Blades Come up Short in Game Four; Trail Series 3-1

ESTERO, Fla. –  On the strength of three second-period goals, the Jacksonville Icemen claimed a 5-0 victory over the Florida Everblades in Game Four of the South Division Semifinals Friday night at Hertz Arena in front of 6,180 fans. Jacksonville holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The ECHL’s top two defenses lived up to the billing in the first period, as the Everblades and Icemen put up zeroes over the opening 20 minutes of Game Four. Blades netminder Cam Johnson turned aside all six shots he faced in the opening frame, while Jacksonville’s Matt Vernon was tested by the home team, stopping all nine Florida shots.

Fortunes changed for the visitors in the middle period, as Jacksonville scored three goals in a 4:11 span to take a 3-0 lead. Matheson Iacopelli struck first with an unassisted goal at 7:08, while Damien Geroux followed at the 9:36 mark, and Olivier Nadeau capped off the offensive outburst with a power-play goal at 11:19. 

For Jacksonville in the third period, Christopher Brown added a goal at 8:15, while Ryan Scarfo scored an empty net goal at 16:20 to close out the scoring.

Despite the Everblades outshooting Jacksonville 13-9 in the third period, the Icemen claimed a 32-31 shooting advantage in the game. 

The series continues at Hertz Arena with a critical Game Five matchup slated for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., before shifting back to Jacksonville for Game Six Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information on the Kelly Cup Playoffs presented by Lexus and to purchase tickets. 
 

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BLADES BITS

The best two defenses in the ECHL were true to form in the opening period of Game Four. The South Division rivals took a 0-0 score into the first intermission for the second time in the series and played a scoreless period for the fifth time in the series. In the opening frame, the Blades and Icemen combined to put 15 shots on net, matching the series low originally posted in the middle period of Game Two.

Jacksonville’s three-goal second period was the Icemen’s second of the series, as they previously netted three in the third period of Game One. Florida collected three goals in the middle period of Wednesday night’s Game Two.

With a power-play goal in the second period, Jacksonville went 1-for-5 on the man advantage in Game Four and is now 5-for-19 on the power play in the series. The Everblades went 0-for-3 in the contest and is now 0-for-10 this postseason

The Everblades were last shutout multiple times in the Kelly Cup Playoffs back in 2019. Florida was held scoreless in three games by the Newfoundland Growlers in the five-game Eastern Conference Finals won by Newfoundland four games to one.

Friday Night’s Scoresheet 

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