WHEELING, WV –The Greenville Swamp Rabbits scored a 6-3 road victory against the Wheeling Nailers on Sunday afternoon at WesBanco Arena. The Swamp Rabbits improved to 5-1-0-0 on their current season-long, seven-game road swing.
Greenville opened the scoring only 17 seconds into the game after Graham Knott redirected a Frank Hora shot. The Nailers evened the score at 7:46 on Patrick Watling’s 13th goal of the season on a transition play. Joshua Winquist fed Watling to his left before snapping a top shelf past John Lethemon.
The Swamp Rabbits answered with two quick tallies late in the opening stanza courtesy of strong special teams. At 17:33, Liam Pecararo converted on a power play after finding a loose puck in the trapezoid. Pecararo beat Wheeling goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon with a quick tuck attempt on his short side for his 14th goal of the season. Only 1:59 later, Ben Finkelstein blasted a shot from downtown through traffic to provide his club a 3-1 advantage at first intermission.
Max Zimmer joined the scoring parade at 8:56 of the second period to open a three-goal cushion. Garrett Thompson found Zimmer across from the left-wing before blasting home his 15th goal of the season. Tim Doherty brought the Nailers within 4-2 on a successful bank shot off Lethemon’s leg pad at 10:59.
Frank DiChiara answered for Greenville with a power play marker at 16:26. DiChiara finished the night with a season-best four-point performance (one goal, three assists). The Swamp Rabbits led 5-2 after 40 minutes with a 28-14 advantage in shots.
In the final frame, Alec Rauhauser converted at 13:08 on a blast from the center-point to round out Greenville’s slugfest. Wheeling’s Winquist tallied a power play goal at 19:04 to complete the 6-3 scoring line.
The Swamp Rabbits finished 2-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. Greenville returns to action on Wednesday, May 19th to conclude their seven-game road trip at Jacksonville. Puck drop at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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