Blades Fall Late to Ghost Pirates 6-3

ESTERO, Fla. – Despite two-point nights from Sean Josling and Josh Ho-Sang, the Florida Everblades surrendered four goals in the third period and dropped a 6-3 decision to the Savannah Ghost Pirates Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 7,450 Saturday night at Hertz Arena. 

The Everblades started the scoring early, as Joe Pendenza connected just over four minutes into the contest, while Mark Senden doubled the Blades’ lead to 2-0 at the 13:46 mark. 

Pendenza regained the team’s goal-scoring lead with his 24^th goal of the year, taking a pass in the neutral zone from Bobo Carpenter, skating down the left flank all alone and scoring on a wrister from the circle. Zach Uens added an assist for the third straight game. 

Senden’s 15^th tally of the campaign came off assists from Josling and NHL vet Ho-Sang, who was appearing in just his second game in the Everblades lineup. 

Savannah would strike twice in the middle period to even the score at 2-2. Matt Boudens got the Ghost Pirates on the board at 1:38 to snap a string of eight consecutive Blades’ goals in the series, while Simon Pinard tied the contest with a power-play marker at 12:41.

Florida would regain the lead in the closing stages of the second frame, as Ho-Sang struck at the 18:40 mark for his first goal in an Everblades sweater, knocking home the puck from the Savannah doorstep to put the Blades back on top 3-2. With an assist, newcomer Dustyn McFaul picked up his first pro point in his second game with the Blades, while Josling registered his second two-assist game of the series.

Third-period goals by Noah Carroll (10:36), Alex Gilmour (13:08) and Ross Armour (15:38) gave Savannah a 5-3 lead, while a late empty-net goal by Gilmour (18:29) closed out the Ghost Pirates’ 6-3 victory.

Evan Cormier (9-7-3-0) made 32 saves and suffered the loss in goal for the Everblades. Jordan Papirny (6-6-2-0) made 19 saves and earned the win for the Ghost Pirates.

With the three-game series with Savannah in the books, the Everblades will hit the road on Monday for a 7:00 p.m. game in Orlando. The Blades will close out March with a pair of pivotal games versus the Jacksonville Icemen on Friday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 30 at 7:00 p.m. 

Another 239 Friday will be on tap as fans can purchase two tickets, two boxes of candy and a souvenir program for the special price of $39. The Friday game will be Hawaiian Night, featuring a sunglasses giveaway courtesy of Kona Big Wave. 

Saturday night’s contest is part of Marvel Superhero Night with a pregame tailgate party featuring live music and bounce houses, along with specialty Miles Morales jerseys that will be available via auction on the Dash Auction app. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets. 

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BLADES BITS

Joe Pendenza claimed the team’s goal-scoring lead with his quick goal in the opening minutes of the contest, as the Everblades scored for the seventh straight time in the series. The tally was Pendenza’s 24^th of the year and first since potting a power-play goal in the Blades’ 6-3 victory at South Carolina last Saturday. 

In his second game with the Everblades, NHL veteran Josh Ho-Sang collected his first two points with the squad, helping set up Mark Senden’s first-period insurance goal, Florida’s eighth-straight goal on the three-game set with Savannah, and scoring his first Everblades goal late in the middle period. Ho-Sang, who has seven goals and 17 assists in 53 career NHL games with the Islanders is seeing the first ECHL action in his eighth pro campaign which has also taken him to the Swedish Hockey League and the KHL in Russia.

Also in his second game with the Blades, Dustyn McFaul picked up his first pro assist on Ho-Sang’s goal. In five collegiate seasons with Clarkson University, the blueliner logged six goals and 22 assists over 149 career games.

Saturday Night’s Scoresheet 

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