ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Preview: Warriors Seek Revenge in Massive Weekend Bout

February 21, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release


Date Time Opponent Follow

Sat, Feb. 21st 7:05 p.m. ET @ South Carolina Free Audio / ECHL.TV / Twitter

Sun, Feb. 22nd 3:05 p.m. ET @ South Carolina Free Audio / ECHL.TV / Twitter

THE STORY COMING IN: The Greenville Road Warriors (28-19-3), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, enter tonight's contest on a three-game winning streak and tied for third place in the East Division with South Carolina and Elmira. In their last outing, the Road Warriors capped a huge three-game weekend sweep with a 5-2 victory at Gwinnett last Sunday. Ryan Hegarty scored twice and added a pair of helpers, while Vinny Saponari tallied four assists on his 25th birthday to lead the team to its 28th victory this season. Tonight, Greenville looks for its fourth straight win for the first time since a streak that spanned Dec. 16th - Dec. 27th.

TRUE "ROAD" WARRIORS: Greenville continues its second-longest road trip of the season tonight, a seven-game, five-city trek that wraps up Sunday, Mar. 1st. The Warriors are currently 12-10-3 on the road this season and seek their second straight victory away from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Greenville went 17-15-4 on the road last season.

WARRIORS VS. STINGRAYS: Tonight's contest marks the 12th of 14 meetings between the Warriors and Stingrays this season, and the fifth matchup in North Charleston. The "˜Rays currently lead the series 7-4-0 and are unbeaten in regulation in 10 straight contests (7-0-3) against Greenville, dating back to Oct. 30th. In their last meeting on Feb. 10th, Caleb Herbert scored twice as South Carolina topped Greenville 5-1 at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Josh Nicholls scored the Warriors' only goal late in the third period. Despite the setback, the Road Warriors lead the all-time series 38-33-3.

VIEW FROM NORTH CHARLESTON: After going just 2-7-2 in the month of January, the Stingrays (26-18-7) have caught fire and are a perfect 8-0-0 in February thus far. That success has lifted the club into playoff contention, and a tie for third place in the East Division. Last time out, South Carolina received a pair of goals from both Rob Ricci and Braden Pimm in a 5-2 win at Orlando last Wednesday. In net, Adam Morrison made 27 saves on 29 shots, and continued to lead the ECHL with a 1.89 goals against average this season, which helped earn him a call-up to AHL Providence on Friday. Morrison also sat third in the league with a .927 save percentage and was tied for first with four shutouts. South Carolina's Jeff Jakaitis is fourth in the league with a 2.29 goals against average.

QUICK HITS: The Road Warriors are 6-for-14 on the power play in their last three games (42.9%)...Greenville has also outscored opponents 17-6 during that span...Vinny Saponari has a remarkable 10 points in his last three games (3g, 7a) and leads the team with 45 points this season (tied for 22nd in the ECHL's scoring race)...Greenville is 18-1-1 when scoring first and 14-0-0 when leading after the first period.

HEGARTY HEATS UP: Before last weekend, Ryan Hegarty had scored 12 goals in his three-year professional career and never more than one in any individual game. On Friday, he was converted to a forward, and the Warriors reaped the benefits of the move immediately. Hegarty scored a career-high two goals against Evansville last Saturday and notched a career-best four points, including two more goals, on Sunday at Gwinnett. Hegarty now has six points (4g, 2a) in his last two games and leads all Greenville defenseman with 28 points this season.

TORRIS STARTS STRONG: Goaltender Braely Torris was the beneficiary of Jeff Malcolm's call-up to AHL Hartford earlier this month when he signed with Greenville from SPHL Knoxville. Torris, who made his ECHL debut on Feb. 10th against South Carolina, earned wins in each of his first two starts last weekend and is now 2-0-0 with a 2.32 goals against average and .937 save percentage to begin his ECHL career. Earlier this season, the 25-year old played 21 games with Knoxville and ranked fifth in the SPHL with a .919 save percentage and eighth with a 2.64 goals against average.

-

GOING STREAKING: Sean Escobedo is on a four-game point streak (1g, 5a) since Feb. 7th. In addition, Kyle Jean (2g, 3a), Ryan Hegarty (4g, 3a), Vinny Saponari (3g, 7a) and Chris McCarthy (1g, 3a) are all on three-game point streaks since Feb. 13th.

SKAPSKI MAKES NHL DEBUT: Mackenzie Skapski became the sixth Road Warriors' graduate to reach the NHL when he debuted with the New York Rangers last night. Perhaps more impressive, the 20-year old netminder made 24 saves on 25 shots and earned his first NHL victory in New York's 3-1 win at Buffalo. A native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Skapski played one game with the Road Warriors this season and made 29 saves in a 3-0 setback at Orlando on October 19th. He joins goaltenders Connor Knapp, Nathan Lieuwen and Cam Talbot, as well as defensemen Marc-Andre Bourdon and Julien Brouillette, as former Road Warriors who have progressed to the NHL.

MILESTONES

- Vinny Saponari is eight points from his 100th professional point

- Sean Escobedo is six games from 100 professional games played

- Emerson Clark is six games from 100 professional games played

AFFILIATE REPORT

NHL: New York Rangers (35-16-6): Next vs. Columbus - Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET

AHL: Hartford Wolf Pack (29-16-7): Next at Lehigh Valley - Tonight, 7:05 p.m. ET

EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

1. Reading Royals (34-14-3) = 71 points in 51 games

2. Florida Everblades (31-11-6) = 68 points in 48 games

3. Greenville Road Warriors (28-19-3) = 59 points in 50 games

3. Elmira Jackals (27-19-5) = 59 points in 51 games

3. South Carolina Stingrays (26-18-7) = 59 points in 51 games

6. Orlando Solar Bears (25-20-3) = 53 points in 48 games

7. Gwinnett Gladiators (16-30-4) = 36 points in 50 games

-

FOLLOW: Keep up with the Road Warriors all season long and interact with other fans on the Official Road Warriors Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Instagram pages.

NEXT HOMESTAND: The Road Warriors return to SANDLAPPER Securities Rink at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena for a three-game "True Blue Weekend" homestand March 6-8. It all kicks off on Friday, March 6th versus the Florida Everblades. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a special edition Road Warriors True Blue T-shirt presented by FOX Carolina and WSSL. In addition, the popular Warrior Fun Pack is available for Friday's game and includes (4) red level tickets, (4) hot dogs, (4) bags of chips, (4) small fountain drinks and (2) Warriors drawstring bags for just $60!

On Saturday, March 7th, the Road Warriors will rematch against the Everblades and the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a blue Warriors' mesh hat courtesy of FOX Carolina and WESC 92.5.

True Blue Weekend wraps up on Sunday, March 8th when the South Carolina Stingrays visit Greenville. The Warrior Fun Pack will also be available for this matinee game and fans can take part in the final post-game skate with the team this season!

For tickets or more information, please call a Road Warriors Account Executive at 864-674-PUCK or visit GreenvilleRoadWarriors.com/tickets-overview.html ! Go to ECHL.TV to listen for free or watch the games live.

Check out the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 21, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central