BY: Matt Trust, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Greenville, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits began a three-game road set with the Rapid City Rush on Friday night with an 8-5 win at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Karch Bachman scored twice, Alex Rauhauser recorded three helpers, and Ryan Bednard won his 12th game of the season.
Early in the opening period, Greenville broke the ice courtesy of Jake Massie at the 2:36 mark. Massie intercepted a Rush pass at the top of the right circle and fired it past Rapid City goaltender Adam Carlson.
Greenville doubled their lead to 2-0 on a power play goal by Liam Pecararo at 12:23. It was followed by another goal on the man-advantage by Karch Bachman at 17:43. Greenville carried a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes with a 15-5 lead in shots. The Bits eventually finished the evening 2-for-3 on the power play.
Rapid City responded in the second period to cut into the deficit at 3:21. After a blocked shot from Butrus Ghafari, the puck deflected perfectly to Avery Peterson’s wheelhouse for a one-time blast through Ryan Bednard’s five-hole.
Greenville regained their three-goal advantage courtesy of Shawn Cameron at 8:24 on his club’s second unassisted goal of the evening.
The Rush responded with two quick tallies to suddenly cut Greenville’s lead to 4-3. At 9:10, Andrew Sturtz scored his fourth goal of the season, and Kevin Spinozzi tallied on the man-advantage at 13:46. Late in the frame, Bachman converted his second goal of the night on a highlight-reel effort. Bachman sneaked a shot from the right-wing into the top corner from a sharp angle near the goal line to provide the Rabbits a 5-3 lead at the second intermission.
#RABBITSRISING#
Greenville continued to build a commanding cushion with a Joey Haddad strike only 27 seconds into the third period. Mike Hedden answered only 59 seconds later for Rapid City, pulling the score to 6-4 Rabbits.
Garrett Thompson scored a highlight-reel goal on a curl and drag move to the inside at 2:34, and Max Zimmer buried his eighth goal of the season on a rebound at 8:30. Leading 8-4, the Rush scored one last power play goal at 13:20 courtesy of Peter Quenneville to conclude an 8-5 scoring line.
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits return to action tomorrow night to continue their current three games in three nights stretch with Rapid City. The puck drop is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. EST.
SINGLE GAME TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Rise With Us and join us at Bon Secours Wellness Arena for the return of professional hockey in the United States! Single Game Tickets are available to purchase today here.
GEAR UP!
Represent the Swamp Rabbits for the 2020–21 season by heading to our online store, the Hop Shop, to purchase your Bits gear. On sale now!
ABOUT US
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, 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.
