GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits secured two points over the South Carolina Stingrays by a final score of 4-2 on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. Liam Pecararo notched two goals in the contest and Ryan Bednard made 23 saves for his league-leading 19th wins of the season.
In the first period, the Swamp Rabbits broke the ice at the 9:54 mark courtesy of Max Zimmer’s 14th goal of the season. Zimmer picked up a loose puck in neutral ice and raced into the Stingrays zone. Zimmer fired a bullet past Stingrays goaltender Alex Dubeau to provide his club a 1-0 cushion. Shots after the 20 minutes were 9-8 in favor of South Carolina.
In the middle frame, South Carolina equalized the contest at 4:53 from Justin Florek. On a 3-on-1 rush, Florek finished a give-and-go play with Andrew Cherniwchan and fired the puck past Bednard from a sharp angle.
Greenville regained the advantage at 2-1 courtesy of Patrick Bajkov on the power play at 8:39. From the right circle, Bajkov fired a quick wrister through traffic and past Dubeau to restore his team’s lead.
The Stingrays answered Bajkov’s tally with a power play marker of their own only 1:57 later. Cherniwchan found a loose puck at the goal mouth and deposited it past Bednard to tie the game at 2-2.
In the third period, Greenville struck again on the man-advantage with Pecararo’s 12th goal of the season at 4:16. Pecararo corralled a Samuel Jardine feed at the left circle and blasted a howitzer top-shelf past Dubeau to restore Greenville’s lead for a third time.
With 1:05 remaining, Pecararo sealed the 4-2 victory for Greenville with an empty net tally and his second of the night. Final shots finished 35-25 in favor of the Swamp Rabbits. The Rabbits went 2-for-7 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill enroute to their 24th victory of the campaign.
The Greenville Swamp Rabbits return to action on Saturday, April 24th and continue their current three-game set versus South Carolina. Puck drop from the North Charleston Coliseum is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
Follow us on Twitter @prohockeynews
You must be logged in to post a comment.