Gladiators Overpower Blades 5-3

ESTERO, Fla. - A three-goal third period led the Atlanta Gladiators to victory on Friday night as they defeated the Florida Everblades for the first of two games this weekend at Hertz Arena. 

After missing the past four games on the ECHL Commissioner’s Exempt List, Bobo Carpenter didn’t skip a beat in his Everblades return, scoring on the power play after a setup from Blake Winiecki at 8:46 of the first period. Jake Jaremko logged his 17th assist of the season as the Blades cracked the scoreboard first. The Gladiators evened the score with Derek Nesbitt’s shorthanded goal just before the period’s end at 18:39.

At the start of the second period, Atlanta jumped ahead 2-1 on a power play marker of their own with 17:38 to go. Mitchell Hoelscher muscled a shot over Parker Gahagen’s left shoulder with a helper from Michael Turner. Exactly 14 minutes into the stanza, the Everblades made the most of their 5-on-3 as Avery Peterson hit the twine in his team debut to make it a 2-2 game. The feed reached the former Gladiator in front from Bobo Carpenter at the end wall. Florida netted their third power play goal of the evening courtesy of Xavier Bouchard (17:40) as they extended the lead to 3-2.

A costly Everblades turnover in the slot allowed Atlanta to knot things up at three apiece in the third period with a Gabe Guertler shot from between the circles at 5:07. Nesbitt (9:07) went on to score for the second time of the game on a cross-ice feed from Cody Sylvester, pushing the Gladiators in front 4-3 for the eventual game winning goal. Sylvester’s empty netter put the game on ice with 56 seconds left. The Everblades’ setback brings them to 19-11-3-3 this season as Atlanta advances to 20-14-2-1.

The Everblades and Gladiators conclude the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 22 inside Hertz Arena. We will honor all of the first responders who work tirelessly, especially throughout the pandemic, on First Responders Night presented by the Cape Coral Professional Fire Fighters. The Blades will wear specialty first responders’ jerseys with auction proceeds of the jerseys donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). With warm weather year-round, it's always tailgating season in Southwest Florida! To purchase tickets for tomorrow nights game, visit here.

Every Saturday night Blades home game starts with a tailgate, and live music will be performed by TC Carter from 5-7 pm!

Read more about the Blades’ busy promotional schedule and great deals HERE.

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JOIN THE FUN

Become a member of the Florida Everblades family by securing a great seat location and big savings with a Blades 365 Membership!

Purchase a new Voucher 12 package that allows you to use 12 tickets in any quantity during the 2021-22 season to earn the exclusive benefits of being a Blades 365 Member! To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits and options click HERE.

Everblades put the FUN in FUNdraising! There is no handling of money or tickets and no limit to the amount of money your group can make with the Everblades easy-to-run online Fundraiser! For more information, or to reserve a Fundraiser Night at an Everblades regular season home game, call or text (239) 948-7825.

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Watch every Florida Everblades game on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online athttps://espnswfl.com. 

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

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