EVERBLADES FALL IN JACKSONVILLE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Everblades opened the scoring just over two minutes into the contest, but the Jacksonville Icemen picked up a 5-2 victory Wednesday night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

The teams traded goals in the initial 10 minutes of the contest to set the stage for a busy opening frame. Bobo Carpenter started the scoring to spot the Everblades an early 1-0 lead. Carpenter’s shot from the right circle was the Blades’ third attempt in rapid-fire succession, as the team’s leading goal scorer potted his 17^th goal of the year just 2:17 into the contest. Sean Josling and Zach Uens earned the assists. 

Jacksonville’s Olivier Nadeau brought the Icemen even just before the period’s midpoint at 9:39, while Chris Grando gave the home team a 2-1 edge at the 18:41 mark. Jacksonville outshot Florida 15-9 in the first stanza.

The Everblades picked up another quick goal to open the second period, striking just 19 seconds after the opening whistle, as Logan Lambdin stuffed home a wrap-around play that leveled the score at 2-2. Oliver Chau and Reise Zmolek assisted on Lambdin’s ninth marker of the season.

Unfortunately, the Icemen would respond with a pair of goals in short order to claim a 4-2 lead. Luke Brown struck at the 4:31 mark, while Garret Cockerill added a tally at 7:29 as Everblades netminder Evan Cormier gave way to Cam Johnson for the remainder of the contest.

A potential goal by Chau with the Everblades enjoying a 5-on-3 advantage with 44seconds to play in the middle frame was waved off, and Jacksonville took the 4-2 advantage into the second intermission.

Craig Martin’s empty-net goal with 61 seconds to play extended Jacksonville’s lead to 5-2.

Jacksonville claimed a 37-28 edge in shots over 60 minutes of hockey. In goal, Cormier (8-5-2-0) stopped 18 of 22 shots before yielding to Johnson, who turned aside all 14 shots he faced. Matt Vernon (14-4-0-0) earned the win and recorded 26 saves for the Icemen.

With the Jacksonville pit stop in the books, the Everblades will head up I-95 head for a pair of games in Savannah on Friday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, February 3 at 7:00 p.m. The Blades will return to Hertz Arena for a four-game homestand which will get underway on Wednesday, February 7 with the first of three games against the Adirondack Thunder at 7:30 p.m. 

Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

 

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BLADES BITS

Six different Everblades picked up points on Wednesday, with Bobo Carpenter and Logan Lambdin scoring goals, and Sean Josling, Zach Uens, Oliver Chau and Reise Zmolek notching assists. Chau has team highs with six points and five helpers in five contests against Jacksonville. Lambdin matched Joe Pendenza with a team-best two goals in the season series.

The setback for goaltender Evan Cormier snapped a personal three-game winning streak and also ended a seven-game string without a regulation loss (6-0-1-0), excluding a two-second relief appearance on January 21 versus Savannah. Wednesday night marked Cormier’s first decision against the Icemen this season, as Cam Johnson was in between the pipes for every game in the season series entering Wednesday night’s tilt.

The Everblades fell to 0-4-1-0 in the season series against the Icemen, with three straight games before Wednesday’s 5-2 setback being decided by a single goal. Prior to Wednesday night, every game between the Blades and Icemen this season has been decided by two goals or less.

Wednesday Night’s Scoresheet 

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