After a successful rout of in-state rival Savannah Ghost Pirates the previous night, the Atlanta Gladiators (9-6-0-0) were dealt a rout of their own at the hands of the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (14-2-0-0)in a 5-0 loss on Saturday night.
The Gladiators found themselves in trouble early in the game, heading to the penalty kill after less than two minutes had eclipsed in the contest. Solid goaltending and shut-down shooting lane coverage from Gustav Grigals and company allowed them to fend off a handful of dangerous scoring chances from the early Greenville powerplay. (1:07)
The Swamp Rabbits finally broke through on the scoresheet after Forward Colton Young rifled a shot from in front of the right circle past the glove of Grigals to give his team a 1-0 advantage. (9:07)
Despite an impressive response from the Gladiators to knot the game up at one apiece, the Swamp Rabbits were able to double their lead several minutes later, as Nikita Pavlychev buried his rebounded shot to give Greenville a 2-0 lead. (14:22)
The second period saw the Greenville onslaught continue as they tallied three goals to extend their lead to a commanding 5-0.
Carter Souch scored early in the period after driving in and beating Grigals to the left post. (1:08)
The Rabbits struck again 30 seconds later after Ben Freeman buried the biscuit as he walked in all alone. (1:39)
The promise that the Gladiators’ offensive attack showed in the first frame was completely stymied with the Swamp Rabbits refusing to let up, as Ethan Somoza scored after depositing a centering pass from Pavlychev. (5:12)
Grigals finished the game with 33 saves off of 38 Greenville shots while his net-minding counterpart Ryan Bednard was perfect in denying all 24 of Atlanta’s shots.
The Glads will be back in action next Friday as they travel to Greenville to face the Swamp Rabbits in their first tilt of December. They will look to return the favor to a Swamp Rabbits squad who have played the spoiler this season, handing the Gladiators three of their last six losses. Puck drop is set for 7:05PM.
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