Florida breaks out in the second, overruns Greenville
BY: Jordan Kuhn, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
ESTERO, Fla. — The Greenville Swamp Rabbits surrendered the opening goal on the opening shift and were unable to contain the Florida Everblades’ attack, as they fell 6-2 on Friday night at Hertz Arena. It came two nights after the ‘Blades were shut out on home ice.
Adam Smith capitalized on a bouncing puck after a shot block and stashed the puck past a lunging Jeremy Helvig to open the scoring 25 seconds into the action. Florida entered the game with a 17-3-1 record when scoring the first goal.
Florida’s scoring prowess came to light in the second period. They scored five times in a nine-minute span to turn the game from a close one into a rout.
The turning point came at the 7:14 mark, as the Swamp Rabbits took their only penalty of the night, a Ryan Black slashing minor. The Everblades gained the offensive zone with speed, and Zach Magwood connected on a back-door pass with Michael Huntebrinker, and the last-place power play in the league doubled the lead.
Three minutes later was the backbreaker. Helvig appeared to make the save on a Patrick McCarron shot, but as the puck squeaked by, Lukas Craggs bashed home the rebound to add to the lead.
Joe Pendenza and Justin Auger struck within 50 seconds of one another to give Florida the 5-0 lead, which was the end of Helvig’s night. Jake Theut took over in goal.
The Swamp Rabbits struck for two goals in the final frame, which offset Auger’s second goal of the game at the 1:34 mark of the third.
Sent on a breakaway by Michael Pelech, Karl El-Mir was denied by Florida goaltender Cam Johnson on the first bid, but El-Mir stuck with it for the goal that broke the goose egg and was his fourth goal as a Swamp Rabbit in five games.
Jake Horton capped off the scoring in the waning moments of regulation with a hard-working shift from the top line. Dylan MacPherson wrapped the net, and as Kamerin Nault was stopped at net-front on his first bid, Jake Horton stashed the puck home on the backhand.
Theut made 12 saves on 13 shots in relief. Cam Johnson collected the win with 26 saves on 28 shots.
The Swamp Rabbits remain in Estero to take on the Florida Everblades on Saturday, February 8 at 7:00 p.m.
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