DULUTH, GA – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (23-16-3-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, bested the Atlanta Gladiators (16-19-6-1) Friday night at the Infinite Energy Center in a dominant 8-3 decision. Greenville has won 6-of-7 games against Atlanta this season after netting a season high eight goals. 
With the win, the Swamp Rabbits achieved second place in the South Division, earning 50 points.
Angelo Miceli drew the attention of the Gladiators both in the game and on the first goal. Battling in the right corner, the center opening up room for Desmond Bergin to score the first goal of the night. The Swamp Rabbits leading scorer, pulled the puck out of a battle in the corner and fired it to the blue liner, all alone in the high slot. Bergin didn’t miss on the shot and earned his seventh goal of the season at 8:36 of the first period.
Miceli’s helper began a four-point (2 goals, 2 assists) performance, tying his career best and Greenville’s all-time record for most during a game. Miceli is the first player to record four points for Greenville this season.
Greenville extended the lead while killing off a four minute Gladiators power play. Tommy Thompson stripped the puck away from Josh Atkinson at center ice, putting Tristan King in on a breakaway. The combination gave King a backhanded goal and added to the Swamp Rabbits early lead. King’s tally was his fifth of the season and was scored at 16:51.
The goal also extended Thompson’s point streak to six games. The rookie tallied a goal and added an assist during the third period. The rookie owns the team lead with 14 goals and is third in points with 26 (14 goals, 12 assists) after his three-point night.
Greenville added another with less than 20 seconds to play in the period. Ahti Oksanen opened a three-point effort, tapping home Miceli’s feed from behind the net. After scoring a third period goal and adding an assist, the Finnish forward earned his second three-point outing.
Atlanta tallied twice in the second, but couldn’t break the Swamp Rabbits early lead. Miceli’s second period goal on the power play was the eventual game-winner. The pass from Joly hit the boards and bounced awkwardly to his stick, catching goaltender Matt Ginn off guard with 44 seconds remaining in the middle period.
The physical game reached a tipping point in the second period as Justin DaSilva and Shane Bakker dropped the gloves at center ice. Penalty minutes added in the third period after a battle in front of the benches. Fifty minutes were handed out in the game as each squad tallied a power play goal in the affair.
Matt Johnson also scored in the third period as the Swamp Rabbits tied a season high by netting four goals in the final period. In the finish, Greenville’s skaters accounted for 21 points and seven skaters earned more than one point in the victory.
In his fifth consecutive start, goaltender Jeff Malcolm made 30 saves against the Gladiators for his 11th victory. Gladiators netminder Matt Ginn made 32 saves, but suffered the loss with eight goals against.
Greenville ends the week 3-0-0-0 and are now 6-1-0-0 against Atlanta. The Swamp Rabbits continue a six-game road trip on Wednesday night when the team heads to Florida to play the Everblades before crossing from Estero to Orlando to play the Solar Bears on Thursday and Saturday night.
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