ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Everblades (2-2-0-0, 4 PTS) start a home-and-home series with the Orlando Solar Bears (2-3-0-0, 4 PTS) on Friday night with a road matchup at the Amway Center at 7 p.m. The two teams will finish the home-and-home with a 7 p.m. tilt on Saturday at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida.
VITALS:
Game 5: Everblades at Orlando Solar BearsWhen: 7 p.m. ETWhere: Amway CenterWatch: ECHL.tvListen: WJBX News Talk & MoreSocial: Twitter | #FLAvsORL
Last Time Out
Florida picked up its biggest win of the season last Saturday night, dispatching the Norfolk Admirals with a 6-1 victory at Hertz Arena. Steven Lorentz tabbed five points on one goal and four assists and Joe Cox posted the first multi-goal game of the season for a 'Blades player and finished with three points (2G, 1A). Goaltender Jamie Phillips earned his second straight win with 25 saves on 26 shots.
Players to Watch
Steven Lorentz (FLA) – The Carolina Hurricanes prospect put together a career-best night this past Saturday with a five-point game. In addition to a career-high point total, Lorentz's five points are a single-game high for an ECHL player this season. He also led the 'Blades in shots on goal in the game with six, a single-game high for a Florida player this year.
Hunter Fejes (ORL) - Fejes is tied for the league lead with five goals and posted his first two-goal game of the season last Saturday against the Atlanta Gladiators. He has recorded at least one point in each of the Solar Bears' games this season and has two multi-point outings through five contests.
Key notes
- Steven Lorentz is coming off the best offensive night of his career and the best by a Florida player since the 2016-17 season. Lorentz tabbed five points on a goal and four assists against Norfolk this past Saturday, the most points in a game by a 'Blades player since Brant Harris' five-point night on April 8, 2017 in a 10-0 win over Orlando.
- Joe Cox tabbed a pair of goals in Saturday's win over Norfolk, the first multi-goal game of the season for a Florida player. In his rookie season in 2017-18, Cox had one multi-goal game, a two-goal outing on Dec. 2, 2017, against Atlanta.
- Entering Friday, Florida has yielded the fewest goals per game in the ECHL, surrendering just seven tallies in 11 games for an average of 1.75 goals allowed per contest.
- The 'Blades have also excelled at suppressing opposing shots on goal and are tied for third in the ECHL in shots allowed per game at 27.0.
- Phillips leads the way for Florida's netminders and ranks third in the ECHL among active goalies in goals-against-average and save percentage with a 1.50 GAA and a .943 save percentage.
- Florida scored its first two first period goals of the season on Saturday against Norfolk, the first time this season it has opened the scoring in a game. Although the 'Blades have given up the first goal three times in four games, the opening opposing goal hasn't come sooner than 11:42 into the first period.
- Friday's matchup is the first of 12 regular season meetings between Florida and Orlando, which already met twice during the preseason. The Everblades hold a commanding 55-21-4 record against the Solar Bears in 80 all-time meetings. The two teams split in the preseason with a 5-4 Orlando win on Oct. 5 and a 3-1 'Blades win the next night.
- Last season Florida compiled an impressive 10-4-0 record against Orlando, including a 7-2-0 mark at the Amway Center. Three of the 'Blades wins required overtime, while eight of the nine games were decided by two goals or fewer.
- Friday night starts a grueling road stretch for the 'Blades as they play 10 of the next 13 games away from the confines of Hertz Arena. That stretch includes a season-long seven-game road trip from Nov. 14-24.
Next Up
The ‘Blades return home to finish the home-and-home series with Orlando with a 7 p.m. matchup on Saturday night at Hertz Arena for Nickelodeon Night.
Florida will wear specialty SpongeBob SquarePants jerseys on Saturday, and fans can hang out with SpongeBob and Friends in an exclusive pregame Pineapple Party that includes all-you-can-eat burgers, potato wedges, and beverages. Fans can also trick-or-treat in the suite level in the first intermission. Pineapple Party packages are $40 for kids and $50 for adults.
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