Blades on Brink of Kelly Cup Finals After Johnson Shutout

ESTERO, Fla. – Looking to extend their advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,151, the Florida Everblades took the ice at Hertz Arena with a purpose on Friday night, produced spread-out scoring, and took a 3-0 victory against the Adirondack Thunder. The Blades now lead the best-of-seven series 3-1, with Game Five scheduled for Saturday night. 

Much like Game Three, the first period set the physical tone the remainder of the contest would follow. Crunching checks were a frequent occurrence along the glass, with the enthralled Hertz Arena crowd getting louder with each blow. The crowd was sent to its feet when Bobo Carpenter gave the Everblades the lead with 5:30 remaining in the first period with a power-play goal. Josh Ho-Sang and Oliver Chau dealt out the assists as Florida took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Blades commanded the shot battle in the first 20 minutes, besting the Thunder 13-3. 

Florida continued its momentum into the second period. Five minutes into the frame, Mark Senden and Carpenter were on an odd-man rush toward the Adirondack net. Senden sent the pass down to Carpenter, who put a one-timer on cage. Thunder netminder Isaac Poultre blockered the shot away, but the rebound got caught in the skates of Senden, causing the biscuit to trickle into the back of the net, and giving the Blades a 2-0 lead. Senden’s goal was his fourth of the third round, and sixth overall in the postseason. Once again, Florida led the shot battle 11-7 in the second period. 

Once again, it was the Everblades striking first in the third period. Matt Wedman took a feed from the blueline orbited the Adirondack cage, and found Sean Josling open in the low slot. Josling ripped a wrist shot top corner past Poulter to hand Florida a 3-0 lead. The Blades nursed that lead down to the final horn, taking a 3-0 victory and a 3-1 series lead. 

Cam Johnson produced his second consecutive shutout – his 11th in the playoffs as an Everblade – denying the 24 shots he saw. The back-to-back playoff MVP has now held the Thunder scoreless in the last 154 minutes of hockey, dating back to Game Two in Glens Falls. Opposite him, Poulter stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced. 

The Everblades went 1-6 on the man advantage, and 4-4 on the penalty kill, finding strong form on both sides of special teams since returning home. 

Florida returns to Hertz Arena on Saturday, May 25 at 7:00 p.m. to put a bow on the series in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Finals.

BLADES BITS

• The Blades scored in all three periods for the first time since Game Three of the second round against Orlando. 
• Cam Johnson notched his third shutout of the postseason and 11th career playoff clean sheet with the Blades. 
• Bobo Carpenter and Mark Senden have scored in back-to-back games. Senden has found the back of the net four times this series. 
• Sean Josling, Josh Ho-Sang, Matt Wedman and Oliver Chau are on two-game point streaks. 

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