Everblades Nipped in Orlando

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades cut into the Orlando Solar Bears’ early 2-0 lead with a second-period power-play goal by Oliver Chau, but could not find the equalizer in what proved to be a 3-1 setback Monday night at Kia Center.

Orlando’s Jesse Jacques got the home team on the board first, converting late on the first power play opportunity enjoyed by either team. The only goal of the opening frame came at the 13:14 mark to stake the Solar Bears to a 1-0 lead. Over the first 20 minutes, Orlando posted an 11-7 edge in shots on goal, as Everblades netminder Cam Johnson turned aside 10 shots, with several high-quality stops in the mix.
 

As the contest turned more physical early in the second period, the Solar Bears’ lead grew to 2-0 as Alex Frye struck at the 5:29 mark. The Everblades responded in short order, as Chau potted his power-play goal at 9:04, just seconds before the man-up advantage expired. Streaking towards the doorstep, Chau knocked home a Sean Josling blast from the left circle for his 22nd goal of the year to pull the Blades back within one goal, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Will Reilly notched the secondary assist. Both teams logged nine shots on goal in the middle frame.

In the third, both teams had ample opportunities to score, but the solid play on defense and in between the pipes continued on both ends of the ice. Orlando would add an empty net goal by Jimmy Mazza with 43 seconds left in the contest to close out the scoring. 

Orlando outshot the Everblades 9-8 in the final frame to win the shot battle 28-23. Johnson (21-12-4-2) registered 25 saves for Florida, while Evan Fitzpatrick (5-6-2-0) stopped 22 of 23 shots for Orlando. 

With the four-game road trip complete, the Everblades look forward to closing out the month of March with three straight home games and five of the next six contests on Hertz Arena ice. Next up is a Wednesday night
tilt with the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 7:30 p.m. Fans can take advantage of another popular Hump Day Deal, featuring $3.00 beers, $3.00 hot dogs and live music by DJ Matty Chiuch. The Ghost Pirates will also be in town Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., respectively. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

BLADES BITS
Scoring the Everblades’ first goal of the night, Oliver Chau lit the lamp for the second straight game and for the fifth time in the last six contests. Over the last half-dozen games, Chau has seven points on five goals and two assists.
 

With a helper on Chau’s second-period goal, Logan Lambdin ran his point total to six in eight March contests
(4 G, 2 A), while Will Reilly remained hot with a team-high 11 points in nine March contests (2 G, 9 A). Reilly’s 11 points in March leads all ECHL defensemen and sits in a tie for 12th in the league this month.

The Everblades fell to 7-3-0-1 this season against Orlando, including a 4-1-0-0 mark at Kia Center in 2023-24. Florida had won the previous two matchups between the South Division rivals.

The Everblades have won four of their last six games and eight of the team’s last 12 contests.

Monday Night’s Scoresheet

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