GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (10-10-1), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, jumped out to a three-goal lead on Thursday and held on late for a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones (10-5-4) at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Forward Henri Ikonen, in his Swamp Rabbits debut, scored the game-winning goal in the last five minutes, while Ryan Rashid (1 goal, 1 assist) and Scott Fleming (1 goal, 1 assist) each added a multi-point effort.
With the win, Greenville improved to 6-4-1 on SANDLAPPER Securities Rink this season. In addition, goaltender Jeff Malcolm (4-1-1) made 25 saves and has not lost in regulation at home in five straight.
Greenville has also won four of its last five games overall.
The Swamp Rabbits struck first at 14:59 of the opening period with Rob Kwiet’s third tally of the season. Following a faceoff win by Fleming, Richard Nejezchleb captured the puck near the right circle and pushed it to Kwiet at the blue line, where the defenseman skated to the high slot and ripped a blast through traffic past the blocker of netminder Brandon Whitney.
Greenville extended its advantage at 6:56 of the middle frame when Rashid collected his sixth of the season at even strength. Ikonen created the attack when he poked the puck to Michael St. Croix on the left side, where it was then sent to Rashid at the top of the right circle for a one-time shot into the net.
The Swamp Rabbits continued their success on the power play at home to make it 3-0 at the 17:28 mark of the second period. Greenville entered the contest ranked second in the league with a 25-percent conversion rate on the power play at home (8-of-32), and Fleming added to that number with his seventh goal of the season. From the top of the point, Sean Escobedo slipped a low shot on target that was stopped by Whitney, but the second chance bounced right to Fleming in the blue paint. Fleming recovered it and re-directed a shot underneath of Whitney’s leg pad. Kodie Curran was also credited with a helper.
Cincinnati responded in the third period and cut its deficit to one courtesy of two goals from Zach Budish in a span of 2:38. Budish made it 3-1 just 87 seconds into the final frame when he jammed home a loose puck from the doorstep that was pushed in front from the trapezoid. Less than three minutes later, Budish sniped his seventh goal of the season from the left circle past Malcolm’s blocker at the 4:05 mark.
In his ECHL debut, Ikonen netted the eventual game-winning goal with time winding down in the third period. From behind the net, Rashid turned and forced a backhanded wraparound chance on target that was grazed by Whitney and directed to the back post where Ikonen slammed it home at the 15:08 mark.
Cincinnati capped the scoring at the 19:32 mark with its net empty and during a 6-on-5 attack. From the bottom of the right circle, Andrew Yogan pushed a diagonal feed to Jack Downing on the left side, who went down to a knee and forced a one-timer home for his 10th goal of the season.
Greenville finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. The Swamp Rabbits are now 9-1-0 when scoring at least once on the power play this season.
Whitney (3-2-0) halted 23 shots in the loss, while Cincinnati outshot Greenville 28-27.
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