RABBITS RUN WILD ON THE RUSH 8-5

GREENVILLE, S.C. –  The Greenville Swamp Rabbits began a three-game road set with the Rapid City Rush on Friday night with an 8-5 win at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Karch Bachman scored twice, Alex Rauhauser recorded three helpers and Ryan Bednard won his 12th game of the season.

In the opening period, Greenville broke the ice early courtesy of Jake Massie at the 2:36 mark. Massie intercepted a Rush pass at the top of the right circle and fired it pass Rapid City goaltender Adam Carlson.

Greenville doubled their lead to 2-0 on a power play goal by Liam Pecararo at 12:23, followed by another goal on the man-advantage by Karch Bachman at 17:43. Greenville carried a 3-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes with a 15-5 lead in shots. The Bits eventually finished the evening 2-for-3 on the power play.

Rapid City responded in the second period to cut into the deficit at 3:21. After a shot from Butrus Ghafari was blocked, the puck deflected perfectly to Avery Peterson’s wheelhouse for a one-time blast through Ryan Bednard’s five-hole.

Greenville regained their three-goal advantage courtesy of Shawn Cameron at 8:24 on his club’s second unassisted goal of the evening.

The Rush responded with two quick tallies to suddenly cut Greenville’s lead to 4-3. At 9:10, Andrew Sturtz scored his fourth goal of the season, and Kevin Spinozzi tallied on the man-advantage at 13:46. Late in the frame, Bachman converted his second goal of the night on a highlight reel effort. From a sharp angle near the goal line, Bachman sneaked a shot from the right-wing into the top corner to provide the Rabbits a 5-3 lead at second intermission.

In the third period, Greenville continued to build a commanding cushion with a Joey Haddad strike only 27 seconds into the frame. Mike Hedden answered only 59 seconds later for Rapid City to pull the score to 6-4 Rabbits.

Garrett Thompson scored a highlight reel goal on a curl and drag move to the inside at 2:34, and Max Zimmer buried his eighth goal of the season on a rebound at 8:30. Leading 8-4, the Rush scored one last power play goal at 13:20 courtesy of Peter Quenneville to conclude an 8-5 scoring line.

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits return to action tomorrow night to continue their current three games in three nights stretch with Rapid City. Puck drop is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. EST.

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ABOUT US

Acquired by Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) in 2020, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits hockey team have been providing family friendly, live entertainment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena since 2010. Formerly the Greenville Road Warriors, the Swamp Rabbits are the highest level professional minor league franchise in South Carolina. The Swamp Rabbits are proud affiliates of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League. Since the conclusion of the 2019-20 NHL Season, 678 former ECHL players have debuted in the NHL. Nine former Greenville Road Warriors/Swamp Rabbits have later made their NHL debut