The Atlanta Gladiators concluded their regular season play on Saturday night as they welcomed the Greenville Swamp Rabbits to the Infinite Energy Arena. Unable to break past Chris Nell in net for the visitors, Atlanta fell by a score of 4-0.
With just under two minutes left to play in the opening frame, Greenville struck to take the first lead of the game. Sean Flanagan held the puck at the point on the near-side boards and directed a pass to the high-slot. There, Matt Prapavessis collected the pass and sent a wrist shot through traffic that hit off the post and fell into the net for his sixth goal of the season. Shane Walsh picked up the secondary assist on the goal that gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage.
The Swamp Rabbits then doubled their lead to 2-0 at the 8:53 mark of the second period. Wade Murphy received the puck off a turnover in his offensive zone and then broke towards the net, where he lifted a shot over the shoulder of Sean Bonar for his sixth goal of the year.
Just over a minute into the third, Greenville tallied to increase their advantage to 3-0. Walsh controlled the puck in the defensive zone and chipped a pass up to Caleb Herbert who was speeding up the neutral zone. The Bloomington, MN native then skated into the offensive zone on a breakaway and slipped a shot through the legs of Bonar for his 23rd strike of the campaign. Joe Basaraba also tallied the secondary helper on the play.
Herbert potted home a rebound late in the game to seal the 4-0 win for the Swamp Rabbits. Unable to pick up a win in their final regular season contest, Atlanta finished with a record of 32-35-2-3 good for fourth in the South Division with 69 points. Meanwhile, Greenville finished their season with a record of 24-40-7-1 after the road victory, placing them in seventh in the division with 56 points.
Up next, the Gladiators will take a week off as they prepare for their first appearance in the Kelly Cup Playoffs since the 2012-13 season. The first game of the round one matchup between Atlanta and Florida is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Germain Arena on Monday, April 16th.
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