BY: Mark Shelley, Greenville Swamp Rabbits
ESTERO, FL – A four-goal second period and a 37-save performance by John Lethemon led the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to level their Round 1 series against the Florida Everblades at 1-1 with a 5-3 victory on Saturday night at Hertz Arena.
GAME SHEET: Click here
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1st |
2nd | 3rd |
Final |
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GVL |
0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
| FLA | 1 | 2 | 0 |
3 |
In a penalty-filled and heated first period, the Everblades captured the game’s opening goal at the 9:31 mark, as Chris McKay cut to the goal line and lifted the puck into the net. After the Everblades captain, John McCarron, was ejected for a kneeing major, the Swamp Rabbits generated chances late in the first but were outshot 8-6.
Greenville jumped onto the scoreboard in the second as Alec Rauhauser snapped a high-slot shot into the net for a power-play tally at 4:48. Shortly after, at 6:51, Ben Freeman lifted a shot from the right circle into the net for the 2-1 Greenville advantage. At 9:16, Ayden MacDonald slid the puck to Bobby Russell, who fed Kevin McKernan on the back post for the 3-1 Swamp Rabbits lead. Greenville added a fourth consecutive goal at 14:12, a shorthanded tally, as Joe Gatenby cleaned up the loose puck from Freeman’s saved breakaway. Late in the frame, at 16:02, Xavier Bouchard scored from inside the blue line to bring Florida within a pair of goals. Moments later, Alex Aleardi scored down the wing at 18:48 to get Florida to within a single tally.
THIRD PERIOD
The third period saw a back-and-forth exchange of shots before a late Florida power-play, and an empty net created a six-on-four scenario for the Swamp Rabbits to defend. At 18:46, Freeman secured the Greenville victory, scoring his second of the game into the empty net.
At the final horn, Swamp Rabbits goaltender John Lethemon, who performed valiantly in Game 1, stopped 37 of 40 Everblades shots for his first series victory.
With the win, the Swamp Rabbits leveled the best-of-seven series with the Blades at 1-1 before the series shifts for three games in Greenville.
The Swamp Rabbits return to Greenville for Game 3 against the Everblades on Wednesday, April 27, at 7:05 p.m. inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Swamp Rabbits Single Game Tickets are on sale now! For more information or to secure your seats today, call 864-674-PUCK (7825) or email INFO@SwampRabbits.com
ABOUT US
Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team has been providing 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. Additionally, Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey.
