Everblades Primed to Melt Icemen

WHO: Florida Everblades vs. Jacksonville IcemenWHERE: Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)WHEN: Friday, February 25 at 7:00 pmBROADCAST: 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.

ESTERO, Fla. – With an extremely successful four-game homestand in the books, the Florida Everblades will head to Jacksonville for a Friday night battle at 7:00 pm, the first stop of a three-in-three road trip that will also take the squad to North Charleston, S.C. for a pair of games against the South Carolina Stingrays on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. 

THE OPPONENT: The Blades have their sights set on the Jacksonville Icemen, the current first-place team in the ECHL’s South Division. Jacksonville (30-14-2-1, 63 points) sports a .670 points percentage, which is second in the league, trailing just the Toledo Walleye’s .744 points percentage (32-10-1-2, 67 points). By contrast, the Everblades (27-15-4-4, 62 points) are just one point behind their Sunshine State rivals, but carry a points percentage of .620 and that is the number that will be used for playoff seeding. With a 7-3 victory over visiting Norfolk on Wednesday, the Icemen extended their winning streak to six games, while improving to 8-2 in their last 10 games. During their six-game winning streak, Jacksonville has outscored the opposition 24-12.

THE SERIES: In six games against the Icemen this season, the Everblades hold a 1-1-1-3 record, including last Wednesday’s 3-2 setback in a five-round shootout. 

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE: The Everblades and Icemen enter play with two of the top defensive units in the ECHL. Jacksonville ranks first in the 27-team league in goals allowed, permitting just 2.36 goals per contest, while Florida is no slouch, ranking fourth at 2.64 goals allowed per game. On the penalty kill, the squads are tied for first in the league, with both teams killing off penalties at 85% clip. On offense, however, the Blades rank tenth with 3.38 goals scored per game, while Jacksonville is a pedestrian T-20th at 2.98 markers per contest.

LAST TIME OUT: The Florida Everblades scored early and often, Michael Neville scored two goals and Parker Gahagen recorded his third shutout of the season, as the Blades knocked off the Orlando Solar Bears 6-0 in an impressive showing Wednesday night at Hertz Arena. In total, 12 different Everblades tallied at least one point in the contest, with five of the good guys registering two points: Neville (2 G), Joe Pendenza (2 A), Dylan Vander Esch (1 G, 1 A), Jake Jaremko (1 G, 1 A), and Kody McDonald (1 G, 1 A). 

STREAKING BLADES: The Everblades enter Friday’s contest with a three-game winning streak intact, while also registering at least one point in six straight games. During those six games, the Blades have posted a 4-0-1-1 mark, while outscoring their opponents 22-15.

FANS OF FROSTY: Against the Icemen this season, Alex Aleardi leads the Blades with seven points (4 G, 3 A) in five games. Additionally, Joe Pendenza (3 G, 3 A, 6 points), Jake Jaremko (2 G, 2 A, 4 points) and Bobo Carpenter (1 G, 3 A, 4 points) are among Florida’s scoring leaders in the season series. Parker Gahagen is 1-0-0-1 in goal versus Jacksonville, sporting a 2.25 GAA in three games.  

THE McCARRON WATCH: After registering four goals in three games and six goals in five games, Captain Everblade has gone four consecutive games without a goal, but adding a pair of assists to help the Blades pick up five points in the standings. As a Blade, the Captain’s career goal totals remain at 144 in the regular season and 162 in all games including playoffs. The franchise’s all-time point leader remains one goal shy of Reggie Berg’s career regular-season mark of 145 and within two of Berg’s overall mark of 164. With six goals in eight February games – and three two-goal games and one hat trick in his arsenal this season – the franchise career goal scoring marks are squarely within the Captain’s sights.

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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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