SINGLETON’S HAT TRICK POWER SWAMP RABBITS TO WIN

(FISHERS, Ind.) – Tate Singleton ignited the goal lamp three times as part of a four-goal scoring run for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, who staved off an Indy Fuel comeback late to secure a 4-3 win on Friday night. The win was the first of the seven-game road trip, tonight being the second contest.

Indy started off the game with the first goal, but were answered by a pair of Swamp Rabbits strikes before the break. At 8:43 of the first, with the Swamp Rabbits on their first power play, Bryan Lemos went down the ice on a short-handed odd-man chance. Lemos elected to shoot and fired a wrister past Swamp Rabbits net-minder Dryden McKay to give the Fuel a 1-0 lead (Chris Cameron had the lone assist). Under three minutes later, Tate Singleton struck for his first of two on the game to square it up. With 8:21 left in the first, Austin Saint’s forecheck worked the puck up the wall to Ben Poisson, who gloved the puck down and worked it into an open area to Singleton, finishing with a five-hole tuck from inside the hashmarks on Indy goaltender Ben Gaudreau, tying it up at 1-1. Exactly 3:06 later, Mikael Robidoux sprung Colton Young on a break with a cross-ice “Hail Mary” into the left side of the neutral zone. Young broke the blue line and rifled a shot past Gaudreau’s glove to give the Swamp Rabbits at 2-1 lead with 5:15 left in the first.

Singleton added to his big night in the final moments of the second period to give the Swamp Rabbits some distance on the board. With 3:25 left in the second, Casey Dornbach worked the puck to the blue line for John Parker-Jones, who uncorked a shot through traffic on net. Gaudreau made the stop, but Singleton pocketed the rebound to put the Swamp Rabbits up 3-1.

Not done with two strikes, Singleton completed his hat trick at the start of the third before the Fuel tried to mount a comeback. At 3:54 of the third, Singleton broke up the ice on an odd-man break with Carter Savoie feeding him the puck. Singleton finished with a laser from the left by Gaudreau’s glove to expand the lead to 4-1 and trigger a shower of hats from fans back in Greenville. Indy didn’t go away quietly, starting their comeback around the midway point of the frame. With 8:22 gone by, Cam Hausinger broke into the Swamp Rabbits zone in transition and threw a puck on net, stopped by McKay. The puck trickled under his arm and behind him in the crease, leading to Hausinger diving to poke the puck in and cut the deficit to 4-2 (Nathan Burke and Lucas Brenton assisted). Exactly 4:10 later, Kevin Lombardi cashed in on Indy’s first power play of the game when a Colin Bilek one-timer produced a rebound that he swatted into the Swamp Rabbits net, bringing the Swamp Rabbits lead down to 4-3 with 7:28 left in regulation (Bilek and Bryan Lemos assisted). The Swamp Rabbits managed to weather the storm of Indy’s rally late, and claimed a 4-3 win, their first of the seven-game road trip through two contests.

Dryden McKay stopped 26 of 29 shots on net, securing double-digit wins in a season for a second time in his three professional campaigns (10-4-3-1)

The Swamp Rabbits continue their three-week seven-game road trip in a rematch with the Indy Fuel tomorrow night. Puck drop for the final showdown of two at Fishers Event Center is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, February 1^st.

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About the Greenville Swamp Rabbits …
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 the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's LA Kings and the AHL's Ontario Reign. Greenville is a member of the ECHL, Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League.