JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, snapped their losing streak in emphatic fashion with a 7–0 victory over the Jacksonville Icemen on Sunday afternoon at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Savannah opened the scoring late in the first period when Connor Gregga one-timed a shot from the low slot with 4:55 remaining to give the Ghost Pirates a 1–0 lead. Tristan Amonte recorded the primary assist for his first professional point, while Evan Nause added the secondary helper.
The Ghost Pirates doubled their lead 5:01 into the second period as Ryan Sullivan swatted a Gregga rebound out of midair and into the net. Amonte picked up his second assist of the afternoon on the play.
Just 1:03 later, Savannah struck again when Dennis Cesana threaded a pass to Nick Granowicz at the doorstep to make it 3–0. Nause earned his second assist of the game, and the Icemen pulled Cameron Rowe following the goal.
Savannah kept the pressure on as Nicholas Zabaneh buried a rebound off a Keaton Pehrson chance one minute later to extend the lead to 4–0. Bryce Brodzinski recorded the secondary assist.
Zabaneh added his second of the game on the power play, ripping a shot from the right side to give Savannah a commanding 5–0 lead heading into the second intermission. Logan Drevitch and Josh Lopina collected the assists.
The Ghost Pirates continued to roll early in the third period when Liam Walsh set up Granowicz on a breakaway just 59 seconds in, making it 6–0.
Granowicz completed his hat trick with 2:16 remaining, lifting home a feed from Brodzinski to seal the 7–0 final.
Vinnie Purpura earned the shutout, stopping all 27 shots he faced. Rowe stopped 10 of 13 shots before being relieved, while Michael Bullion turned aside 19 of 23 in relief for Jacksonville.
The Ghost Pirates return to action Tuesday morning for a school-day game against the Jacksonville Icemen. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
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