Sun blocked: 'Blades turn up heat on Solar Bears in 6-3 win

ORLANDO, Fla. — John McCarron scored twice, and Zach Magwood (1g, 2a) and Levko Koper (3a) both had three points as the Florida Everblades extended their point streak to 12 games with a 6-3 win over the Orlando Solar Bears on Sunday afternoon at the Amway Center.

BOX SCORE

Playing for the third time in three days, Florida (33-11-3-2, 71 pts.) scored five of the final six goals and received a 27-save performance from Cam Johnson to pick up its 11th win in its last 12 games.

Florida scored in the first minute of the game for the second time in three games to open the scoring. After Orlando goaltender Mike Condon got a piece of Koper’s shot on a three-on-one rush, McCarron rescued the rebound and slid it in from the left goal line extended.

The Solar Bears (21-21-5-1, 48 pts.) immediately responded to tie the game at one, as Chris LeBlanc redirected Eric Drapluk’s point shot just 22 seconds after McCarron’s goal.

Trevor Olson then pushed Orlando ahead with a shorthanded goal at the 3:37 mark of the first period. The Solar Bears forechecked with two players and forced a turnover behind the ‘Blades net. LeBlanc centered for Olson, and he beat Johnson’s glove side from the top of the crease.

Florida evened the game with a special teams’ goal of its own early in the second period. Zach Magwood and Michael Huntebrinker combined to force a turnover along the right-wing wall in the offensive zone, creating an abbreviated three-on-one. Magwood held the puck the hold way and ripped a shot over the glove of Condon just 1:37 into the second.

The ‘Blades wrestled the lead back on Hugo Roy’s goal with 2:08 to play in the second. On the heels of a net-mouth scramble, Ben Masella got the puck back in the slot, and Roy managed to catch a piece of Masella’s initial backhand shot to beat Condon.

Florida tabbed three of the four goals in the third period to put the game away. McCarron scored his second of the game only 2:12 into the third to put the ‘Blades up two goals.

After Orlando’s Jake Coughler scored on the power play with 9:27 left in the third, Florida surged back ahead by two on Justin Auger’s 22nd goal of the season only 83 seconds later. Joe Pendenza led a zone rush for the ‘Blades and found Huntebrinker in the left circle. Huntebrinker then zipped it to Auger, and he tapped it in at the back post with 8:04 remaining in the game.

Blake Winiecki then struck for an empty-net goal with 1:09 to play for his third tally in the last two games.

‘BLADES BITES

• Florida yielded multiple goals in the first period for only the 10th time this year. The ‘Blades are now 3-3-1 in road games and 3-6-1 overall when that happens.
• John McCarron posted his first multi-goal game of the season and sixth multi-point game of the year.
• Koper matched his season-high by posting three points for the second time this year.
• With his three-point game, Magwood now has five points (1g, 4a) over his last three contests.
• Johnson’s five-game road winning streak is the longest by a ‘Blades goaltender this season.
• After being shut out by Orlando on Wednesday, the ‘Blades have now registered 17 goals over their last three games.
• Florida’s 12-game point streak is the second-longest in the ECHL this season, trailing only the South Carolina Stingrays’ 16-game run.  

Next UpFlorida finishes off a stretch of five games in seven days with a Tuesday morning affair against the Atlanta Gladiators at Infinite Energy Arena.  

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