ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades struck first and never looked back, securing the team’s first home victory of the season, a 5-2 triumph over the Fort Wayne Komets before a season-high, standing-room only crowd of 7,440 Friday night at Hertz Arena.
 
A feisty first period saw the Everblades control the tempo and jump out to a 1-0 lead as Oliver Chau lifted the lid with 1:43 left in the opening frame, wheeling around and striking from the right circle through heavy traffic. The captain’s first tally of the season an assist by Carson Gicewicz capped off 20 minutes of action in which the Blades outshot Fort Wayne 11-6. A couple of skirmishes saw the teams combine for 20 minutes in penalties, with the visiting Komets being whistled for seven of the 10 minor infractions in the opening stanza.

Early in the middle period, Craig Needham doubled the Everblades’ lead to 2-0, redirecting the puck past Fort Wayne netminder Nathaniel Day at the 3:35 mark for his first goal of the year. Reid Duke and Anthony Romano picked up the helpers.
 
Roughly five minutes later, the visiting Komets responded, with Zach Jordan’s first goal of the season cutting the Blades’ lead to 2-1 at the 8:29 mark, a margin that would hold up into the final frame. Florida claimed am 11-9 shot advantage in the middle period.
 
The Everblades blew the game open with three goals in the third period – an even-strength goal by Duke at 3:40, a pretty power-play tally by Romano at 8:49, and a shorthanded score by Kyle Betts at 11:46 – to pull ahead 5-1. Chau and Gicewicz added third-period assists to join Duke with two-point performances.
 
Fort Wayne’s Matthew Brown closed out the scoring with a power-play goal with 3:05 to play, as Florida ended the night with a three-goal victory.
 
Cam Johnson registered 22 saves and earned the victory in goal for the Everblades, which won the shots on goal battle 33-24.
 
The Everblades and Komets will put a bow on their three-game series Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. as the Blades look to win the rubber match of the three-game set. Join us as we honor our brave servicemen and servicewomen on Military Night presented by National Coalition for Patriots. Our celebration will feature special tributes and in-game recognition for military personnel and their families, as well as a 5:00 p.m. Saturday Night Tailgate presented by Publix. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
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BLADES BITS
 
Swampee, the beloved mascot of the four-time Kelly Cup Champion Florida Everblades, celebrated his 27^th birthday with 7,440 of his closest friends. The standing-room-only throng was the second capacity crowd at Hertz Arena in four games this season.
 
Oliver Chau opened the scoring with the first goal of the season late in the first period. The Everblades captain entered the 2025-26 campaign with 62 goals in 170 regular-season games. Chau also has 20 postseason goals to his credit in 57 Kelly Cup Playoff contests.
 
Cam Johnson appeared in his 200^th regular-season game with the Everblades. Johnson has also made 78 consecutive postseason starts for the Blades, backstopping the good guys to three straight Kelly Cup Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and winning the June M. Kelly Playoff MVP Award in both 2022 and 2023.

Reid Duke has scored three goals in the last five games, with his third-period insurance goal sealing the end of Fort Wayne’s four-game winning streak.
 
Friday Night’s Scoresheet 
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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!
 
 
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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.