Greenville, SC—After closing out their three consecutive game road trip last week, the Swamp Rabbits are back at it again to face the Atlanta Gladiators at home today. As of late, the Rabbits have been struggling defensively and offensively, as they lost two of three games on the road—2-1 In SC and 6-1 in Savannah.
Keys To The Game: What they must improve on before facing the Gladiators
Execution on the powerplay: reflecting back at the previous game in Savannah, the Rabbits had four power play opportunities throughout the entire sixty minutes; however, they couldn’t score on either of them. This seems odd, as the team has been quite successful at scoring on their power plays. What the Rabbits’ must do is pressure more and strike on the rebounds; they struggled to create rebound chances in Savannah.
Defending Their Goaltender: It’s easy to say it, but the Rabbits’ were not defending their netminder to the best of their abilities. They were either giving the opposition open space to score or not covering the goalie’s weak spots. Also, backchecking: it may have been fatigue from playing three straight games on the road, all of which at different cities, but backchecking was weak from the Rabbits during their game against Atlanta and Savannah.
Physicality: The Swamp Rabbits have a great roster of really physical and big-body players, so it has become clear that they must use that to their advantage going forward. Atlanta has been struggling to win lately, as they’ve posted up a current record of 9-14-0, losing six of their last six games. But likewise, they still scored three goals and posted 47 shots on goal against Greenville on December 16.
Players That Have Stood Out
Joe Leahy has been excellent in his last few games played, as he’s tallied up four goals and five assists. In his last four games played, he’s scored three goals. He’s a very sharp shooter for a d-man, as his nickname is “laser.” Along with solid shooting, he’s also a heavy-body player who’s great at backchecking in his own zone and isn’t afraid to get rough with the opposition players. The next player is Ryan Francis. Francis, after getting sent down from AHL Ontario Reign, has played nine games for Greenville, tallying up six goals and six assists. The 5′ 10 centerman has made a name for himself as he’s a slick and speedy player who, of course, isn’t afraid to score and assist his teammates. The final player worth mentioning is Luke Richardson. The third goaltender on the Rabbits roster recently got his first start of the season, as he stopped 44 of 47 shots against the Gladiators last Saturday (December 16). Previously, Richardson played two regular season games for Greenville, including two during the Kelly Cup Playoffs. He posted a record of 2-0 with 1.5a 0 GAA during his 2022-23 regular season debut.
Greenville has a great roster of skilled and talented players and coaches, but the struggles shown on the road reflects that execution and mindset shouldn’t be stowed away. Today, December 20, they face the Gladiators one last time before the new year.
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