'Blades Set New Club Records in Regular Season Finale

Written by Keaton Hanley 

ESTERO, FL – Martin Ouellette set a new club record earning his 33rd win of the season to lead the Florida Everblades to a 4-1 victory over the Jacksonville Icemen in front of an announced crowd of 7,214 at Germain Arena Saturday night.  The Everblades conclude the regular season with a 53-13-2-4 mark, tying a team record for most wins in a season (53) and setting a new record for points in a season (112). Florida ends the regular season on a ten-game win streak. The Blades also broke their fewest goals allowed record, allowing only 171 goals on the year, beating the previous record set in 1998-1999 of 180

BOX SCORE

The Blades were the first on the board, scoring with 6:00 to play in the first period. Logan Roe rocketed a shot from the point that Sam Warning got a piece of to deflect it by Austin Lotz to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. The goal for Warning was his third in three straight nights, scoring in every game as an Everblade thus far. The goal would be the only goal of the period, as the Blades carried their 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

With the Blades and Icemen playing their third game in as many nights they played a defensively minded second period with neither team giving up too many chances, as the Everblades took their 1-0 leas into the second break.

The Icemen started the third with a new goalie between the pipes as Austin Lotz was replaced by Denis Tsaruk. Austin Lotz was coming off of three straight nights in net and 19 straight games started for the Icemen.

The Icemen tied the game at one just 7:02 into the third period. Tanner Eberle walked all alone into the Blades zone and used a Florida defender as a screen.  Eberle wristed a shot the deflected off Ouellette’s blocker and into the back of the net.

Florida reclaimed the lead with 7:16 to play with an absolute laser of a shot from the slot from Derek Sheppard that beat Tsaruk’s glove side.

The Sheppard goal opened the flood gates for the Blades, as they added to their lead 41 seconds later. A give-and-go play down low started on the stick of Justin Kea before ending on Brett Bulmer’s stick who tapped the puck in past Tsaruk to make it a 3-1 game.

Play was halted 13 seconds later as Ouellette used his head to make a save, and the puck got stuck between the cage of the mask. Blades equipment manager John Sellars tried removing the puck from the mask, but to no avail, and Ouellette had to switch masks before resuming play with no injury.

John McCarron put the Blades fourth goal on the board at 15:24 of the period. McCarron took the puck in behind the net of Tsaruk and channeled his inner Sidney Crosby from behind the net as he banked a shot off of Tsaruk’s backside to make it a 4-1 game late.

The Blades flurry of offense proved to be too much for the Icemen to handle as they closed out the 4-1 victory.

GAME NOTES  Martin Ouellette earned his 33rd win of the season on Saturday, which set a new club record, breaking Marc Magliarditi’s total of 32 wins set in the Blades inaugural season in 1998-1999... Logan Roe finished the season with the league lead in +/- with a +43 rating…..The ‘Blades finished the season with five 20+ goal scorers: John McCarron (29G), Stephen MacAulay (28G), Mitchell Heard (25G), Brett Bulmer (23G), and Joe Cox (22G).

The Everblades will now get set for their first-round playoff match-up with the Atlanta Gladiators.

2018 Playoff Tickets On Sale Now! 

The Florida Everblades will face the Atlanta Gladiators in the first round of the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoffs beginning on Monday, April 16.  The following if the full first-round schedule:

Florida (1) vs. Atlanta (4) – Best-of-Seven SeriesGame 1:  Monday, April 16th – 7:30pm, Germain Arena  PURCHASE TICKETSGame 2:  Tuesday, April 17th – 7:30pm,  Germain Arena  PURCHASE TICKETSGame 3:  Thursday, April 19th – 7:35pm, Infinite Energy ArenaGame 4:  Friday, April 20th – 7:35pm, Infinite Energy ArenaGame 5:  Sunday, April 22nd – 2:05pm, Infinite Energy Arena  (If necessary)Game 6: Tuesday, April 24th – 7:30pm – Germain Arena (If necessary)Game 7:  Wednesday, April 25th – 7:30pm – Germain Arena (If necessary)

Ticket Information

Ticket Packages are Currently on Sale!  Flexible partial plans are available. These packages will best fit your schedule and budget!  To view pricing and benefits of all available ticket packages CLICK HERE

Discounted Group Tickets: Bring your group of 10 or more to a game at a discounted price!  Group tickets are available for all home games. Fundraising opportunities are also available. For more information on group tickets, call 239-948-7825, or stop by the Everblades offices at Germain Arena Monday thru Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Purchase Single Game Tickets at the Florida Community Bank Box Office located at Germain Arena, or online via Ticketmaster by CLICKING HERE

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