Greenville hits the road to the Sunshine State
BY: Jordan Kuhn, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits entered last week on the longest homestand of the season ahead of a road swing that would keep them away from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena due to Monster Jam and Cirque de Soleil. Three games featured top Kelly Cup contenders, and the other, a team that had given them fits all season long.
Wednesday was the beginning of a rare losing streak for the top team in the South Division, as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits took it to them on Wednesday night. The night started sluggishly, but the second period completely changed the complexion of the game. Five-second period goals, including tallies from Nathan Perkovich, Karl El-Mir, two from Matt Marcinew and Mike Monfredo staked the Swamp Rabbits to a 5-2 lead after two periods.
Jeremy Helvig was sharp all night for the Swamp Rabbits, as he made 34 saves in the win for Greenville. He held the Stingrays off the board in the first period, and during the Rays’ third-period push.
Friday saw a scorching hot Florida Everblades club in the midst of a massive winning streak come to town. Florida opened the game with a 2-0 lead, and the Swamp Rabbits found it difficult to mount a comeback against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Michael Pelech scored a power play goal to get within one, but the ‘Blades pulled away.
After two periods of play, Florida led 4-1. Perkovich, the former ‘Blade, got Greenville within two, but Cam Johnson made 33 saves for the visitors, and Florida skated away with a 4-2 win over Greenville.
Saturday was an unknown for both sides of the coin. It was the first and only matchup against the Utah Grizzlies, one of the top teams in the Mountain Division. The Grizzlies flexed their offensive muscle early with a 4-0 lead through 18 minutes. Pelech scored to end the first period, and that started the comeback.
Greenville scored three unanswered goals and outshot the Grizzlies 20-5 in the second period in one of the most dominant 20-minute stretches of hockey the Swamp Rabbits have played all year. However, the comeback party came to an end at 17:37 of the third period, as a goal from Mitch Maxwell proved to be the game-winning goal in a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Utah.
Sunday was a day of tasty revenge, to avenge the loss from the night prior. The Swamp Rabbits’ devastating home offense returned in force in an absolutely dominant performance over the Atlanta Gladiators. Greenville toasted former teammate Chris Nell by shooting 29.0% on the day, and nine players posted multi-point efforts.
The Swamp Rabbits never trailed in the game, and it was only tied once at 1-1. Greenville led 2-1 after one, 6-2 after two, and ended the game in a 9-3 win over their I-85 rivals down the road. The win was an appetizer to the Super Bowl, which kicked off just in time after the conclusion of the game at the Well.
1/29 vs South Carolina Stingrays – W 6-2
1/31 vs Florida Everblades – L 4-2
2/1 vs Utah Grizzlies – L 6-4
2/2 vs Atlanta Gladiators – W 9-3
UPCOMING GAMES
Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Florida Everblades
Friday, February 7 – 7:30 p.m.
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Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Florida Everblades
Saturday, February 8 – 7:00 p.m.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Michael Pelech – 4 GP | 2 G – 7 A – 9 P
Greenville’s captain was the leading scorer in the ECHL over the past week and is nominated for ECHL Player of the Week. Over the week, he had two three-assist games, in both convincing wins for the Swamp Rabbits. In his 690 games in the ECHL, Pelech has scored 528 points (165 goals, 363 assists).
RABBIT TAILS
- Much as Michael Pelech was one of the Utah Grizzlies’ top scorers in franchise history, the team’s leading scorer continues to climb the leaderboard in Greenville history. He passed Jordie Johnston and sits 8th in team scoring history with 105 points. He trails Sean Berkstresser by seven points (112).
- With the 2,708 fans that came to Sunday’s game, the total attendance in the ECHL rose to 2,500,530 for the season.
- Jeremy Helvig‘s win on Sunday gave him 40 in his ECHL career and is tied for eighth in goalie wins (13).
- Karl El-Mir entered his stint as a Greenville Swamp Rabbit on a ten-game goal-scoring drought. He has scored three goals and an assist in his four games in the Upstate.
- Greenville’s home offensive output has risen from 3.50 to start the week to 3.67 goals per game. Their 99 home goals rank second in the league behind Newfoundland and Allen’s 111.
- Greenville’s nine goals on Sunday were a season-high. It beat the previous season-high of eight, posted on November 15 in Norfolk.
- The Swamp Rabbits are now just one of three teams that are undefeated when leading after two periods of play (19-0-0), joining Brampton and Florida in that category.
SOUTH DIVISION STANDINGS
- South Carolina Stingrays (32-9-4) – 68 pts
- Florida Everblades (30-11-4) – 64 pts
- Greenville Swamp Rabbits (24-23-2) – 50 pts
- Orlando Solar Bears (20-18-6) – 46 pts
- Atlanta Gladiators (19-24-2) – 40 pts
- Jacksonville Icemen (14-22-6) – 34 pts
- Norfolk Admirals (12-29-5) – 29 pts
*standings as of 10:00 a.m. on February 3, 2020
