ESTERO, FL – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (4-4-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, earned a momentous 4-3 shootout win over the South Division leading Florida Everblades (10-0-1-1) tonight in Estero, FL. Forward Paul Zanette scored the only goal in the shootout and goaltender Mackenzie Skapski made all three saves to help Greenville to the win.
For the second consecutive night, Ahti Oksanen produced a multi-point game. The rookie forward recorded his first multi-goal game, earning the number one star. Adding assists on the Finnish skater’s goals were Tyler Brown and Tommy Thompson. Each ended the night with two helpers.
In the first period, Greenville was down off an early strike from Matt Berry. Then Brant Harris added to the lead on another odd man rush. Greenville’s response took only 39 seconds when Oksanen got a pass from Brown in the corner. With one hand on the stick, he redirected the pass over the shoulder of Daniel Altshuller, cutting the lead to one at the break. Skapski ended the first period with a game high 15 saves.
The Swamp Rabbits had a pair of chances waived off as they tried to tie the game, but equalized the score with less than two minutes left in the second. Thompson toe-dragged the puck from the left circle but had it poke checked right to Oksanen. With Altshuller out of position, the 6-foot-3 forward put the shot just under the crossbar.
A third straight goal was scored in the third period to break the tie. Spiro Goulakos earned his first goal of the season to take the advantage 13 minutes into the third. Matt Johnson sent a pass to the front of the net while Greenville was shorthanded and Goulakos broke for a deflection. Johnson’s assist was his second of the season to put the Swamp Rabbits up for the first time in the game.
Florida tied the score again two minutes later and forced the game to overtime. The back and forth effort ended with three stops from Skapski, in route to a 32-save outing. The Swamp Rabbits would end the shootout in three rounds. Zanette netted the only goal in the breakaway skills competition and the netminder earned his first win of the season.
Greenville will continue their road trip in Toledo on Wednesday night, looking for their second straight win. It also begins a group of four road games set spanning five nights. The Swamp Rabbits will face three different teams in the stretch.
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