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ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Big First Period Lifts Road Warriors over Gwinnett

October 12, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release


Duluth, GA - The Greenville Road Warriors, proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, scored three times in the first period on Sunday and held on for a 3-2 exhibition victory over the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Ice Forum in Duluth. With the win, the Road Warriors conclude their pre-season schedule with a 1-1-0-0 record.

Greenville came out firing and dominated the early stages of the game with three goals from three different forwards in the first period. Just two minutes in, Brandon Hynes threw a shot on net that was denied by Gladiators' netminder Mark Guggenberger, but the rebound slid right to Lindsay Sparks who finished for his first of the pre-season.

Less than four minutes later, Nick Schneider fired a slap shot from the top of the point that created a scramble in front of Guggenberger. Michael St. Croix corralled the loose puck and backhanded a shot home at 5:33.

Veteran forward Bretton Cameron extended the Road Warriors' lead once more when he tipped Jacob Johnston's shot from the blue line at the 7:09 mark to put the Warriors ahead 3-0.

Gwinnett answered for the first time at 9:18 of the opening frame on an unassisted goal from Joel Hanley. The Gladiators' second tally came at 18:38 of the second period when Garry Nunn grabbed the puck following a Greenville turnover and beat Road Warriors' goaltender Jeff Malcolm.

The Gladiators' best chance to even the contest came at the 9:00 mark of the third period when Mike Merrifield was hooked on a breakaway opportunity and drew a penalty shot. On the ensuring chance, however, Malcolm came up with a huge save as Merrifield looked to go five-hole.

Aside from the early scoring, the game was also physical from start to finish and featured the only three tilts of the Road Warriors' pre-season. Those included: Sebastien Geoffrion vs. Art Bidlevskii (14:41 of the first), Cameron vs. James McEwan (20:00 of the second) and Scott Arnold vs. Cameron Abney (5:07 of the third). Overall, both teams accumulated a combined 72 penalty minutes.

Greenville finished the game 0-for-7 on the power play, but 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

Between the pipes, Malcolm made 26 saves to earn the win, while Guggenberger stopped 28 shots in the loss. The Road Warriors outshot the Gladiators 31-28.

Training Camp continues on Monday with a 9:30 a.m. practice at the Official Practice Facility of the Road Warriors, The Pavilion in Taylors, South Carolina. All sessions are open to the public free of charge, while players and coaches will be available to the media following each session.

The Road Warriors kick off their 5th season of hockey in the Upstate on Friday, October 24th against the South Carolina Stingrays at 7 p.m. The Warriors are offering fans a special $10 Opening Night ticket and 2014-45 ticket plans start as low as $81! Call a Road Warriors Account Executive at 864-674-PUCK or visit GreenvilleRoadWarriors.com/tickets-overview.html to secure your Road Warriors tickets today!

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