BY: Matt Trust, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Greenville, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits opened April with a 3-2 shootout victory over the South Carolina Stingrays to extend their current winning streak to four games. Patrick Bajkov and Anthony Rinaldi both tallied in regulation, and Ryan Bednard stopped all three shootout shooters faced in addition to Matt Bradley’s strike in the skills competition.
Greenville earned their 20th win of the campaign to improve their overall record to 20-12-8-2. In the current season series with their in-state rival, the Rabbits are 7-1-0-2 through 10 meetings.
Shortly after a 5-on-3 power play chance became a 5-on-4, Bajkov opened the scoring at 9:22 of the first period. Bajkov scored his 10th goal of the season from a sharp angle past Rays’ netminder Hunter Shepard on a shot from the bottom of the left circle.
Next period, the Bits doubled their advantage to 2-0 at 8:05. Rinaldi deflected a Matt Bradley backhand try from the right circle. Matt Strome recorded the secondary assist on Rinaldi’s goal for his first point as a Greenville Swamp Rabbit in his second game.
#RABBITSRISING#
South Carolina cut their deficit in half at 19:02 of the second period. Macoy Erkamps scored his first goal of the season after burying a center feed from Stingrays’ Cole Ully. Late in the third period, Ully tallied his team-best 14th goal of the season, with Shepard pulled for the extra attacker at 18:29.
Overtime was required for Greenville’s league-leading 17th time in the 2020-21 season. Three-on-three did not solve a winner, and the game progressed to the Rabbits’ fourth shootout of the season. Matt Bradley scored in the bottom of Round 1, and Ryan Bednard made saves on Cameron Askew, Ully, and Brett Supinski to seal the 3-2 victory.
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits complete their three-game set with South Carolina tomorrow night, April 3, at 7:05 p.m., with their eyes set on a sweep and fifth straight win. Join us tomorrow for our “First Intermission Bunny Toss.” Fans are encouraged to bring as many stuffed rabbits (or other stuffed animals) as they please and toss them on the ice when prompted during the first intermission. All stuffed animals will be donated to one of several local charitable organizations in the Greater Greenville area.
Ticket information is available online at swamprabbits.com.
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.
