Sports stats



ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits

St. Croix Scores Twice to Propel Warriors Past Glads

March 28, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release


Duluth, GA - Michael St. Croix (2g, 1a) and Paul Rodrigues (1g, 2a) each earned a three-point performance on Saturday to lead the Greenville Road Warriors (35-28-4), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, to a 5-1 victory against the Gwinnett Gladiators (18-42-6) at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Between the pipes, Jeff Malcolm (16-9-1) also contributed in his first start since returning from Hartford with a 25-save effort for the victory.

Consequently, the Road Warriors (74 points) closed to within two points of Orlando for the final playoff spot in the East Division with five games remaining. Greenville also extended its gap over sixth-place Elmira to five points.

Thomas Frazee entered tonight's contest with six points in his last seven games, and added to that success with his 18th goal of the season at 6:08 of the first period to open the scoring. With former Warrior Jason Wilson in the box serving a bench minor for too many men, Josh Nicholls set up Frazee with a perfect pass to the back door, where he slammed home a one-timer on the power play. Nicholls and St. Croix each earned an assist, helping the latter of which improve his point streak to five games.

Greenville extended its lead in the final minute of the opening frame when Rodrigues carried the puck to the side of the net and flipped a centering feed for St. Croix. From the doorstep, St. Croix capitalized against goaltender Mike Lee at the 19:06 mark.

Justin Buzzeo cut the Gladiators deficit to one at 16:56 of the second period with his first professional goal in his debut. With Anthony Luciani in the box serving Mike Banwell's two-minute minor for roughing, Tyler Murovich slipped a feed to Buzzeo, who connected on a one-timer past Malcolm.

The Road Warriors answered in the third period and produced three unanswered goals to cap the scoring. Just 35 seconds in, Rodrigues tipped Dallas Jackson's blast from the blue line to beat Lee for his eighth goal of the season. A little more than five minutes later, Ryan Hegarty threaded the needle with a pass ahead to set up Kyle Jean on a breakaway. Jean continued the play by going forehand-to-backhand from the doorstep for his 15th goal of the season.

St. Croix hammered home the final goal of the contest at 12:40 of the third period after Rodrigues redirected Jean's centering feed to the back post.

The Road Warriors finished the game 1-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. Lee (2-10-0) made 35 saves in the loss.

Greenville outshot Gwinnett 40-26. It was the seventh straight contest the Road Warriors have outshot their opponent.

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 Game: The Road Warriors return to SANDLAPPER Securities Rink at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Thursday, April 2nd to continue their I-85 rivalry against the Gwinnett Gladiators. The 7:00 p.m. contest will feature $2 food and beverage specials as well as limited $5 tickets available at the Box Office. The Road Warriors will also offer the new "Student Rush" promotion featuring a blue-level, center-ice ticket and a personal pan pizza for just $15! The offer is available only at the Box Office to students who show a valid ID after 5:00 p.m. on April 2nd.

Hockey Happy Hour: In addition to Thirsty Thursday, the Road Warriors will host a special "Hockey Happy Hour" in the plaza outside the Bon Secours Wellness Arena starting at 5:30 p.m. on April 2nd. Hockey Happy Hour will feature free entertainment, as well as 99 cent tacos, 3-for-$3 buffalo chicken sliders and beer specials!

For tickets or more information, please call a Road Warriors Account Executive at 864-674-PUCK or visit GreenvilleRoadWarriors.com/tickets-overview.html F ans can also listen or watch the game live via ECHL.TV .

Check out the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from March 28, 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