ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades earned a decisive 5–1 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators before a raucous sellout crowd of 7,094 fans Saturday night at Hertz Arena. The victory capped a festive Hispanic Heritage Night at Hertz Arena, as the Everblades took the ice as Las Tortugas, wearing specialty uniforms that are now available for bidding through the Dash Auction app.

Anthony Romano ignited the Everblades’ attack, opening the scoring on the power play with his team-leading 17th tally of the season with under six minutes remaining in the first period. Florida controlled the pace of play throughout the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Gladiators 13–5.

Cam Johnson came up clutch early in the second period as Atlanta generated four of the first six shots of the middle frame, including a point-blank chance from Andrew Jarvis, to keep the hosts in front. Florida’s offense continued to roll throughout the period, striking for three goals to build a commanding 4–0 advantage.

The Everblades seized momentum moments after the timely saves from their veteran netminder, receiving a pair of goals just 56 seconds apart from Sean Allen and Jett Jones. Craig Needham brought Hertz Arena back to its feet inside the final minute of the second period, converting Florida’s second power-play marker of the night.

Atlanta pushed back with a 4-on-4 goal from Mickey Burns early in the third period, which stood following an official review, cutting the deficit to three. Burns’ tally would be as close as the Gladiators would get, as Isaac Nurse responded just 2:08 later with his second goal of the season, finishing a transition opportunity set up by linemate Logan Lambdin to restore Florida’s four-goal cushion.

Following the victory, Everblades Head Coach and General Manager Brad Ralph praised the team’s commitment to playing a full 60 minutes.

“The guys stuck with it. I thought last night we played a great game, sometimes you don’t get the win, but the guys followed through tonight. A good team win — the power play was clicking and the penalty kill did a great job.”

Florida finished the night 2-for-3 on the power play and a perfect 1-for-1 on the penalty kill, while Johnson turned aside 21 of 22 shots in the victory.

With the win, Florida remains atop the South Division standings with 58 points, holding a three-point lead over both Atlanta and South Carolina, who are tied for second with 55 points.

Brad Ralph’s group returns to action Wednesday, February 4, opening a road swing with their first meeting of the season at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia, with a 7:10 p.m. ET puck drop against the Gladiators. Florida will continue its Georgia trip next Friday and Saturday at Enmarket Arena with a pair of contests against the Savannah Ghost Pirates. 

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BLADES BITS

Florida dressed 13 forwards and 5 defensemen in the victory Saturday night.
 
The Blades received multi-point performances from Anthony Romano, Zach Berzolla, and Logan Lambdin.
 
Anthony Romano recorded his team-leading 11^th multi-point performance of the season and has tallied multi-point games in three of his last four contests.
 
Florida became the first team all season to score four or more goals against the Gladiators on consecutive nights this season. 
 
The Blades scored multiple power play goals in the same game for the first time this season on home ice. 

Game Sheet
 

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