(GREENSBORO, N.C.) – Keaton Mastrodonato notched four points, eight different players scored and 16 total earned a point, and Mattias Sholl stopped all but one of 29 shots as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits throttled the Greensboro Gargoyles 8-1 on Thanksgiving Eve.

Mattias Sholl turned aside a barrage of shots in the opening period, but eventually, it was Ethan Leyh that broke through him to get the Gargoyles on the board. With 6:05 to go in the first, Leyh pocketed a puck that pinballed around the slot area past Sholl to give the Gargoyles a 1-0 lead (Jake Elmer and Patrick Newell assisted).

From there, it was all Swamp Rabbits with eight unanswered goals. Following the conclusion of a Swamp Rabbits power play, Tim Lovell skated coast to coast and buried a chance past Nikita Quapp in net for Greensboro, squaring the game at 1-1 with 3:45 left in the first. Exactly 102 seconds later, Carter Savoie picked up a Keaton Mastrodonato tap amidst the shuffle of a faceoff scramble, firing a snipe over Quapp’s shoulder to give the Swamp Rabbits a 2-1 lead.

Cam Hausinger hit paydirt off the rush with Hudson Schandor and Dante Sheriff 21 seconds into the second frame to expand the lead to 3-1, and were followed on another rush at 5:56 by Brent Pedersen’s second of the season, set up by Ryan O’Reilly and Keaton Mastrodonato to make it 4-1. In the midst of four-on-four hockey, Josh Atkinson sprang up the ice on a pass from Jake Murray, blew past the defense, and rifled a shot past Quapp from the left to blow the lead to 5-1 entering the third. Ruslan Khazheyev came in net for Quapp to start the third period.

Tim Rego jumped on the scoresheet with his first professional goal 1:00 into the third period, once again collecting a Mastrodonato helper from the slot past Khazheyev’s glove, ballooning the lead to 6-1. Mastrodonato then took it upon himself to ignite the goal lamp at 5:56 when Patrick Polino fed him from the right wall and he finished with a snipe over Khazheyev’s blocker shoulder to make It 7-1 (Jacob Modry also assisted). On the final power play of the game in the waning minutes of regulation, Ben Poisson banked home a Ryan O’Reilly shot, bringing the game to it’s final score of 8-1 with 3:11 remaining (Austin Saint also assisted).

Mattias Sholl turned aside all but one of 29 shots in earning wins in back-to-back starts and three in his last four (3-3-0-0).

The Swamp Rabbits shift gears to the first of two games against the Atlanta Gladiators this Saturday, November 29^th. Puck drop at Gas South Arena is slated for 7:10 p.m. EST

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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.