DULUTH, GA – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (13-9-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, traded goals all night with the Atlanta Gladiators (12-9-1-1) and eventually pulled through for a 4-3 victory in 100th game against the Gladiators. Branden Troock netted a pair of goals in the game and rookie Derek Sutliffe potted the eventual game-winner with his first career goal in the third period at the Infinite Energy Arena.
The story of Friday’s game was fast goals. Two goals tonight were scored less than 20 seconds into the start of a period and a set of three others were tallied 28 seconds apart.
The Gladiators opened the scoring a mere 13 seconds into the game. A pair of drop off passes between Derek Nesbitt and Lindsey Sparks came to Brady Vail at the top of the slot. His long shot snuck through on the first shot of the night to push Atlanta ahead. The Gladiators took hold of the first half of the period, eventually taking the lead to the break.
At the start of the second period, Evan Jasper tied the game. The winger recorded his fifth goal of the season only 1:49 into the second as Sean Flanagan let a long shot fly from the blue line. A rebound bounced to the rookie who outlasted goaltender Dan Vladar and pushed the puck into the gaping net.
Later in the period, the teams would come close to tying ECHL history. The Gladiators broke the tie with a Josh Atkinson power play goal, but it took only 22 seconds for Greenville’s response. A long pass up the ice sprung the offense into an odd man situation. Jasper and Allan McPherson came down the ice for a 2-on-1, but were denied on their chance. However, as Nesbitt collected the rebound, Sergey Zborovskiy lifted his stick, leaving the puck open for Troock to jam in his 12th goal of the season. The tie was short lived as Atlanta tallied on the ensuing faceoff. Luke Sandler scored his fifth of the season on a shot from the top of the circles only six seconds later.
The even paced game continued as Greenville fired a game high 17 shots on net in the second period, but could not tie the game again. It only took 18 seconds into the third period to respond though. The Swamp Rabbits collected the puck on a dump into the offensive zone. Flanagan and Jasper connected again before a shot hit the pads of Vladar and bounced to the waiting stick of Troock on the right side of the net. The Edmonton, Alberta native recorded his 13th goal on the open net to tie the game at three.
The night became memorable for Sutliffe nine minutes later. Joe Basaraba entered the zone and touched the puck to his winger on the right side. As the puck rolled away from the rookie, Vladar was pulled completely out of position. The Las Vegas, Nevada native came around the net with the puck and wrapped in his first career goal.
Greenville’s win halts a two game slide and earned goaltender Ty Rimmer his ninth win of the season with 35 saves. Vladar takes the loss after making 34 saves in the game. With only four penalties called all night, Greenville was 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.
The Swamp Rabbits are off for nearly a week before taking the ice next Thursday at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Greenville and Manchester take the ice on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. for the third of five games this year.
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