Blades Comeback Falls Short in OT Against Greenville

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Florida Everblades fell in overtime 3-2 against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday night.

With both teams coming off late-night victories on Friday, the Everblades and Swamp Rabbits took awhile to feel each other out in Saturday’s afternoon contest. Despite each team having two power-plays, neither side was able to find the net in the opening period. 

The scoring drought would continue well into the second period, but Logan Lambdin found the net at 13:49 of the middle frame to stake the Everblades to a 1-0 lead. Lambdin’s sixth goal of the year came off a big bounce following a Kyle Neuber blast and gave the good guys the game’s first lead.

Florida’s lead was short-lived, as Josh McKechney scored twice for Greenville, knotting the game at 1-1 with his 11^th goal of the year at the 15:28 mark, and giving the home team a 2-1 lead with a power-play tally at 19:26 for his 12^th of the season.

In the third period, Nathan Staios wasted little time evening matters up for the Everblades, as he collected his fifth goal of the year just 1:05 into the frame. Joe Pendenza and Patrick Holway earned the assists on the power-play tally. The tie would last through the end of regulation, bringing Florida to overtime for a second straight game.

In overtime, Max Coyle scored his first ECHL goal 44 seconds into the extra period to give the Swamp Rabbits the extra point. Florida finishes the road trip with a 2-1-1-0 record.

Greenville outshot the Everblades 32-29 in the game. Evan Cormier (5-5-1-0) made 29 saves, but saw his season-long three-game winning streak come to an end. Cormier had 30 or more saves in each of his three straight wins. Greenville’s Luke Richardson (3-0-1-0) stopped 27 shots and earned the victory. 

With the third four-game road trip of the season in the books, the Everblades return to Hertz Arena for a three-game set with the Savannah Ghost Pirates that gets underway on Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. The series will continue on Friday, January 12 and Saturday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively. Wednesday’s game will feature a Hump Day Deal with $3.00 hot dogs and draft beer all night long! Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

 

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BLADES BITS

The Everblades played to a scoreless opening period for the second-straight night, as neither team found the net in Friday’s 3-2 overtime victory in Atlanta. After 29 games this season, the Blades have found themselves in a 0-0 contest after 20 minutes on five occasions. Two of those five games have occurred on the road versus Greenville.

Logan Lambdin scored a second-period goal for the Blades, giving him a point for the second-straight night and three points in the last four games. With an assist on Lamdbin’s goal, Kyle Neuber assisted on the Everblades’ first goal for the second time in three contests. 

Nathan Staios’ third-period goal gave the ECHL All-Star a goal and an assist over the past two games, while Joe Pendenza’s assist on Staios’ marker followed up his game-winning goal on Friday and gave him a point for the fourth straight game.

Greenville netted a power-play goal late in the second period on the Swamp Rabbits’ fifth opportunity of the game. The Everblades’ penalty kill had not been beaten in either of the two previous games. 

Saturday Night’s Scoresheet

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