WHO YA GONNA CALL? EVERBLADES BUST GHOST PIRATES

ESTERO, Fla. –  The Florida Everblades turned on the offense for the second straight night and paired it with a strong defensive effort, topping the Savannah Ghost Pirates 6-2 Saturday night at Hertz Arena. An energetic crowd of 6,126 went home happy as the Blades stretched their winning streak to four games.

The victory sealed the Everblades’ two-game series sweep of Savannah by a combined 15-6 margin.

For the sixth straight contest, the Everblades got on the board first as Joe Pendenza rifled home the only score of the opening period. When scoring first, Florida is now a perfect 9-0-0 at home and 14-1-2 overall.

Pendenza, Cam Darcy, Lukas Kälble and Jake Smith each potted goals in the first 8:18 of the second period to extend the Florida lead to 5-0 before the game’s midpoint. The second-period tallies by Pendenza and Smith came with the Blades on the power play.

Savannah snapped Cam Johnson’s bid for a league-high third shutout with a goal by C.J. Hayes two minutes into the third period, but alternate captain Blake Winiecki responded with a shorthanded goal less than two minutes later. Savannah added one final goal by Connor Graham at the 13:08 mark to close out the scoring.

With two goals and an assist, Pendenza extended his point streak to a team-best 11 games. During that stretch which dates back to December 28, the alternate captain has notched 19 points on eight goals and 11 assists. In the month of January, Pendenza leads all ECHL skaters with 17 points.

Both Oliver Chau and Nathan Staios recorded multiple assists in the game, Chau collected his second three-assist performance of the year, while Staios registered two assists for the second time this season.

The Everblades outshot the Ghost Pirates 43-24 and Johnson turned aside 22 shots en route to his league-leading 18th victory of the season. 

With the two-game sweep of Savannah in the books, the Everblades will head to Orlando for a 3:00 p.m. contest against the Solar Bears on Sunday, before returning to Hertz Arena to open a three-game set versus the South Carolina Stingrays on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m. The South Carolina series begins a stretch for the Blades that will see six of eight games on home ice.

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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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