EVERBLADES TRIPPED UP IN JACKSONVILLE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Everblades surrendered three second-period goals and were unable to recover, dropping a 7-3 loss to the Jacksonville Icemen Wednesday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. 

 The South Division rivals alternated goals in the first period, with the teams ending up knotted at 2-2 after 20 minutes. Brad Morrison struck just 52 seconds after the opening whistle for his first goal as an Everblade, while Xavier Cormier collected his fifth of the season at the 9:24 mark. 

Jacksonville opened up a 5-2 lead with three goals in the second period, collecting an even-strength goal, a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal. 

Following a quick tally in the opening minute of the third period that put the Icemen ahead 6-2, the Everblades snapped a string of five-straight goals by the Icemen thanks to a shorthanded goal by Joe Pendenza at 5:59 of the final frame. With an assist on the Blades’ final goal of the match, Morrison notched his first two-point performance in just his second game with the team. 

The Icemen closed out the scoring at 7-2 with a second power-play goal with just under two minutes left on the clock. 

The four-game road trip continues on Friday with the first of a three-in-three stretch in the state of South Carolina. First up for the Everblades will be a 7:00 p.m. matchup against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. 

  SCORING SUMMARY – Click for full box score   1st Period 0:52 Florida B. Morrison 1 (Unassisted) 3:52 Jacksonville L. Lynch 8 (J. Panetta, C. Martin)  9:24 Florida X. Cormier 5 (S. Leblanc, J. Smith) 

14:39 Jacksonville E. Brodzinski 2 (R. Lohin, B. Harris)  2nd Period 5:54 Jacksonville Z. Jordan 8 (D. Lodermeier) 7:20 Jacksonville J. Panetta 4 PP (G. Cockerill, Z. Jordan) 15:25 Jacksonville Z. Jordan 9 SH (D. Lodermeier, T. Theocharidis)  3rd Period 0:43 Jacksonville R. Lohin 2 (Z. Brown) 5:59 Florida J. Pendenza 8 (B. Morrison) 18:12 Jacksonville T. Theocharidis 4 PP (L. Lynch, A. Nazarian)  GOALTENDERS  Florida – Cam Johnson, 24 Saves  Jacksonville – Olof Lindbom, 16 Saves 

  TEAM STATISTICS  Shots on Goal – Florida 19, Jacksonville 31  Power Plays – Florida 0-2, Jacksonville 2-4 Shorthanded Goals – Florida 1, Jacksonville 1  Penalties (Minutes) –Florida 7 (14), Jacksonville 5 (10)

NEWS AND NOTES   

• As part of a two-point game, Brad Morrison netted his first goal in an Everblades sweater just 52 seconds into his second contest with the club. Previously, the quickest goal at the start of a game by a Blade this season was scored by Joe Pendenza at 2:02 after the opening draw in a 4-2 win at Jacksonville on November 25. Morrison registered his first assist with the club on Pendenza’s third-period shorthanded goal.   

• On Xavier Cormier’s first-period goal, Jake Smith extended his point streak to six games with an assist. In the Blades’ last six games, Smith has two goals and four assists. Stefan Leblanc added an assist on Cormier’s goal to snap a three-game pointless streak following a four-assist outburst in back-to-back games. The tally was Cormier’s third goal in the last five games, and gave him five points in the last six contests (3 G, 2 A).   

• With his third-period goal, Joe Pendenza now sports a six-game point streak as he has registered eight points (3 G, 5 A) in that string, despite sitting out the December 30 game versus Orlando. Pendenza now leads the Everblades with four goals and six points versus Jacksonville in the season series.    

• Cam Johnson made 24 saves, but saw his six-game unbeaten streak draw to a close. The ECHL all-star had been 4-0-1-0 with one no-decision in his last six starts.    

NEXT GAMES 

The Everblades will head north to the Palmetto State for a three-game, three-day stretch that starts Friday night in Greenville against the Swamp Rabbits at 7:05 p.m. The Blades then head south as road trip will conclude with a pair against the South Carolina Stingrays in North Charleston on Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15 at 6:05 p.m. and 3:05 p.m., respectively. 

The Everblades will return to Hertz Arena on Friday, January 20 and Saturday, January 21 for back-to-back games against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m, respectively. 

On Friday night, Blades fans can take advantage of the popular 239 Friday Deals and pick up two tickets, two programs and two slices of pizza for the extra special price of $39! In addition, kids 12 and under can eat free at Breakaway Sports Pub.  

Saturday’s game will be preceded by our Saturday tailgate, which features live music from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

Be sure and catch all the action on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online at https://espnswfl.com or Mixlr at https://everblades.mixlr.com. 

JOIN THE FUN

Purchase a new Voucher 12 package that allows you to use 12 tickets in any quantity during the 2022-23 season to earn the exclusive benefits of being a Blades 365 Member! To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits and options click HERE.

Group Packages are available for a group of 10 or more!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.

Grab the newest and hottest Everblades merchandise by checking out the entire collection that is available online by visiting shop.floridaeverblades.com or at the Hertz Arena Pro Shop!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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 at https://espnswfl.com or everblades.mixlr.com. 

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The Florida Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Florida Panthers and the AHL's Charlotte Checkers.

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