Golden Ghost Grind
Last night was the final game of the Savannah Ghost Pirates’ Golden Ghosts weekend. After losing Thursday night to the Swamp Rabbits, they beat the Stingrays Friday night. Their last game in the series was against the Orlando Solar Bears Saturday night, and the Golden Ghosts lost in overtime.
Familiar First Period:
Each time GSP have played the Solar Bears this season, they typically have gotten the lead early. Starting with a pretty early unassisted goal from Noah Carroll, being his first of the season, the Golden Ghosts once again started out on top. However, Orlando answered about a minute later with a goal from Brayden Low, assisted by Luke Boka. With 10 minutes left, Michael Bullion blocked a huge breakaway from the Solar Bears. Joe Fleming made quite an impressive move as he body-blocked two strong shots with just under three minutes left. Both teams finished the first period tied amidst a fury of emotion and physicality.
Sensational Second Period:
Neither team scored during most of the first half of the period. At 11:56 into the period, Vincent Marleau scored a one-timer power play goal from Logan Drevitch and Brandon Estes. Orlando answered back with a goal from Marc-Andre Gaudet off of Tanner Dickinson. His goal was followed by another Solar Bears goal, this time from Patrick Newell with the help of Zachary Massicotle and Mitchel Hoelscher. With about two minutes left in the period, Tyler Bird and Matthew Boudens dropped the gloves and fought. The period finished with a third Orlando goal with just 30 seconds left. Gaudet had his second goal of the night, with assists from Newell and Tanner Schachle.
Tense Third Period:
While the second period didn’t go the way Savannah wanted it to, they got focused in the third and gave themselves a chance to win the game. The only two goals scored during the period were by the Golden Ghosts. The first one was another unassisted goal, this time by Ryan Scarfo at 1:38 in the final period. The final goal for Savannah’s Golden Ghosts was Logan Drevitch off Estes and Pinard. They kept the score tied for the rest of the third, eventually going to overtime. It looked like the Golden Ghosts were about to win, as they took a bunch of strong and smart shots. Overall, the Solar Bears wanted to win the most. This was shown by Mitchell Hoelscher off of Dickinson, sealing the deal for the Solar Bears.
Three Stars:
- Mitchell Hoelscher (ORL)
- Marc-Andre Gaudet (ORL)
- Logan Drevitch (SAV)
Super Vegas-Savannah Vibes:
All in all, the weekend of the Golden Ghosts was unforgettable. For Savannah, as much as for Vegas, it was undoubtedly a novel occasion. On Thursday, Chance, the mascot of the Golden Knights, traveled all the way to Savannah. The graphics used for the games were mostly inspired by Vegas. A majority of them were designed using casino games and videos from Golden Knights’ games and fans. They also employed a drum line and an opening that was strikingly similar to the VGK games. The National Anthem was performed by the drum line on the opening night of the Golden Ghosts game, and they also drummed to get the crowd excited between play stoppages. The already well-liked new ECHL team attracted a lot of attention because of this themed weekend, and it sure drew the crowds as the Ghost Pirates sold out all three home games.
The team showed a lot of moxy, toughness, and offensive prowess that we started to see towards the end of last season. There is a lot of season left, and the new blood is making its presence felt on the ice. The haunt continues Monday night as the Ghost Pirates return to their natural form for a rematch in Orlando with the Solar Bears.
