Swamp Rabbits Shred Gladiators 5-0
March 19, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release
Duluth, GA - Mackenzie Skapski earned a 29-save shutout on Saturday and five different skaters found the back of the net as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (28-26-8), proud ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, defeated the Atlanta Gladiators (30-26-7), 5-0, at the Infinite Energy Center.
It was Skapski's first ECHL shutout and his first overall since he blanked the AHL's Providence Bruins on March 27, 2015 with Hartford. Offensively, Jack Combs, Brian Hart, Michael St. Croix, Josh Nicholls and Kodie Curran all scored for Greenville.
Despite the victory, the Swamp Rabbits remain eight points behind eighth-place Elmira for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Elmira defeated Manchester in overtime tonight.Â
The Swamp Rabbits came out firing right from the opening faceoff and Combs netted the game-winning goal just 26 seconds into the first period. At even strength, Curran ripped a slap shot from the right point that goaltender Matt Ginn turned back, but Combs pushed home the second chance from below the left hash marks for his team-leading 19th tally of the season.
Hart continued his hot streak at the 5:40 mark and made it 2-0 with his third goal in the last four games. Ryan Rashid created the attack when he moved the puck to the right circle and slipped a cross-ice feed to Hart for a one-time slap shot past Ginn's blocker.
St. Croix capitalized on a sequence of short passes at 13:07 of the second period to put Greenville on top by three. In the offensive zone, Scott Fleming found Combs in front who brushed the puck to St. Croix at the right post for an immediate shot past Ginn's glove. It was St. Croix's 10th goal of the season.
The Swamp Rabbits sealed the deal with two more insurance goals in the third period from Curran and Nicholls. The latter made it 4-0 at the 3:58 mark when he wheeled down the left wing and sniped a wrist shot through Ginn's five-hole for his 16th tally of the season.
Curran capped the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:56 as he buried a one-timer from the right circle off of a cross-ice feed from St. Croix. It was Curran's second goal in as many nights and his seventh of the season.
Greenville finished the game 1-for-2 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Ginn made 26 saves in Atlanta's loss, while the Swamp Rabbits outshot the Gladiators 31-29.
Next Time Out: The Swamp Rabbits return to action tomorrow with a 3:05 p.m. puck drop against the South Carolina Stingrays at the North Charleston Coliseum. Fans can follow all of the live action via the Mixlr audio stream or ECHL.TV.
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