Swamp Rabbits strike three times in the middle, but Atlanta separated enough to spoil holiday favorite.
By: Mark Binetti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Brent Pedersen triggered fluffy pandemonium at 4:53 of the second period and led a second-period spark of three goals, but the Atlanta Gladiators used the power of a three-goal first period and kept enough separation to spoil the Greenville Swamp Rabbits’ Teddy Bear Toss, presented by Swamp Rabbit Moving, with a 5-3 final score.
Atlanta jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period of play, led by the first two of an eventual three-goal night from Blake Murray. Murray’s first goal came at 8:35 of the first period, when he finished a rebound off of a Derek Topatigh shot with a middle lane drive, flipping the puck over Swamp Rabbits net-minder Jacob Ingham to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead (Topatigh and Randy Hernandez assisted). With 5:40 left in the first, Topatigh added his name to the ledger when, following a successful penalty kill, he cleaned up a net-front rebound created out of havoc by Carson Demonie out of the box, doubling the Gladiators’ lead to 2-0 (Denomie and Cody Sylvester assisted). Murray added a second with 23 seconds to go in the frame when a puck slowly entering the zone caught Ingham between a rock and a hard place. As Ingham attempted to play it, Murray barely got there first and scored into the empty net to triple Atlanta’s lead to 3-0 after one (Topatigh and Patriks Marcinkevics assisted).
The Swamp Rabbits found a surge in the second period with Brent Pedersen leading the charge, who, in the process, triggered a shower of stuffed chaos. At 4:53 of the second, Pedersen came in-zone on a rush and, while crashing the net, flipped the puck over Ethan Haider in net for Atlanta to cut the deficit to 3-1 and commenced the fan-fuzzy-favorite pandemonium of the Teddy Bear Toss (Austin Saint had the lone assist). After the Bears were cleaned up, Atlanta struck back with their captain, Eric Neiley, who deflected a blue line shot from Cody Sylvester over Ingham to re-establish the three-goal advantage at 8:33 of the second. However, just over a minute later, the Swamp Rabbits found more life and ended the frame trailing by a single marker. With 10:01 to play, Tate Singleton put himself on the highlight reel when he danced around three defenders and backhanded the puck over a shocked Haider in net to cut the deficit to 4-2 (Bobby Russell had the lone assist). The Swamp Rabbits special teams, which have driven much of their recent success, chimed in in the form of Kaleb Lawrence, who found his first as a Swamp Rabbit on the power play. With 7:17 left in the frame, Lawrence completed a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with a bullet of a shot from the right side of the slot, closing the gap to Atlanta at 4-3 (Colton Young and Bryce Brodzinski assisted).
The Swamp Rabbits’ penalty kill had been on a tear, not allowing a power play goal over five straight games and killing off 20 straight power plays to this moment, but Atlanta halted both of those streaks in pursuit of an insurance goal. It came from Blake Murray, who completed his hat trick by slamming home a rebound from the slot area 30 seconds into the third period to push Atlanta to a 5-3 lead (Jeremy Hanzel and Anthony Firriolo assisted). Ingham was pulled for the extra attacker with roughly three minutes to go, but the Swamp Rabbits couldn’t break the defense of Atlanta, ultimately falling 5-3.
Jacob Ingham stopped 29 of 34 shots on net, suffering just his second regulation defeat of the campaign.
The Swamp Rabbits close their weekend with a matinee showdown against the Orlando Solar Bears tomorrow afternoon, with puck drop slated for 3:05 p.m. EST at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has provided family-friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly, the Greenville Road Warriors and the Swamp Rabbits are the highest-level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s LA Kings and the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Greenville is an ECHL Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League member.
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