PREVIEW: Road swing continues with tilt against Komets

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Following an off day on Thursday, the Florida Everblades (4-2-0-0, 8 pts.) continue a three-game week with a Friday night matchup against the Fort Wayne Komets (3-2-1-0, 7 pts.) at Memorial Coliseum. 

VITALS:Game 7: Everblades at Fort Wayne KometsWhen: 8:05 p.m. ETWhere: Memorial ColiseumWatch: ECHL TVListen: WJBX (101.5 FM, 104.3 FM, 770 AM)Social: Twitter | Instagram

Last time outTrailing by four goals at the outset of the third period, the Everblades scored three times in less than eight minutes to trim their deficit to one, but the Cincinnati Cyclones held off Florida's furious push in a 5-3 win on Wednesday at U.S. Bank Arena. Logan Roe had the 'Blades first goal, a power-play strike, and the primary helper on Michael Huntebrinker's tally that closed the gap to 4-2. John McCarron notched Florida's final tally to make it 4-3 with 9:33 to play in the game, but Cincinnati's Cody Sol scored an empty netter with one minute left to seal the victory for the Cyclones in the first meeting between the two teams at U.S. Bank Arena since the 2012-13 season. RECAP | BOX SCORE

Series historyFriday will be the 12th all-time meeting between Florida and Fort Wayne and the eighth matchup at Memorial Coliseum. The Everblades lead the all-time series with the Komets with a 7-3-1 mark, including a 5-2-0 record in Fort Wayne. The two teams met nine times in Fort Wayne's first two seasons in the ECHL from 2012-14 but have squared off just twice in the last five seasons. The Everblades beat the Komets, 6-4, in the most recent meeting on March 26, 2017. Fort Wayne will pay a visit to Estero on Jan. 29 of this season, the first tilt in Southwest Florida between the two teams since Feb. 11, 2015. 

Players to WatchMichael Huntebrinker (FLA) - With his goal on Wednesday, Huntebrinker is now the 'Blades active leader in goals with four and has tallied in consecutive games. The third-year pro is coming off a career year in the 2018-19 campaign that saw him register bests in both assists (26) and points (44) despite playing in only 36 ECHL games. Huntebrinker's career-high for goals is 20, a career-high he established as a rookie with the Reading Royals in the 2017-18 season.   

Mason Bergh (FW) – Fort Wayne's Mason Bergh has excelled offensively to start his professional career. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native has an active five-game home point streak entering Friday and is fifth among rookie skaters with eight points (4g-4a) in six games. He reached the 100-point plateau in his college career with Colorado College, netting 105 points (43g-62a) in 149 career games with the Tigers from 2015-19. He turned pro after his senior season in 2018-19 and suited up in three games for the AHL's Ontario Reign. 

Mixing It UpFlorida is in the midst of its first out-of-division stretch of the season and will play 14 of its 72 regular season contests against non-South Division foes. Last season, Florida played just 10 games against teams from outside of the South Division and had just three non-conference games, all three of which came against Rapid City. This year, Florida will play two separate Mountain Division teams — Kansas City and Utah — and every team from the Central Division except for Wheeling. Florida put up a 5-5-0 record against non-division foes last year while it has an all-time record of 80-42-15 (.639) against current Western Conference teams.

Three's CompanyWednesday was just the third time in Florida's last 78 games over the last two seasons that it lost a game in regulation in which it scored three or more goals. Three tallies proved to be the magic number for the Everblades last season. Florida compiled a record of 49-2-4-1 when it posted at least three goals in the 2018-19 campaign. 

Dominating DefenseThanks to another night of limiting opposing chances, Florida is now allowing an average of just 25.7 shots on goal per game and ranks second in the league. That's par for the course under fourth-year head coach Brad Ralph. Florida finished second in the league last year in shots against per game (27.5), first in the 2017-18 season (26.6), and fifth in 2016-17 (29.4). 

​​​​​​Next UpFlorida wraps up its Central Division road trip with a matchup against the Toledo Walleye on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET at the Huntington Center. 

—

2019-20 Blades 365 Memberships are on sale now!

Get great seat locations, big savings and exclusive year-round experiences with a full season, 24-game or 12-game Blades 365 Membership!

SPECIAL OFFER! Purchase a new Blades 365 Membership for the 2019-20 season and receive a $20 gift card to Ford’s Garage and an Everblades tote bag!

To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits and options CLICK HERE.

Private tours of Hertz Arena are available to select your season seats! Call the Florida Everblades Front Office at 239-948-7825 to schedule your tour today!

The Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and AHL's Milwaukee Admirals