READING, PA – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (29-19-4-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, were only tied with the Reading Royals (31-18-1-2) for 15 seconds Wednesday night, hanging onto a first period outburst for a 5-3 win. The Swamp Rabbits netted three goals in the first period, propelling the team to an undefeated record in six games against North Division opponents.
Brandon Alderson spent parts of the last two seasons in Reading, but has burst out with a career year in Greenville. In his return trip to the Santander Arena, the fourth-year pro came out swinging. Fifteen seconds into the contest, Alderson gave Greenville the lead as he crashed to the slot and guided the first shot of the night past goaltender Mark Dekanich. The tally extended Alderson’s point streak on the road to nine games, earning eight goals and five assists in those contests.
The Oakville, ON native’s night wasn’t over there. Less than three minutes from the drop of the puck, he scored again. Alderson netted his 15th goal of the season on a back door passing play between Allan McPherson and Angelo Miceli. The three combined in the same order to give the Swamp Rabbits a 2-0 advantage.
The final goal of the period gave Spiro Goulakos his 13th of the season handed on a silver platter. The Swamp Rabbits extended the lead as Trevor Gerling and Matt Prapavessis combined with the Montreal, QC native for the backhanded tally with less than two minutes to play in the opening frame. The goal also chased Dekanich from the net after allowing three goals on 17 shots.
Reading battled back in the second period, netting two goals on 12 shots. The Royals alternate captain Ian Watters tallied both goals, scoring on a 2-on-0 and redirecting a shot from Florian Iberer. The Swamp Rabbits would go to the break with a 3-2 advantage.
Mackenzie Skapski held it down between the pipes with 36 saves in the contest, including a game high 16 saves in the third period. The Swamp Rabbits netminder appeared in his ninth consecutive start, owning a 6-3-0-0 record in that stretch.
Tyler Brown gave the Swamp Rabbits some breathing room to open the third. The Hamilton, ON native battled to tally his fourth goal of the year from the side of the net. Gerling became one of five Swamp Rabbits players to grab multiple points in the game, feeding Brown on the eventual game-winning tally.
The Royals bounced right back to cut the lead again, but could not close out the comeback. With two minutes remaining in the contest, Reading pulled replacement netminder Martin Ouellette from the cage for an extra attacker. Bretton Cameron battled toward the empty net, being hooked from behind on his breakaway. The captain was awarded his team leading 18th goal of the season to ice the contest. Ouellette took the loss in the game, making 14 saves in relief in two periods of work.
Greenville and Reading drop the puck again on Sunday night at 6 p.m. In the meantime, the Swamp Rabbits head to Norfolk, VA for a pair of games against the Admirals on Friday and Saturday night. Greenville owns a 3-2-0-0 record in five games against Norfolk.
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