BY: Matt Trust, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Greenville, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits extended their season-high point streak to six consecutive games in a 3-2 overtime loss on Saturday night to the Indy Fuel. The Swamp Rabbits finished the week with three straight overtime defeats, earning three of six possible standings points.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Swamp Rabbits drew first blood for their fifth straight game. At 17:21 of the middle stanza, Max Zimmer backhanded a perfect feed from beneath the goal line courtesy of Liam Pecararo. Samuel Jardine earned the secondary helper for his eighth assist of the season and ninth point in 10 games.
Greenville possessed a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes and a 27-19 shot advantage. The Bits fired 20 shots on frame in the second period to set a new single-season high for most shots in a period.
The Rabbits added breathing room at 6:10 of the third period. Matt Wedman jammed home a second chance opportunity at the near post past Indy goaltender Dan Bakala to double his team’s lead. Late in the third period, the Fuel pulled Bakala in favor of the extra attacker, and the move paid dividends for Indy. Matt Marcinew scored at 17:37 to cut Indy’s deficit to 2-1, and Spencer Watson found the equalizer with a 6-on-5 blast from the right circle at 18:46.
Overtime was required for the second consecutive night between the Swamp Rabbits and Fuel, and again Indy came away with the overtime winner. At 1:48 of sudden-death, Marcinew received credit for directing the rebound of a Nic Pierog shot into the net past Bits goaltender John Lethemon.
Final shots on goal totaled 37-30 Greenville. The Rabbits finished the night 0-for-1 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Greenville’s record shifts to 3-3-3-1 and remains level at .500.
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits will turn their sights forward to three games in three nights stretch beginning on Friday, January 15. The Swamp Rabbits will battle the South Carolina Stingrays on back-to-back nights in Charleston on Friday and Saturday. Greenville will conclude the weekend with a 3:05 p.m. Sunday matinee against the Jacksonville Icemen at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Ticket information is available online at SwampRabbits.com.
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ABOUT US
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has been providing family-friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are proud affiliates of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League. Since the conclusion of the 2019-20 NHL Season, 678 former ECHL players have debuted in the NHL. Nine former Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits have later made their NHL debut.
