SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, knocked off the Greensboro Gargoyles 6-3 on Thursday evening at Enmarket Arena.
The Ghost Pirates opened the scoring quickly, striking just 19 seconds into the game when Matt Koopman found the puck in the slot and slipped it five-hole to make it 1-0. Nick Granowicz and Liam Walsh picked up the assists.
Greensboro tied the game at the 3:54 mark of the first period when Braden Doyle’s shot from the left point was tipped in by Blake Biondi to make it 1-1.
Savannah regained the lead less than a minute later when Will Riedell’s shot from the left point found its way through traffic and into the net to make it 2-1. Cristophe Tellier and Jaxsen Wiebe recorded the assists on the final goal of the opening period.
The Ghost Pirates added a pair of goals 4:55 into the second period. First, Granowicz tipped in a Phip Waugh shot to extend the lead to 3-1. Then, just 36 seconds later, a Gargoyles turnover led directly to a Reece Vitelli goal from the slot, pushing the score to 4-1.
Greensboro battled back at the 8:23 mark of the second, scoring two goals in 16 seconds to cut the deficit to 4-3. Greg Smith and Deni Goure found the back of the net to make it a one-goal game heading into the third period.
Savannah added an insurance marker 5:08 into the third when Logan Drevitch ripped in a power-play goal from the right side to make it 5-3. Ryan Sullivan and Vitelli were credited with the assists.
Josh Lopina sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 2:58 remaining. Tellier and Noah Carroll assisted on the play.
Vinnie Purpura picked up the win, stopping 25 of 28 shots for Savannah. Nikita Quapp made 25 saves on 30 shots for Greensboro.
The Ghost Pirates return to the road Sunday to take on the South Carolina Stingrays at 3:05 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information about upcoming home games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
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