ESTERO, Fla. – The Blades put away the Jacksonville Icemen with a 5–1 victory on Friday night in front of a crowd of 6,667 at Hertz Arena, as special teams delivered with both a shorthanded and power-play goal to take the lead in the three-game series.
 
The Blades struck early as Jett Jones forced a neutral-zone turnover that set up Reid Duke for a breakaway goal just 1:47 into the first period to open the scoring.
 
Jesse Lansdell extended the lead after a turnover in the Blades’ defensive zone created space for Jett Jones, who found Zach Berzolla. Berzolla’s initial shot produced a rebound that Lansdell buried to make it a two-goal game. The sequence marked Jones’ second point of the night.
 
The opening period ended with Blades starting goaltender Will Cranley stopping all eight shots he faced, while Icemen goaltender Michael Bullion turned aside 12 of 14 shots.
 
The key to maintaining the lead in the middle frame was to “not turn over in critical areas,” said Anthony Romano in his first intermission interview with Hannah Jo Groves.
 
A one-timer from the blue line by Icemen Holden Wale cut the Blades’ lead in half early in the second period with assists from Dalton Duhart and David Jankowski, making it a 2–1 game with the Blades still on top. This marks Wale’s second goal in back-to-back games.
 
Craig Needham extended his point streak to nine games as Romano’s shot from the left circle, giving the Blades a 3–1 advantage on the powerplay.
 
Keeping the momentum, Logan Lambdin fed Gianfranco Cassaro for a one-timer that would go five hole past Bullion to further the Blades’ comfortable lead and end the 2nd.
 
Cranley saw 10 shots that period, whereas Bullion saw 12 shots.
 
The Blades didn’t slow down after forty minutes, as Romano capitalized on a loose puck from a Jacksonville defenseman who took too much time and won the foot race back into the zone, scoring a shorthanded goal that put the game out of reach.
 
Will Cranley stopped 23 of 24 shots over 60 minutes, while Michael Bullion made 32 saves on 37 shots, as the Blades skated to a 5–1 victory. The two will face off one final time tomorrow night, Saturday Janurary 17 for a 7 p.m. puck drop to end the three-game series.

Blades Bits

• Needham is now on a nine-game point streak, tying Romano for the longest point streak by a Blade this season.
• Florida scored their first power play goal at home since November 21.

 
Friday Night’s Gamesheet 

 
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