Fast and Furious: Four-goal burst sends ‘Blades past Grizzlies

ESTERO, Fla. — Five different players registered multiple points and Cam Johnson made 31 saves to lift the Florida Everblades to a 6-3 win over the Utah Grizzlies on Friday night at the Maverik Center.

BOX SCORE

Trailing by one more than halfway through the second period, Florida (12-6-1-0, 25 pts.) scored four times in 2:44 to surge ahead en route to snapping a three-game winless streak.

Brandon Saigeon scored 6:49 into the first period to give Utah (7-8-2-1, 17 pts.) the edge, but Florida responded with that flurry in the second to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. John McCarron set up the Everblades’ first goal by picking up a rebound behind the net and dishing to Blake Winiecki in the slot. Winiecki rifled it past Utah goaltender Brad Barone at the 10:43 mark of the second to make it 1-1.

While falling to the ground, Hunter Garlent gave Florida the lead with a wraparound goal off a rush only 37 seconds after Winiecki’s strike. Jack Nevins followed with his first goal of the season one minute, four seconds after that, punching in a rebound after Barone stopped Ben Masella’s initial shot from the slot.

Cam Maclise finished the four-goal swing with his fourth goal of the season. With Florida on a seven-minute power play, Maclise redirected Masella’s shot just 29 seconds into the man advantage, a goal that came 63 seconds after Nevins’ tally.

Utah whittled Florida’s lead back to one with a shorthanded goal from Yuri Terao with 2:25 left in the second and Saigeon’s second of the night just 1:55 into the third.

But Florida had another rapid response to ensure the win. Justin Auger’s shot from the bottom of the right circle sneaked past the near post and Barone with 8:43 gone in the third. Hugo Roy then found twine just 42 seconds later for the final goal of the night to make Florida’s lead three once more.

Cam Johnson stopped 18 shots in the third period, a period-high for a ‘Blades netminder this season, to help ensure the win.

‘BLADES BITES

• With two assists in the game, Masella now has seven helpers over his last four contests.
• Florida’s power-play goal halted an 0-for-18 stretch on the man advantage over the last six games.
• Hunter Garlent earned the first star of the game and recorded a goal and an assist for his first career multi-point game.
• Brandon Fortunato (2a), Zach Magwood (2a) and Logan Roe (2a) also had multi-point games for Florida.
• The ‘Blades six-goal output was their highest-scoring game of the season, while Florida’s four-goal second period set a season-high for most goals in a period.
• Johnson’s win pushed his road winning streak to a team season-high three games.
• Blake Winiecki has three goals through the first two games of the series.
• Florida was outshot for the first time in 12 games, as Utah held a 34-25 edge in shots on goal.  

NEXT UPThe ‘Blades try to take five of six possible points from Utah on Saturday night when the two teams square off in the final game of the three-game set. Faceoff is slated for 9:10 p.m. ET.

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