TOSTI: SWAMP RABBITS WEEKLY: EDITION 8 

TOSTI: Swamp Rabbits Weekly: Edition 8

Greenville capitalizes on late game heroics to defeat Florida and South Carolina and prepares for another loaded week of South Division games.

BY: Brian Tosti, Greenville Swamp Rabbits

GREENVILLE, SC – Plenty of extra hockey to go around for The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (12-7-2-0), the proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, produced a pair of wins against two of the South Division’s top teams. On Thursday night in Greenville, the Swamp Rabbits topped the Florida Everblades 5-4 in a shootout. Ty Rimmer held off an avalanche of shots in net, making 47 saves as the teams traded leads in the contest. Greenville’s 3-1 advantage in the first period was powered by Branden Troock, Joe Houk, and Caleb Herbert who tallied three goals in 2 minutes and 14 seconds. Florida regained the lead in the third period, but Herbert tallied the tying goal with less than seven minutes remaining, eventually forcing overtime and then a shootout. The ECHL’s leading scorer netted the only goal in the shootout while Rimmer backstopped the Swamp Rabbits win with a perfect 3-for-3 effort in goal.

Greenville ran into a red-hot Orlando Solar Bears team on Friday night. Jack Nevins tallied his first goal of the season in a 2-1 defeat as Orlando scored a pair of third-period goals. Greenville was outshot 38-21 in the contest, resulting in a 36-save outing for goaltender Brandon Halverson. The team then waited for the result of Saturday’s game between Orlando and South Carolina before making the trip to North Charleston, South Carolina on Sunday.

The Stingrays collected goals in the first period to take a 2-0 advantage but were met by responding goals in the second period from Herbert and Austin McKay to tie the contest. South Carolina regained its lead with second and third-period goals to hold a 4-2 advantage with less than 10 minutes to play in the contest. Herbert tallied his fourth goal of the week and league-leading 15th goal of the season to cut the deficit to just one and then Houk assumed the role of hero. The defenseman tallied a power play goal with less than two minutes to play in the game and assisted on Allan McPherson’s game-winning tally in OT. The fourth-year forward potted the game-winner just 14 seconds into the extra period, recording his first game-winning goal in over a year. Rimmer earned his second win of the week with 15 saves as Greenville won the shot battle 38-19.

HOT HARE
Caleb Herbert – 3GP | 5PTS (4G, 1A)
The ECHL’s leading scorer has not slowed down in the month of December. Last week, Herbert fired four goals and added an assist in addition to recording a +5 rating. The Bloomington, Minnesota native’s goals were crucial to Greenville’s success, scoring the game-tying goal and a shootout goal on Thursday night and helping to complete the comeback at the North Charleston Coliseum on Sunday. Herbert has been head-and-shoulders above the rest of the ECHL this season, ranking first with 15 goals and 33 points, and third with 18 assists. The 6-foot forward also leads the league with a plus-19 rating.

RABBIT TAILS

• Defenseman Joe Houk ranked second among all ECHL defensemen this week with four points (2G, 2A). The blue-liner is third in defensive scoring this year with 18 points (6G, 12A).
• The Swamp Rabbits are 3-2 in overtime this season and won their first shootout game on Thursday.
• Goaltender Ty Rimmer has won his last three starts in net with 111 saves (37.0 saves per game). Rimmer also played his 150th career game on Sunday.
• Defenseman Sergey Zborovskiy is on a three-game assist streak and is first among all first-year defenseman with 14 points (5G, 9A).

UPCOMING GAMES

• Tuesday, Dec. 5 | Swamp Rabbits at Stingrays | 7:05 p.m.
  • The Swamp Rabbits return to North Charleston, SC for the second straight game and fifth time this season.
  • Listen | Watch
• Thursday, Dec. 7 | Swamp Rabbits vs. Stingrays | 7:00 p.m.
  • The Stingrays make the trip to Greenville to play the Swamp Rabbits for the third game in five days. Thirsty Thursday presented by Harbor Inn offers a 2-for-$20 ticket deal and Hoppy Hour Specials from 5-8 p.m. including $3 domestic beer and $2 hot dogs!
  • Listen | Watch
• Friday, Dec. 8 | Swamp Rabbits at Gladiators | 7:30 p.m.
  • For the first time this season, the Swamp Rabbits will skate at the Infinite Energy Arena against the Gladiators. Greenville won the only other meeting with Atlanta this year 6-3.
  • Listen | Watch

SOUTH DIVISION STANDINGS

1. Florida Everblades (16-2-1-2) = 35 PTS
2. Greenville Swamp Rabbits (12-7-2-0) = 26 PTS
3. Atlanta Gladiators (11-8-1-1) = 24 PTS
4. South Carolina Stingrays (10-4-3-1) = 24 PTS
5. Orlando Solar Bears (8-10-3-0) = 19 PTS
6. Norfolk Admirals (7-13-1-0) = 15 PTS
7. Jacksonville Icemen (4-11-2-1) = 11 PTS

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