Slow Start Costly as Grizzlies Defeat 'Blades 4-3

Written by Keaton Hanley

ESTERO, FL – Utah’s Erik Bradford scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Grizzlies to a 4-3 victory over the Florida Everblades Wednesday night at Germain Arena. The Everblades fall to 0-2-0-1 against Western Conference opponents this season.

The Blades got back in action Wednesday night at home against the Utah Grizzlies, looking to pick up their first win over a western conference team this season. (0-1-1) Anthony Peters got the start in net for the Blades coming off of a shutout against Gwinnett Saturday night. Opposite of him the Grizzlies went with Ryan Faragher between the pipes.

The first period started off shaky for the Blades with the Grizzlies scoring three goals in the first 5:04 of the game. The Grizzlies first goal came just 1:07 in off an odd bounce from behind the net after the puck was whacked at Michael Pelech before it bounced off of Peters back and in.

The Grizzlies added two more goals just four minutes later, with the goals coming just 16 seconds apart. That would signal the end of the night for Peters, as Alex Nedeljkovic was called into action after just being sent down earlier in the day from the Blades’ AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers.

Looking to light a fire under the team Dalton Smith would get into some rough stuff with Marc-Andre Levesque, and he would do just that as Florida would get on the board at 10:31 on a deflection goal from Mike Ferrantino off a Josh Wesley shot, making it a 3-1 game.

The Everblades finished the final ten minutes of the period with a number of chances but were unable to get another by Faragher before the end of the first period.

Utah started off the second period just as fast as they did the first, getting a goal off an Erik Bradford deflection just 59 seconds into the period, making it a 4-1 game.

The Blades answered at 11:02 with Mike Ferrantino tallying his second goal of the night, this time off of a bank shot pass from behind the net from Nelson Armstrong.  The puck bounced to Ferrantino below the right wing circle and he slapped the puck off the pad of Faragher and into the net.  Neither team would get another on the board before the second intermission, making it a 4-2 game for Utah headed into the third.

Newcomer Mitchell Heard pulled the Blades within one while on the powerplay as he snuck past the Utah defense and chipped one over Fargher’s pad for the goal.

Despite the pressure late, the Blades were unable to complete the comeback, and fell to their third western conference foe by a score of the 4-3.

The Everblades open up a four-game road trip in Greenville on Friday at 7:00 p.m.Upcoming Home Games & PromotionsFriday, March 17 vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m. – 90's Night!  We are throwing it back to the 1990's, and fans are welcome to dress up in their 90's attire or as their favorite 90's character.   The first 500 fans will receive thunder sticks courtesy of Chuck-E-Cheese!

Saturday, March 18 vs. Orlando, 7:00 p.m. – Guns N Hoses night! Join us at 4:30 p.m. as our local fire fighters and police will battle it out on the ice! The Everblades will wear special police and fire fighter themed jerseys which will be auctioned off following the game to benefit the 4 The Kids Foundation.  A ticket to the Everblades game will get you in to the police and fire fighters game for free!

Ticket Information

Game Tickets: Everblades tickets may be purchased at the Florida Community Bank Box Office located at Germain Arena, or at any Ticketmaster outlet, or online atwww.ticketmaster.comSpecial Offer!  Purchase any new ticket package for the 2016-17 season, and receive an Everblades jersey t-shirt and a $20 gift card from Ford's Garage!  Locations include Cape Coral, Downtown Fort Myers and Miromar Outlets in Estero.  We offer several tickets packages designed to help fit your budget and schedule

Discounted Group Tickets: Bring your group of 10 or more to a game at a discounted price, and you may also receive an Everblades souvenir! Group tickets are available for all home games. For more information on group tickets, call 239-948-7825.This release courtesy of Fort Myers Technical College & Cape Coral Technical College

The Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliateof the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes###