JACKSONVILLE (Florida Sports Wire) – Two power-play goals in the first two period helped the Greenville Swamp Rabbits outlast the Jacksonville Icemen 5-3 on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Arena for the team’s sixth win over a nine-day spread.
As they did in the first period in Friday’s win over the Icemen, the Swamp Rabbits scored an early power-play goal, as Nikita Pavlychev tipped Jake Smith’s one-timer into the Jacksonville net at 5:10 for his first of the season since being assigned from the Ontario Reign on Thursday. Smith’s assist, his fifth of the season, was the forward’s 100th ECHL point.
The second period had barely begun when the Swamp Rabbits added a second goal, as JD Greenway dropped the puck for Anthony Beauchamp, who scored his third of the season just 11 seconds in. Later in the period, Greenville extended its lead, as Max Martin scored his second goal in as many nights, an unassisted power-play goal, at 12:42.
In the third, the Icemen broke up Jacob Ingham’s shutout bid with a power-play goal jut 38 seconds in from Matheson Iacopelli. Greenville responded with a goal at 3:01, as Smith tipped his fifth of the season into the net.
Jacksonville responded with a pair of goals from Brendan Harris (5:01) and Garrett Van Wyhe (10:44) to close the gap to just one goal. Greenville earned its insurance at 14:46, as Josh McKechney netted his sixth of the season.
With the win, the Swamp Rabbits improve to 11-2-0-0, while the Icemen fall to 4-5-2-0. Greenville’s win is the team’s sixth in seven games over a nine day stretch and lifts the Swamp Rabbits to first place in the Eastern Conference.
