The Georgia Swarm and Ottawa Black Bears met at the Canadian Tire Centre Saturday night in a key Week 18 matchup. For the Swarm, a win coupled with a Rochester loss would clinch a playoff berth. Meanwhile, the Black Bears had lost two in a row after a four-game win streak, needing a win to stay in a playoff spot and guarantee at least a .500 record in their inaugural season. A dominant third quarter resulted in a 12-7 win for the Swarm, as they improve to 10-5 and move into a tie for third place with Colorado. Ottawa falls to 8-8 with the loss, but remain above the cutoff for the 2026 postseason.
Swarm use special teams and transition to take first half lead
Jeff Teat opened the scoring with a power play marker at 4:13. The Swarm would respond after Ottawa defender Jake Saunders took a 5-minute major penalty. Kaleb Benedict (8:32 power play) and Nolan Byrne (9:44 power play) gave the Swarm a 2-1 lead, and a late goal from Bryan Cole (14:37) put Georgia up 3-1 after the first quarter.
The Black Bears came out on fire to start the second quarter, with goals from Rob Hellyer (0:21), Larson Sundown (1:22), and Sam Firth (2:10) restoring a one-goal lead, 4-3. Cole’s second goal nearly a minute later (3:04) tied the game, but Phil Caputo picked up a rebound in front of Swarm goaltender Brett Dobson and stuffed it home (7:20) for a 5-4 lead. A transition goal from Jeff Henrick (12:05) and another late goal, this time from Shayne Jackson (14:01) put Georgia back on top, 6-5 going into halftime.
Swarm shut out Black Bears in third quarter to get tenth win
The third quarter was all Swarm, as they outscored the Black Bears 5-0. Byrne scored his second power play goal (1:26), then Jackson scored his second (4:51). Lyle Thompson (9:16) followed, and transition goals from Seth Van Schepen (12:06) and Jacob Hickey (12:54) made it 11-5 going into the fourth quarter. The Black Bears, the highest scoring team in the league in the fourth quarter, looked like they might rally again, as back-to-back goals from Hellyer (2:13 power play; 9:31) cut the lead to 11-7. However, Ottawa could not muster any additional momentum, and Thompson scored an empty-netter off a feed from Dobson at 13:16 to close out the scoring.
Other Stats Of Note
Swarm: Thompson (2g, 4a); Cole (2g, 2a); Jackson (2g, 1a); Byrne (2g, 1a); Benedict (1g, 3a); Hickey (1g); Henrick (1g); Van Schepen (1g)
Black Bears: Hellyer (3g, 3a); Teat (1g, 2a); Caputo (1g, 1a); Sundown (1g, 1a); Firth (1g); Callum Jones (2a)
Brett Dobson (GA): 42 saves; Zach Higgins (OTT): 43 saves
Power Play: GA 3 for 5; OTT 2 for 6
