Blades Strong First, Not Enough in Third

Duluth, GA- The Florida Everblades dropped a close 5-4 match against the Gwinnett Gladiators Saturday night at the Arena at GwinnettCenter in the second of a three game series.

The Everblades kicked off strong again in the first with a solid offensive start, with shots on goal at the end of the first at 17-4. AJ Jenks, the previous night’s first goal scorer, led the Florida scoring again Saturday evening, by planting in a goal outside of the crease at 2:59 in the first. Less than four minutes later, Mike Cornell widened the scoring gap at 2-0 by shooting in a fast rebound from the right faceoff circle. The Gladiators scored in response at 14:23 when Maxime Legault wrested in a shot past Everblades goalie Connor Knapp.

The Gladiators dominated the second period, scoring three goals. The first by Bobby Hughes, tying out the score 2-2 from a backhand pass at 7:40 of the period. The Everblades added a tally to the score, as Della Rovere just left the penalty box to shoot a beauty past defenseman Bidlevskii and goalie Guggenberger at 10:06 of the second.

Toward the end of the period, Gwinnett scored on a 5-3 power play, as Joey Haddad shot one in past Knapp at 19:08 to bring the score to 3-3. Half a minute later, Brendan Walker got another in from a rebound on the far circle, making the score 4-3 at the end of the second. After the Gladiators final goal in the second, multiple brawls ensued between Tyson Gimblett and Joey Haddad and Aaron Bogosian and Josh Currie as a total of 10 penalties were given.

After fights in the second, the Gladiators bounced right back in the third as Eric Springer shot from the left point and was  tipped in twice, successfully by Bobby Hughes past fresh goalie, Trevor Cann at 7:25 of the third. Mathieu Roy brought some energy back to the Blades offense by shooting in another past Guggenberger at 12:28 of the third, but the Blades were unable to score no further with a final score of 5-4 Gladiators.

The Blades will return to the ice against Gwinnett on Sunday afternoon at 2:05pm in hopes of winning the third of the three game series at the Arena at GwinnettCenter.

Sunday’s game will be broadcast live online at FloridaEverblades.com and on the Everblades’ app foriPhone, 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 1:50pm.

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 February 21.

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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