JACKSONVILLE, FLA – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits dropped the second of a three-game set to the Jacksonville Icemen, 2-1, on Friday night at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Both teams will meet Saturday for the rubber match at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Greenville goaltender Ryan Bednard entered Friday with a shutout streak of 188:37 in head-to-head play against Jacksonville, which included three shutouts on January 31st, February 6th and Thursday night. Scoreless through 40 minutes, the Icemen finally solved Bednard and snapped his shutout streak against Jacksonville at 232:05.
At 3:28 of the third period, Kevin McKernan scored his first goal of the season on a drive from the left point. Before regulation concluded, the Swamp Rabbits earned the equalizer courtesy of Joey Haddad. With 6:07 left in regulation, Haddad snapped a drop pass from Nick Poehling past Charles Williams to tie the score at 1-1.
For the second time in as many nights, extra hockey was required to decide a winner in the Sunshine State. In Greenville’s league-leading 13th overtime game of the season, Ara Nazarian scored at 4:50 in the sudden-death frame. After video review, Nazarian snuck a short-side shot past Bednard along the near post for the game-winner.
Greenville’s record shifted to 14-10-7-2 and the Jacksonville Icemen improved to 12-12-1-3. Both teams are set to conclude the weekend Saturday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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