GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Swamp Rabbits (9-5-2-0), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, defeated the South Carolina Stingrays (8-8-1-0) 5-4 tonight in front of nearly 6,000 fans at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on the seventh annual Teddy Bear Toss night. The Swamp Rabbits collected their 
fifth consecutive win along with over 2,800 stuffed animals to donate to the Toys for Tots program.
Trailing 2-0 after the first period, the Swamp Rabbits ignited a surge of offense to score three goals in less than five minutes in the middle stanza. Chad Duchesne scored six minutes into the second period, sending the stuffed animals flying from the fans hands to the Sandlapper Securities Rink. Thanks to the Marine Core’s Toys for Tots program, the stuffed animals will be delivered around the Upstate during the holidays to less fortunate families. The rookie’s celebratory goal was the first of his career as he crashed hard to the net on a pass from Angelo Miceli. The assist was the 11th of the season for Miceli who is on a six-game point-streak.
Greenville added its second of the period to tie the game three and a half minutes later. Michael Joly continued his hot trend, scoring his sixth goal this season and later tallying a team leading seventh goal for his third multi-goal night. Tyler Brown earned an assist on the play, passing the puck across the ice to the Swamp Rabbits rookie who put it under the crossbar.
Spiro Goulakos tallied a point for the seventh straight game, netting a highlight reel goal a little over a minute later. The Swamp Rabbits gained the lead on the defenseman’s second goal this year and would hold the advantage into the break.
Goaltender Jeff Malcolm earned the win in his fourth consecutive start, stopping over 40 shots for the third time this season. The fourth-year pro stands alone as the second winningest goaltender in Swamp Rabbits history with 39 wins in his career. The netminder passed Nick Riopel on the list following his 42-save performance in net. Parker Milner suffered the loss, stopping 23 of the Swamp Rabbits 28 shots on net.
The Stingrays tied the game on a power play goal in the third period from John Parker. The response from Greenville took less than three minutes by way of a Tommy Thompson unassisted goal. From the corner, the rookie forward danced his way to the crease before beating Milner over the pad. The Swamp Rabbits lead then extended to 5-3 with Joly’s second goal of the game, while Miceli earned his 12th assist this year. The 5-foot-10 forward leads the Swamp Rabbits with 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists). Joly’s seven goals are tied for second most among rookies despite playing just six games.
The late tally from Joe Devin was a moot point when the buzzer sounded, sealing the Swamp Rabbits victory. Greenville’s five game win streak is the longest since March 20-30, 2014 when the team went 6-0-0-0, beating South Carolina twice in that stretch.
The Swamp Rabbits and Stingrays will meet again Saturday night in the second game of a three-in-three. Greenville is now 2-0-0-0 in the season series and holds a two-point lead over Cincinnati for fourth place in the South Division.
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