(GREENVILLE, S.C.) – Vinnie Purpura stopped 41 shots from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and got one goal in support from Keaton Pehrson to snag a narrow 1-0 win for the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Tuesday night. The loss, a four-point swing against the Swamp Rabbits and their fourth shutout loss of the season, brings their elimination number to 10 with 10 games remaining.
Both goaltenders stood tall in the first period, with Purpura stopping 18 Swamp Rabbits shots and Pierce Charleson, in net for the Swamp Rabbits, turning away 11 in his crease. The deadlock eventually broke with the only goal of the game at 8:48 of the second period when Ryan Sullivan won a faceoff to Pehrson on the back-end. Pehrson fired a shot that deflected off of a defender’s stick, breaking it, but changing trajectory just enough to slip behind Charleson and give the Ghost Pirates a 1-0 lead. Purpura stood tall the rest of the way, denying 15 more shots in the second and eight more in the final 20 minutes to seal a win by the narrowest of scores, 1-0, with his second shutout of the season.
Pierce Charleson was sensational in the effort, stopping 27 of 28 shots in the defeat (8-9-3-0).
The Swamp Rabbits continue a five-game-in-seven-day stretch, starting a home-and-home set with the Atlanta Gladiators on Thursday, April 2nd. Puck drop at Bon Secours Wellness Arena is slated for 7:05 p.m. EST. Thursday’s game is “NASCAR Night”, presented by AB Tree, featuring a rally towel giveaway, a Busch Light Pit Party on the Furman Plaza with NASCAR e-simulators, the Darlington Raceway pace car and Cookout 400 Trophy, show cars, and pregame chapel and invocation from Pastor Joe Nelms.
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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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