ORLANDO, FLA – With a four point swing in the standings as the prize, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits headed south to face the Orlando Solar Bears at the Amway Center on Wednesday night. What was expected to be a tight, playoff-style contest ended up with the visitors coming away with a victory in a rout.
Paced by a four point night (two goals, two assists) by Nathan Perkovich, the Swamp Rabbits pounded Orlando by a final score of 7-2. Matt Marcinew picked up a pair of scores and Joe Masonius had a goal and two assists to lead a pack of five other Greenville players with multiple point nights.
New Orlando netminder Patrick Munson, who was acquired in a trade on Tuesday, found himself under seige early and the deluge never really stopped. Perkovich got the scorefest underway at the 5:06 mark of the opening period when he converted a rebound for his 18th tally of the season. A little over two minutes later, Masonius went high to Munson’s blocker side for his first as a Swamp Rabbit to double the margin.
Greenville’s special teams kicked in a pair of power play goals later in the opening frame. Rookie Liam Pecararo netted the first one at the 12:22 mark when he bombed a blast into the back of the cage for his 23rd and his second point of the period after an assist on Masonius’ score. Just shy of three minutes after that, Matt Marcinew snuck a shot past Munson for his 15th goal of the year and a commanding 4-0 lead that held into the first intermission.
The margin grew to five 11:22 into the middle frame when Perkovich bagged his second of the night and 19th of the season, going high to Munson’s blocker side.
The host Solar Bears finally found a way to put the puck past Swamp Rabbits goalie Jeremy Helvig with 5:47 to go in the second. Rookie Rick Boyd did the honors, driving a shot thru traffic, off a skate and in for his 8th of the year. That was followed by Trevor Olson beating Helvig for his team-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the year and the team’s league-leading 15th shortie of the season.
Any momentum Orlando may have begun to build was dashed sixty-nine seconds later when Michael Pelech got loose in the slot and wired a shot past Munson for his 15th goal of the 2019-20 campaign. It was also Greenville’s third man-advantage score of the night, the second straight game that the Solar Bears had allowed that many power play scores against. The goal also ended Munson’s night as Jeff Smith came on in relief for the home team.
Leading 6-2 after forty minutes, the Swamp Rabbits were not satisfied and added one final goal in the third period. It came off the stick of Marcinew who tucked the puck past Smith for his second of the contest and 16th of the season.
Helvig finished things the rest of the way, making a total of 32 saves on 34 shots faced to earn the win. Greenville went 3-for-4 on the power play while the Solar Bears went 0-for-4. Besides Perkovich, Marcinew and Masonius, Patrick Bajkov (2 assists), Pelech (1 goal, 2 assists) and Pecararo (1 goal, 1 assist) also had multiple point nights. Five others added a point to the victory.
The Swamp Rabbits are back on the ice on Saturday, March 7th when they face the Florida Everblades at Hertz Arena in Estero, FL. Game time is 7 p.m.
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