Greenville schools Wichita on winning morning games

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (34-21-4-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, met the Wichita Thunder Wednesday afternoon for the second time in less than 24 hours. Greenville answered every Wichita goal in the contest, and finally resulted in a 3-2 victory. Troy Donnay netted the game-winning goal while Jeff Malcolm made 35 saves for the win.

The Swamp Rabbits trailed after the first period as the Thunder put 13 shots on net. Ryan Tesink broke the scoreless game 7:12 into the opening frame as he battled for the puck in front of the net. Wichita’s Gabriel Gagne pushed the puck to the crease and Tesink finally shoved it past the goal line for his fourth goal of the season.

Greenville leads the ECHL in come from behind wins after the first period, earning 12 this season. In the second period, Ahti Oksanen equalized the contest with his 19th goal of the season and fifth goal in five games. The Finnish rookie caught a pass in the high slot from Allan McPherson before netting the tying goal. Oksanen is third on the team with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) and carries a seven-game point streak into the latter half of the week.

The Swamp Rabbits skated to the break with the 1-1 tie. Malcolm earned the number one star of the game, making 35 saves during the morning game. Out of the second period, Malcolm had totaled 25 stops in the game and was a big part of the Swamp Rabbits win.

Blake Tatchell tallied the go ahead goal at the start of the third period. The only power play goal of the game was tallied 2:26 into the period as Malcolm was screened in front of the net. Tatchell’s 10th of the year gave Wichita a 2-1 advantage.

The Swamp Rabbits took over from there, netting two goals in four minutes. Joe Houk trailed a transition play, positioning himself for a shot off a loose puck in the slot. Angelo Miceli sent a pass across the ice to Trevor Gerling but the chance was stopped by the Wichita defense. The Swamp Rabbits’ top scoring defenseman bee-lined to the puck and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net. Houk’s tally past goaltender Drew Owsley tied the game and earned him 15 goals this season, ranking second among all ECHL defensemen.

Donnay lobbed the game-winning goal into the net just beyond nine minutes into the third period. The 6-foor-7 blue liner threw the puck to the front of the net and caught Owsley completely off guard. It sailed past the outreached glove of the Thunder netminder, giving Greenville their first lead of the morning.

A last minute push by the Thunder with Owsley on the bench was halted by Greenville to take back-to-back wins against Wichita. Owsley suffered a second straight loss after making 28 saves against the Swamp Rabbits.

Greenville improved to 2-0-0-0 during their five-game week, which resumes on Friday night against the Florida Everblades at 7 p.m.