GREENVILLE, SC – In nature, swamp rabbits can be nasty and tenacious when threatened or attacked by an adversary. Thursday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the Orlando Solar Bears found out that their namesakes on the ice can be just as formidable.
Behind the first two ECHL goals by Desmond Bergin and two point nights from Bretton Cameron and Tommy Thompson, the host Greenville Swamp Rabbits (10-8-2-0, 22 points) ambushed the Solar Bears (12-7-2-0, 26 points) by a final of 6-2 in front of an announced crowd of 2,889. A four goal third period by Greenville – two within a span of 17 seconds – was the difference in the contest.
The Swamp Rabbits wanted to get revenge for Tuesday’s loss to Orlando, beginning with a much better start to the game. Greenville was much more aggressive in the opening minutes of Thursday’s first period but again it was the visitors who opened the scoring.
Just shy of four minutes into the first period, Eric Faille sent a pass back to defenseman Taylor Doherty who lined up a shot at Mackenzie Skapski in the Greenville net. Doherty’s blast found its way through some traffic and beat the Swamp Rabbits goalie for Doherty’s second tally of the 2016-17 season and an early Solar Bears lead. The score came on Orlando’s second shot on net of the game.
Unlike two nights earlier, Greenville came up with an answer in pretty quick fashion. At the 5:42 mark, Spiro Goulakos stepped up on the forecheck and intercepted an attempted clearing pass by Solar Bears rookie defender Niklas Brouillard. Goulakos then proceeded to drill a shot past a screen by teammate Angelo Miceli and Orlando netminder Ryan Massa for his fifth goal of the season. It was the final goal of the opening frame as both goalies settled in to shut down the offenses through the rest of the period.
Skapski and Massa continued their mastery into the second period, matching save for save during the front half of the frame. Skapski was particularly busy as the Solar Bears held much of the territorial advantage in the first eight plus minutes of the stanza, putting eight shots on the Swamp Rabbits netminder in that time.
Skapski’s work allowed his teammates to find a way to beat Massa. It came when Paul Zanette who fed a pass to Bergin who put a shot on net that Massa stopped. The rebound came out just far enough for Bergin, who had followed his initial attempt, to bang the puck into the back of the net.
Neither team was able to light the goal light during the final ten minutes of the middle frame but with every second that passed, the tensions between the two divisional foes rose. At the end of the period, Massa for some reason took a swing at Greenville’s Trevor Gerling, nearly sparking a major brawl before the game officials regained control and sent both squads to their respective dressing rooms.
Tempers started to flare again early in the third when Orlando’s Austin Block collided with Skapski, sending the netminder to the ice. Not too long after that, Cameron and Doherty had a difference of opinion and nearly came to blows during a Greenville power play but the two combatants separated before any calls were made.
The game completely turned in favor of the home team quickly as the final frame neared the nine minute mark. It started when Bergin took the puck in his own end, sped through center ice and into the Orlando defensive zone. He turned a Solar Bears defender and drove to the front of the net where he slid the puck between Massa’s legs for his second of the night.
The crowd had not quite settled down from celebrating Bergin’s tally when they were on their feet again. Just seventeen seconds later, Thompson zipped a pass from the corner to the front of the net where Cameron got open enough to turn the pass into his sixth goal of the year at the 8:51 mark.
Facing a three-goal deficit, the Solar Bears went on the power play and trimmed the margin back to two when Devner Manderson set up Brett Findlay who netted his seventh goal at the 11:01 mark. The tally was Findlay’s 35th career goal with Orlando, tying him with Jake Cepis and Brady Vail for most goals during the Solar Bears’ time in the ECHL.
It would be as close as the visitors would get as the Swamp Rabbits dug in and put the game away. At the 16:04 mark, John Siemer made a smart pass to Thompson, sending the swift forward on a breakaway. Thompson outwaited Massa and fired the puck past the goalie’s blocker glove for his fourth of the season. Miceli finished the scoring on a power play, going up and over Massa’s shoulder from in tight for his fifth of the season at 17:24.
Notes: Massa finished the game with 28 saves in taking the loss while Skapski made 26 saves to collect the win… Both teams ended the contest 1-for-3 on the power play… Orlando played the game with nine forwards and six defensemen as blueliner Chris Bradley joined forward Chris Crane on the sidelines… Greenville is now 6-0 this season when outshooting its opponent… Orlando’s Brock Montgomery was retroactively given two more assists in Tuesday’s game, giving him a four-point night… Findlay’s goal extended his point streak to six games while Manderson advanced his points streak to five games… Both teams are back in action Friday night, Orlando facing the Atlanta Gladiators in Duluth, Georgia while Greenville heads to North Charleston to face the South Carolina Stingrays.
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