GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Greenville Swamp Rabbits hosted two of their division rivals again for a two-game weekend homestand on Dec. 14 and 15. The first game on the 14th was the Swamp Rabbits’ annual Teddy Bear Toss game, with their opponent being against the Atlanta Gladiators.
For the second game on the 15th, the Greenville club hosted the Orlando Solar Bears. The previous two-team competition occurred last week on December 6th and 7th.
Before the first game, the Rabbits and Glads were tied in 6th place for 22 points, and this game was important for both teams to rise up in the standings in the south division.
Atlanta Gladiators at Greenville Swamp Rabbits – December 14
1st Period
The first period favored the Gladiators. Teddy Bear Toss night? The visiting team did not care, as they were aggressive on both fronts, blocking offensive attempts by the Rabbits and outplaying the home team.
Blake Murray opened the scoring for the Gladiators. Then Derek Topatigh made it 2-0 with less than six minutes remaining. With 23 seconds left in the first, Murray grabbed his second of the night on a breakaway.
Ingham had a horrendous period: with controlling the rebounds to holding hesitation using his stick to poke pucks away; it was not his night to start the first 20 minutes. The teddy bears were on halt for now.
Shots on goal: ATL 17; GVL 8
2nd Period
After a suspenseful 20-minute period with no teddies on the ice, the home team finally put the biscuit in the net, triggering the toss. Brent Pedersen scored a top-shelf goal for the Rabbits, and nanoseconds later, the teddies came flying onto the ice.
The 6,000 in attendance brought thousands of stuffed animals for donations to multiple charity groups. Minutes later, however, Eric Neiley responded by making it 4-1 Gladiators.
Bobby Russell then created a breakout for the Rabbits, saucering the puck to Tate Singleton in Atlanta’s zone, where Singleton netted a backhand, forehand goal. At 12:21, a potential Gladiators goal went under review for goaltender interference, with the call on the ice being no goal after Cody Sylvester rammed into Ingham prior to the whistle.
After review, the call stood, and Atlanta received a minor for goaltender interference. Caleb Lawrence capitalized on the power play opportunity to decrease the goal deficit to just one, making it 3-4.
Towards the end of the forty-minute mark, both teams experienced episodes of poor turnovers and puck possession, but also had spurts of key backchecks and defender pokechecks.
Shots on goal: ATL 8; 10 GVL
3rd Period
Entering the third period, Murray completed his hat trick just 30 seconds in, making it 5-3. This significantly impacted the Swamp Rabbits’ momentum.
After the goal, the Rabbits became chippy and physical, now trailing by two goals. At 10:24, the team drew a power play opportunity.
However, the opportunity was wasted as the Gladiators, with the help of Haider, dominated on the penalty kill. With two minutes remaining in the final frame, Ingham was pulled for the Rabbits’ extra attacker.
Berge took the primary shot on Atlanta’s netminder Ethan Haider. Greenville held their ice to prevent an empty netter but ultimately fell short by two goals in their annual Teddy Bear Toss game.
Shots on goal: ATL 9; GVL 8
Final shots on goal: ATL 34; GVL 26
Three Stars of the Game:
- Blake Murray (ATL) – 3 goals
- Derek Topatigh (ATL) – 1 goal, 2 assists
- Cody Sylvester (ATL) – 2 assists
Orlando Solar Bears at Greenville Swamp Rabbits – December 15
Ingham was out for this game, as last night’s game was not his best, especially on rebound control — something of which the Orlando Solar Bears are good at capitalizing on. So therefore, Dryden McKay got the nod from head coach Kyle Mountain to have his 17th start of the season.
For the Solar Bears, Michael Simpson would start; Alexis Gravel backed up.
1st Period
Learning from last week’s matchup between the two teams, the Swamp Rabbits shifted the wave in their favour and completely looked like a different team during the first. In the first 40 seconds of play, John Parker-Jones opened up scoring from a long-range wrister from the blueline.
At 12:36, Brayden Low and Tate Singleton engaged in post-whistle extracurriculars, resulting in minors that led to 4-on-4 play. Forty seconds into the play, Alex Frye drew a tripping call, creating a 4-on-3 advantage for the Swamp Rabbits, followed by an abbreviated power play after the minors expired.
However, the Solar Bears defended their end by having big body blocks by their defensemen. Though that wouldn’t matter much, as Mikael Robidoux would snipe one in on a mere breakaway created from a stretch pass by Tyson Fawcett.
The home team’s scoring wasn’t over yet. Just 40 seconds later, Colton Young extended the Rabbits’ lead to three goals. Afterward, Simpson was pulled from the goal for the rest of the game, with Gravel taking over.
Shots on goal: ORL 6; GVL 11
2nd Period
Eleven minutes into the second period, Robidoux scored his second goal of the night to make it 4-0 Greenville, after his shot on Gravel was shoveled into the net by the Solar Bears. However, three minutes later, the Solar Bears responded, finally putting something on the board as Anthony Bardaro tipped in a shot from Jarret Lee.
Moments later, at 15:09, the Solar Bears drew a penalty but successfully killed it off, keeping the deficit at three goals. Before the buzzer, at 19:45, Robidoux was sent to the box for cross-checking.
Six seconds before the horn blew, Spencer Kersten tipped one in from an open slot on the right-wing point.
Shots on goal: ORL 11; GVL 10
3rd Period
Due to an unfortunate turn of events, the Rabbits experienced a third-period collapse against the Solar Bears and nearly gave the game away. Kersten made it 3-4 on a two-on-one with the help of Jack Adams.
Then, at 10:51, Hudson Thornton fired a beautiful snapshot to tie the game, scoring his first professional goal in the ECHL.
After the tie was created, the Solar Bears controlled the momentum from that point forward, as they aggressively pressured in Greenville’s zone to break the tie and take the game.
But the Swamp Rabbits had McKay to help with keeping the game tied as he made six quality saves until the horn. The game was still tied after the buzzer, so therefore we would get another sudden death overtime for the third straight time against these two teams.
Shots on goal: ORL 13; GVL 7
Overtime
Both teams bounced back and forth between their respective offensive zones, but the Rabbits stepped up and were much more focused offensively than they had during the third. That would ultimately paid off in their favour, as Colton Young tucked one in to take the game 5-4 in overtime.
Three Stars of the Game (Gamesheet):
- Mikael Robidoux (GVL) – 2 goals
- Josh Parker-Jones (GVL) – 1 goal, 2 assists
- Dylan Krebs (GVL) – 1 assist
The Swamp Rabbits will return to action on Thursday, December 19, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena against the Jacksonville Icemen. Meanwhile, the Solar Bears will host the Icemen at home on Wednesday, December 18.
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