ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades returned to the win column and sent a sellout crowd of 7,496 Southwest Florida hockey fans home happy with a wire-to-wire 3-2 victory over the Toledo Walleye Saturday night at Hertz Arena. Saturday’s victory earned the Blades a split with the ECHL Central Division leaders.
Colin Theisen staked the Everblades to a 1-0 first-period lead with his 19th goal of the season at the 9:47 mark of the opening stanza.
Florida doubled its lead on Tarun Fizer’s 13th marker of the year just over five minutes into the second period. A Brandon Hawkins goal 42 seconds later brought the Walleye back within one, but Colton Hargrove struck on the power play to put the Blades back on top by a pair at 12:43, extending the good guys’ lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Hawkins’ second goal of the night for Toledo, a power-play marker at 9:07 of the third period closed out the scoring and a 3-2 Everblades victory.
Florida netminder Cam Johnson stopped 25 of 27 shots to earn his ECHL-best 35th win of the season. The Everblades outshot the Walleye 35-27, winning the shots on goal battle in each of the three periods.
Next up for the Everblades is a two-game jaunt to Savannah on April 5-6 before the boys return to Hertz Arena for three games against the Atlanta Gladiators on April 9, 11-12, a final tune-up before the 2025 Kelly Cup Playoffs get underway. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
---
BLADES BITS
Saturday’s crowd of 7,496 was the Everblades’ 17th sellout of the season in 33 openings at Hertz Arena.
Three different Everblades scored goals and five other skaters added assists, including Carson Gicewicz and Josh Ho-Sang. Gicewicz got back in the point column after seeing his nine-game point streak come to an end on Friday, while Ho-Sang picked up his first point since rejoining the Blades in time for Friday’s game.
Harrison Israels also notched his first professional point with a helper on Tarun Fizer’s second-period goal.
The Everblades (45-14-7-1) kept pace with South Carolina (48-14-3-2), a 7-1 winner at Kalamazoo on Saturday. Florida remains in second place, three points out of the South Division lead with five regular-season games left on the docket.
---
JOIN THE FUN
Season ticket plans for the 2025-26 campaign are on sale now! Become a Blades 365 Member for the 2025-26 season and enjoy incredible savings and benefits! To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits, and options click HERE.
Group Packages are available for a group of 10 or more! Everblades put FUN in FUNdraising! There is no handling of money or tickets and no limit to the amount of money your group can make with the Everblades' easy-to-run online Fundraiser! For more information, or to reserve a Fundraiser Night at an Everblades regular-season home game, call or text (239) 948-7825.
Grab the newest and hottest Everblades merchandise by checking out the entire collection that is available online by visiting shop.floridaeverblades.com or at the Hertz Arena Pro Shop!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Watch every Florida Everblades game on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM, or online at espnswfl.com. Stay up to date by following the Blades on social media with all the latest news, scores, and promotions on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter.
Adirondack Thunder
Allen Americans
Atlanta Gladiators
Bloomington Bison
Cincinnati Cyclones
Florida Everblades
Fort Wayne Komets
Greensboro Gargoyles
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Idaho Steelheads
Indy Fuel
Iowa Heartlanders
Jacksonville Icemen
Kalamazoo Wings
Kansas City Mavericks
Maine Mariners
Norfolk Admirals
Orlando Solar Bears
Rapid City Rush
Reading Royals
Savannah Ghost Pirates
South Carolina Stingrays
Tahoe Knight Monsters
Toledo Walleye
Trois-Rivières Lions
Tulsa Oilers
Utah Grizzlies
Wheeling Nailers
Wichita Thunder
Worcester Railers