GREENVILLE, S.C. — Yesterday evening, Oct. 18, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hosted the Orlando Solar Bears for the opening night of the ECHL’s 2024-25 regular season. This game was highly anticipated as a loud and revengeful division rivalry, after Orlando took round one of the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs in six games.
For a home opener, there were no moments in which the crowd wasn’t entertained; however, the scores wouldn’t have much of an appeal.
1st Period
Ryan Fanti of Orlando and Dryden McKay of Greenville would respectively start in their respective nets. Both of these netminders would be very busy throughout the game, as they would make excellent saves and also let in a few goals.
The Solar Bears were very undisciplined during this period, taking ten penalty minutes. As a result, the Swamp Rabbits scored multiple times. At 8:39, Stuart Rolofs opened the scoring. However, less than a minute later, the Solar Bears tied it at 9:32 with a tip-in goal from Ara Nazarian by Jarret Lee’s original shot.
Later on, with a delayed penalty pending against the Bears, the Rabbits broke the tie. At 12:00, Patrick Moynihan tipped in a short-side rebound from Parker Berge. Before the buzzer hit, Alex Frye of the Bears sniped a five hole goal and tied the game. Shots on goal: 2 for Orlando; 11 for Greenville
2nd Period
During the second period of action, the tone changed completely for the Solar Bears as they had more ozone time compared to the first period. At 6:31, Tyler Bird broke the tie to make it 3-2 over the Swamp Rabbits. The goal seemed to have drained the home team, Swamp Rabbits, as they couldn’t make good plays in the offensive zone.
Orlando was dialed in with backchecking to maintain their one-goal lead. However, they would hold it only until 19:23. At that point, Tyson Fawcett would score a short-side, top-shelf tying goal. Shots on goal: six for Greenville; 23 for Orlando.
3rd Period
To start off the final period, Tyler Bird would break the tie from Brayden Low’s feed. The Swamp Rabbits had better control over the game during this period, but trailing by a goal made them desperate to make plays. However, many of their plays in neutral ice and the offensive zone did not connect; passes were too high, shots didn’t squeak past Fanti or went high and wide, and the general positioning was lacking.
Compared to the second period, though, the home team definitely improved in their eagerness to play and expend maximum effort per shift. At 13:57, Colton Young would laser the puck past Fanti and score a power-play, tying goal. Another tying goal occurred, but this time it would usher in sudden-death overtime.
Overtime
In overtime, Tyler Bird would grab a hat-trick on the night and win it in overtime after heavy zone pressure on the Swamp Rabbits.
Greenville struggled in their own zone to clear any attempts out and as a result, gave Orlando an opportunity to take the game.
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