BY: Matt Trust, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Greenville, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits rallied back from down 3-1 in the third period but dropped a tight 5-4 decision to the Allen Americans on Friday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
In the opening period, the Americans struck first as a Greenville power play expired, and Samuel Laberge was freed from the sin-bin. At 7:54, Laberge fielded a headman breakaway pass from Josh Lammon and scored low on Jacob Ingham.
The Swamp Rabbits tied the contest at 11:22 courtesy of Liam Pecararo’s third goal of the season. Pecararo split the defense and ripped a shot past Americans Goaltender Justin Kapelmaster to even the score at 1-1. Shots after the first 20 minutes were 8-7 in favor of the Americans
In the second stanza, Allen regained the lead with a Krystof Hrabik power play tally at the 11:11 mark. Hrabik one-timed, a Joseph Garreffa, feed between the circles to provide Allen a 2-1 lead.
With 24.1 seconds remaining in the period, the Americans doubled their margin with Laberge’s second goal of the night and fifth of the campaign.
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Down 3-1 in the third period, Greenville utilized an early power play chance to cut their deficit to 3-2. From the right circle, Patrick Bajkov sniped his fifth goal of the campaign at the 1:10 mark to bring the Rabbits closer.
Only 3:10 later, the Swamp Rabbits tied the affair at 3-3 courtesy of Karch Bachman’s sixth goal of the season. Bachman raced along the right-wing side and fired a quick wrist shot to tie the game.
Allen regained the lead at the 12:23 mark on a transition play. After a Kyle Topping shot was blocked, the puck bounced to Scott Conway’s tape. Conway scored low to the ice, his second goal of the season to provide Allen a 4-3 advantage.
Corey Mackin scored a key insurance marker for the Americans, which later stood as the game-winning goal at 16:08. Mackin finished a 2-on-1 rush with Josh Lammon to push Allen’s lead to 5-3.
With the Greenville’s net empty in favor of the extra attacker and 6-on-5 advantage, Greg Meireles scored from a sharp angle at 18:40 to bring his team within 5-4. After the ensuing face-off, Ingham raced back to the bench for the extra attacker, but the Rabbits ran out of time from potting another equalizer and erasing their second two-goal deficit of the night.
Final shots on goal totaled 35-28 after Greenville outshot Allen by a 21-5 margin in the final period. Greenville finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the kill.
Both teams will rematch tomorrow night in the rubber match of a three-game set at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Ticket information is available online at swamprabbits.com.
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