GAME PREVIEW: 3/28/24 vs Savannah

REGULAR SEASON GAME 64: Greenville Swamp Rabbits vs Savannah Ghost Pirates

2023-24 COMPARISON

HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISON (10 of 13 Games Played)

SOUTH DIVISION PLAYOFF RACE 2024 (As of 3/28)

• H2H reads "Games Remaining, Record head-to-head"
• Magic # is determined by 5th Place's maximum points plus one, minus team's current point total. Magic # goes down with every point gained by team in playoff position, and every point lost out on by first team out

PLAYOFFS 2024: Earning a key point in the standings after a shootout loss to Jacksonville, the Swamp Rabbits magic number is now seven with nine games remaining in the season. The head-to-head season series with Jacksonville is now in the rearview mirror, and all remaining games, played in the South Division to boot, are against South Carolina (two more this week), Savannah (three more), Orlando (three more), and Atlanta (one more). Three of five South Division teams current in the playoff race are in action tonight: Greenville plays their third-to-last game against Savannah, while the Solar Bears and Icemen square off in an all-important showdown in Orlando.

FREE(MAN) BIRD: Swamp Rabbits captain Ben Freeman had himself a weekend against the Icemen, rattling off five points in 127+ minutes of hockey. Freeman started off the weekend with a three assist performance in the team's 5-4 win over Jacksonville, helping out on two of Carter Souch's three goals in the victory. The third-year forward then followed that up with a power play goal and an assist off a faceoff win on Joe Leahy's second period strike to bring the contest to a one-goal margin on Saturday before the Swamp Rabbits gutted out their point in the shootout defeat. With his five-point outburst over two nights, Freeman also recorded his first back-to-back multi-point performances of the campaign.

SIX OF ONE/HALF A DOZEN OF ANOTHER (WINS AWAY): With their win on Friday against Jacksonville, the Swamp Rabbits find themselves six wins away from setting both a new franchise and Greenville professional hockey record for wins in a single campaign. Sitting at 41 on the year with nine games remaining, the Swamp Rabbits have a chance to break the 46-win mark, previously set twice: most recently by the Greenville Road Warriors in 2010-2011, and first by the Greenville Grrrowl in 1999-2000.

POWER IS BACK ON!: The Swamp Rabbits hit paydirt on the power play to kick off their scoring entries on Saturday, ending an 0/17 drought over their last nine games. The power play now clocks at 20% after a brief dip under that mark, the team’s first sub-20% power play since November 11th of this season. When scoring a power play goal this season, Greenville is 23-5-0-1 in 29 such games.

THE SWAMP RABBITS PK IS REALLY GOOD: There really isn't much more to say about the Swamp Rabbits penalty kill, that went unscathed once again through two games against the Icemen. Going 1/1 on Friday and 4/4 on Saturday, which included the Herculean task of killing 4:39 of 7:00 in overtime, which is four-on-three hockey, the Swamp Rabbits killing streak is now at 22 straight opposing power plays, and eleven straight games in which they haven’t allowed a power play goal. The Swamp Rabbits streak of three kills or less ended on Saturday in their 4/4 performance, marking the first time since February 16th that the Swamp Rabbits were on the PK that much in a single game to halt the streak to 13 straight contests. Dating back to February 17th, the Swamp Rabbits have staved off 29 of their last 30 kills (96.7%)

PIRATES OF THE SOUTH DIVISION: The Swamp Rabbits and Ghost Pirates have shared quite the contentious rivalry since Savannah came into the ECHL last season, with 17 of their 25 all-time matchups decided within two goals, six coming in this campaign. Even more consistently a trend, both team’s power plays have shined through, with a combined 32 power play goals scored in their 25 lifetime meetings. The Swamp Rabbits have won the last three meetings head-to-head this year, and four out of five played in Greenville.    PLAYOFFS 2024: Earning a key point in the standings after a shootout loss to Jacksonville, the Swamp Rabbits magic number is now seven with nine games remaining in the season. The head-to-head season series with Jacksonville is now in the rearview mirror, and all remaining games, played in the South Division to boot, are against South Carolina (two more this week), Savannah (three more), Orlando (three more), and Atlanta (one more). Three of five South Division teams current in the playoff race are in action tonight: Greenville plays their third-to-last game against Savannah, while the Solar Bears and Icemen square off in an all-important showdown in Orlando.