RED-HOT BLADES WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT

ESTERO, Fla. – When two of the hottest teams in the ECHL collide, something has to give. And Friday night at Hertz Arena, it gave in a big, big way for the red-hot Florida Everblades, a 6-2 winner over the Jacksonville Icemen. 

Four was the number of a magical night, as the Everblades not only scored four unanswered goals to seal the team’s fourth straight win, but snapped South Division rival Jacksonville’s four-game winning streak in the process. And a fourth straight sellout crowd of 7,224 fans cheered the Blades to victory.

Despite entering play ranked last in the ECHL on the power play, Jacksonville bucked the trend and struck first as Christopher Brown scored just 17 seconds into the first power-play opportunity enjoyed by either team. Brown’s ninth goal of the season gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 12:59 of the first period.

Jacksonville’s lead would be short-lived as Gary Haden connected for the Everblades with his second goal of the season at the 18:59 mark. Haden deflected in a shot by Jordan Sambrook with Isaac Nurse also picking up an assist as the teams took a 1-1 deadlock into the first intermission.

A flurry of goals in the first 4:17 of the middle stanza gave the Everblades a 3-2 lead. Alex Kile opened the second period scoring and restored the Blades’ lead at 2-1 with his fifth goal of the season off a faceoff at the 1:51 mark, but Jacksonville’s Brody Crane pulled the Icemen even at 2-2 just over a minute later at 3:04. 

Florida regained the lead for good on a power-play goal by Colton Hargrove just over a minute later. Hargrove finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe tally with Colin Theisen and Kile getting the helpers, as the Blades pulled ahead 3-2. The goals by Kile and Hargrove were their fifth and seventh of the season, respectively.

Just 36 seconds into the third period, Hargrove cashed in for a second time, poking in a rebound to put the Everblades ahead 4-2. Hargrove’s second goal of the contest was his eighth of the season and gave him a pair of three-plus point games on the season. Logan Lambdin and Marc-Andre Gaudet registered the helpers.

 

The Everblades would add two more third-period goals to blow the game open, 6-2, with Gaudet finding the net at the 5:46 mark and Jordan Sambrook following suit at 6:52. Tempers exploded midway through the final frame, as the teams combined for 50 penalty minutes in back-to-back fracases at the 8:56 and 9:13 marks.

In between the pipes, Cam Johnson (17-2-1-0) made 24 saves for the Everblades and was a winner for the third straight game. For Jacksonville, former NHL goaltender Michael Houser (0-1-0-0) was busy, making 39 saves in his first ECHL start of the season since joining the Icemen from Rochester (AHL).

With a 5-1 homestand in the books, the Everblades will take to the road for four games starting Saturday, January 4 with a 7:00 p.m. contest in Orlando. Following three games in Idaho starting Wednesday, January 8 at 9:10 p.m. EST, the Blades will return to Hertz Arena to a three-game set against the Savannah Ghost Pirates on Wednesday, January 15. That 7:30 p.m. contest will feature an always popular Hump Day Deal, offering fans hot dogs, Bud Lights and Labatt Blues for just $3.00 apiece. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

Colton Hargrove likes playing against the Icemen, as he posted a pair of goals versus Jacksonville for the second time this season. The goals were his first since he scored both Everblades goals in a 4-2 loss at Jacksonville on December 6. His four-point performance was the second by an Everblade this season, matching Carson Gicewicz on November 16 at Greenville, and marked his team-high seventh multi-point effort of the campaign.

Gary Haden scored for the first time in three games since being activated and registering an assist in his return to the lineup back on December 28, a 4-2 victory over Orlando. Isaac Nurse joined Jordan Sambrook in the assist column on Haden’s goal, picking up a helper for the third straight contest. Nurse would add a second assist on Marc-Andre Gaudet’s third-period goal. Sambrook and Gaudet have both scored goals in back-to-back games.

Alex Kile has tallied a point in back-to-back contests, scoring a second-period goal on Friday to go with an assist that gave the veteran his 300^th career ECHL point on Monday.

In addition to winning the game, the Everblades also captured the shots on goal battle, claiming a 45-26 edge, including a 23-6 advantage in the busy second period, just one shy of the ECHL’s top mark in the middle frame – and two short of the highest total in any period – this season. Florida topped the 40-shot barrier for the second straight game and third time this season.

The Everblades have locked up the season series with Jacksonville, now sporting a 4-1-1-0 record versus the Icemen in 2024-25 with just one more meeting left in the regular season, a March 26 contest at Hertz Arena.

 

Friday Night’s Scoresheet

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