Blades Stun Road Warriors with Three-Goal Volley

Greenville, SC – Burdened with a 2-0 deficit through two periods Friday, the Florida Everblades’ offense came to life in the third to force overtime, where the visitors would eventually prevail 3-2 over the Greenville Road Warriors at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

Moments after a 5-on-3 came up empty early in the third with Florida behind 2-0, Olivier Dame-Malka ripped a low shot through traffic that broke the spell of Greenville netminder Connor Knapp, getting the Blades on the board at 2-1 with 11:32 remaining in the game.

Malka would follow up the goal 3:17 later with a sky-high clear-out pass that sprang Mathieu Roy for a 1-on-1 push into the Warriors’ zone that Florida’ captain would convert on a rising blast over Knapp’s glove and just under the crossbar to tie the game 2-2.

Florida continued to apply pressure on Knapp after Roy’s equalizer, but could not score before regulation ended, sending the game to overtime.

Less than a minute into OT, Roy collected a shot blocked off the stick of blueliner Bryce Lampman and attracted the attention of the Greenville defense; when the Road Warriors collapsed on Roy, the winger chipped a pass into space that Mike Little buried on the backhand, lifting the Everblades to a 3-2 win a mere 32 seconds into bonus hockey.

Greenville was sitting pretty after the first two periods thanks to a charge in the final minute of the first the first that saw Jordie Johnston and Brad Cole score in a 41-second span to lift the home side to a 2-0 lead that would last until Malka got Florida’s rally started.

In net for the Blades, Trevor Cann made 27 saves—including 19 straight after Cole’s strike—to lock down his seventh victory of 2013-14. Knapp took the tough-luck loss for Greenville, dazzling with 39 saves.

The Everblades will wrap up their short road trip to open 2014 with a 7:05pm Saturday date with the Gwinnett Gladiators at The Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Saturday’s road trip finale will be broadcast live online at FloridaEverblades.com and on the Everblades’ app for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, with a video webcast available through America ONE, the official broadband and mobile broadcaster of the ECHL, at www.americaonesports.com. Pregame coverage will get under way at 6:50pm.

Beat the Box Office!

Don’t want to pay the box office rate for Everblades tickets? You don’t have to! Save up to $7.00 per ticket with great 10 and 20-game flex plans and group rates for the remainder of the 2013-14 campaign. Lock in your flex plan or group seats now for the Blades’ next home game on January 10.

For more information call 239-948-7825, or stop by the Everblades main office located at Germain Arena.

Office hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.The Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning.

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