LOVELAND, CO – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (10-5-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, relied on an early lead and superb goaltending by netminder Ty Rimmer to earn a 4-3 win in overtime against the Colorado Eagles (10-4-3-0) Friday night. The Swamp Rabbits led the Eagles 3-0 at the halfway point of the contest, but Colorado stormed back to force overtime. Rimmer held off the forces with 20 saves in the third period, helping Greenville net the game winner in the extra period. The victory puts the Swamp Rabbits back in the win column after a short three-game slide.
Rimmer became the Swamp Rabbits saving grace in the third period. The fifth-year pro fended off 49 Colorado shots in the game to help force overtime. In the extra period he would make a breakaway save on Julien Nantel, helping to solidify his sixth win of the season.
The Swamp Rabbits defense took to the offensive side of the puck to put the club on the board in the first period. Rookie blue-liners Brenden Kotyk and Sergey Zborovskiy each connected with long shots in the first 10 minutes to put Greenville up 2-0 at the first intermission.
Kotyk drew first blood in the contest, striking less than two minutes into the game. Greenville set up the defenseman at the top of the slot and his long blast found the back of the net less than two minutes into the game. The Regina, Saskatchewan native delivered his fifth of the season to earn the early lead. At exactly the halfway point of the period, Zborovskiy did the same. His long shot on the power play found the top right corner of the net and extended the lead to 2-0.
Greenville took the lead into the break, but were not satisfied with the advantage. Brock Beukeboom set up Caleb Herbert beautifully in the high slot and the ECHL’s leading scorer went to work. The winger outlasted goaltender Joe Cannata and found the open net for his 11th goal of the season at 9:01 of the second period. Herbert finished with a goal and added an assist in the game, extending his league leading point streak to 17 consecutive games.
The Eagles took their home ice advantage and sell-out crowd in the second half of the game and managed a big comeback. Colorado rattled off three goals in less than 18 minutes of play to tie the contest. Jesse Mychan began the charge with his third of the season at 16:12 of the second period, finding a loose puck at the top of the crease. After the second intermission, Joey Ratelle erased the Swamp Rabbits 3-1 lead and tallied his fifth of the season 45 seconds into the third period.
With the game at hand, the Eagles looked to leading scorer Matt Register for the tying goal. Less than ten seconds into a 5-on-3, the defenseman walked in an launched his seventh tally of the season into the net. Greenville would contain the damage and halt the Eagles ensuing power play to force overtime.
Greenville would hand Cannata his first loss of the season in overtime. Branden Troock launched a pass down the ice at the halfway mark of overtime to lead Joe Basaraba to the winner’s circle. On the Swamp Rabbits 20th shot of the game, the fourth-year pro connected with the back of the net from the high slot to earn the team’s 10th win of the season.
Rimmer earned his sixth win of the year and has made at least 49 saves in two games this season. Cannata’s loss in overtime was his first of the year despite the Eagles lopsided shot total of 52 to 20. Each team recorded a power play goal as Greenville finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play and denied four of Colorado’s five man-advantage opportunities.
The teams meet again on Saturday night to decide the three-game mini-series. The puck drops for the final time in Loveland, Colorado at 7:05 p.m. MT (9:05 p.m. ET) as each team seeks their 11th win of the year.
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