton’s goal came on the power play as well, giving Greenville a 75% success rate on the man advantage. Conversely, the Swamp Rabbits’ penalty kill, often relied upon, went a perfect 7-for-7 on the night, to keep the Admirals off of the board.
14 Swamp Rabbits players posted at least a point, with six of them garnering multi-point efforts. Jordan Sims led the way with three assists on the night.
Bartus posted 36 saves on 38 opportunities fired his way and picked up the victory for Greenville. Reichenbach faced the fury of the Swamp Rabbits’ attack and made 27 saves on 35 shots fired his way.
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits remain home for one of the most special nights of the season—Heroes Night on Saturday, November 17 vs. Jacksonville at 7:00 p.m. Tickets to this incredible night, including Family 4 Packs starting at $60, are available at SwampRabbits.com.
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