(ESTERO, Fla.) – Craig Needham and Anthony Romano potted a goal and dished an assist, and Jordan Sambrook had a pair of helpers, but Cam Johnson stopped all 27 shots he saw to lead the Florida Everblades to a 3-0 win over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on Wednesday night. The loss puts the Swamp Rabbits to 1-2-0-0 through three games of their franchise-record 11-game road trip.
The Everblades controlled from the puck drop, scoring 44 seconds into the game when Criag Needham slipped the puck past Isaiah Saville after a forecheck led to a net-front scramble, putting Florida up early 1-0 (Anthony Romano and Jordan Sambrook assisted). The trio linked up again with 4:22 to play in the first, when Needham won a draw back to Sambrook, who fired a shot that produced a rebound for Romano to double the lead to 2-0. Cam Johnson, in net for Florida, stopped all eight shots he saw in the first, and then stifled a 15-shot barrage in the second to preserve the 2-0 Everblades lead.
With time winding down, the Swamp Rabbits pulled Saville from his net to try and spark a rally with the extra attacker, but Hudson Elynuik buried his shot into the empty net with 23 seconds to play, tripling the gap to 3-0. Johnson continued to keep the door shut, stopping the final four Swamp Rabbits shots in the third period to push the Everblades to their 3-0 win.
Isaiah Saville made his fifth consecutive appearance for the Swamp Rabbits, fourth by start in that stretch, and stopped 25 of 27 shots in the defeat (8-8-0-1).
The Swamp Rabbits rematch the Everblades on Friday, March 6th, with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. EST at Hertz Arena.
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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.
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