Everblades Dominate, But Fall to Icemen in OT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Everblades dominated the game all through regulation, outshooting their hosts 34-15, but the Jacksonville Icemen picked up a 2-1 overtime victory Friday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. The setback snapped the Everblades’ four-game winning streak, but Florida ran its point streak to six straight contests.

The Everblades controlled the tempo over the first 20 minutes, claiming an 11-4 edge in shots on goal and stopping a penalty shot late in the frame, but the Icemen’s Jacob Panetta tallied the only goal of the first period. Panetta picked off an errant pass deep in the Florida end and found the net at the 6:21 mark to give Jacksonville an early 1-0 lead. 

It took until deep in the second period, but the Everblades would find the equalizer off the stick of Oliver Chau who notched his third goal of the season. Chau tipped in a beautiful feed from Cole Moberg who was stationed in the right circle at the 16:46 mark, to even the scoring at 1-1. Nathan Staios picked up a secondary assist. The Blades outshot the Icemen for the second-straight period, claiming an 11-7 advantage. 

Despite outshooting Jacksonville by a dominant 9-2 edge in the third stanza, the Everblades could not ice the game in regulation. Florida outshot the Icemen 31-13 over 60 minutes.

After the Everblades dominated the early portion of the seven-minute overtime period, Jacksonville’s Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored the game-winner with 2:17 to play in the extra frame as the Icemen went on a 4-on-3 penalty due to a delayed penalty on Florida.

In goal, Cam Johnson (5-4-1-0) made 13 saves for the Everblades, while Matt Vernon (4-2-0-0) registered 33 saves for the victorious Icemen.

The four-game road trip continues as the Everblades head to Upstate New York for three games against the Adirondack Thunder on Wednesday, November 29, Friday, December 1 and Saturday, December 2, with all three contests slated for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. After taking care of business in the Empire State, the Blades will return home to open a five-game homestand with a three-game series against South Carolina on Wednesday, December 6, Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 10. The first two game are slated for 7:30 p.m., with Saturday’s tilt getting underway at 7:00 p.m.  Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

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BLADES BITS

• Cam Johnson thwarted the second penalty shot taken by an Everblades’ opponent this season, as he denied Jacksonville’s Craig Martin at 14:44 of the opening frame. Evan Cormier prevented the first penalty shot form finding twine, as he stopped Orlando’s Steve Jandric in the third period of Florida’s 4-0 victory back on November 1 at Hertz Arena.
• Oliver Chau’s second-period goal extended his point streak to five games. Chau has two goals and four assists in that five-game span.
• With his second-period helper, Nathan Staios has recorded points in three straight games. Staios has two goals and a pair of assists over the last three contests.
• Blueliner Cole Moberg got into the scoring with a second-period assist, picking up a point after four games without factoring in the offense. 
• Florida’s stout defense limited the Icemen to 15 shots on goal, the fewest taken by an Everblades’ opponent all season. The previous low of 24 shots on goal came in back-to-back games against Orlando on November 4 and Greenville on November 10. 
• The Everblades held the opposition scoreless in the second and third periods for the fourth straight game.
  
   

Friday Night’s Scoresheet

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