GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (3-3-1-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, rallied from an early first half deficit and earned a 7-5 win against the Kansas City Mavericks (3-3-0-0). The Swamp Rabbits finished the game with five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to earn their first victory on home ice. Allan McPherson earned the number one star of the game after earning four points (1 goal, 3 assists), tying a franchise record for the second straight year.
In the first period, Kansas City capitalized and score three goals including a power play tally before the 15-minute mark of the game. The morning adrenaline kicked in for Greenville at the 13:16 mark of the first period when Jack Nevins squared off with former Swamp Rabbits defenseman Troy Donnay. The fight sparked the team to score two goals in the final minutes of the period.
Austin McKay fed Evan Jasper right in front of the net on a pass from behind the Mavericks net at 17:04 of the period. The rookie netted his third goal of the season on a bang-bang play to put Greenville on the board. In the final minute of the period, Adam Chapie fed off the momentum and tallied his fifth goal of the season on the power play. Sergey Zborovskiy and McPherson connected with the second-year pro on a rink wide pass.
The intermission was exactly what the Mavericks needed to take the pressure back to their side. Kansas City tallied two quick goals in the opening three minutes of the second period to earn a 5-2 advantage and causing a goaltending change. Ty Rimmer replaced Brandon Halverson who ended the morning with nine saves in nearly 23 minutes of work. Rimmer manned the crease for over 37 minutes and eventually earned the win making 17 saves. The fifth-year netminder has now made 67 saves on the last 68 shots he has faced.
Rimmer’s exchange in net was another momentum shift for the Swamp Rabbits, and one that would help influence the final score. Just before the halfway point of the game, Branden Troock began the Swamp Rabbits route to a victory. On a 2-on-1, McPherson tossed a pass to the winger for a one-timer that beat goaltender Tyler Parsons.
On another Greenville power play, Chapie once again connected on the power play from Zborovski and McPherson. The combination cut the Mavericks lead down to one goal with less than 30 seconds of time on the man advantage and only five minutes left in the period.
The Swamp Rabbits were not done there. McPherson would tie the game two minutes later. After a face off win, Jasper controlled the pick along the right side and passed the puck back to McPherson. From the right side of the net, the center man tucked a shot past Parsons to earn his fourth goal of the year.
With the game equalized at five, the Swamp Rabbits prepared to regroup in the intermission. Caleb Herbert had different plans as he tallied a point for the seventh consecutive game this year. Troock took the puck from the right corner and passed to Herbert in the slot. After retrieving the puck from his skate, he recorded Greenville’s sixth goal of the morning and grabbed the team’s first lead of the game.
Defense was the story of the third period for the Swamp Rabbits. Greenville fended off a game-high 12 shots from the Mavericks and shut down their only power play chance of the final period. Kansas City made a change in net, relieving Parsons of his duties at the start of the frame. Mason McDonald finished the game with five saves, but the switch was too late for Kansas City.
Chapie sought out the completion of a potential hat trick on a shorthanded breakaway six minutes into the third. His opportunity came up empty, but Joe Houk was right behind him to tally the game’s final goal.
Greenville finished the game 2-for-3 on the power play and recorded all seven goals on just 28 shots. The Mavericks were 1-for-2 on the man advantage and Greenville held them to the lowest shots faced this season. Rimmer picked up Greenville’s win in goal, and improved to 2-1-0-0 on the season.
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