ESTERO, Fla. – An overtime goal from Atlanta Gladiators forward Isak Walther handed the Florida Everblades a 5-4 loss in front of 7,061 fans at Hertz Arena.

A testy first period led to four-on-four hockey, where Florida opened the scoring first with a goal from Craig Needham assisted by Anthony Romano and Jordan Sambrook. The Everblades found a way to connect once again this time on the power play, Kyle Betts and Lucas Sillinger, were the feeders for Reid Duke's goal. 

Late in the first, Gladiators responded with a power play goal from Ryan Nolan helped out by Mike Mcnamee, and Chad Nychuk. The first stanza had a total of 12 minutes of penalties from both sides. 

Atlanta scored two goals late in the second frame to take the lead for the first time of the night. The first came at the 14:51 mark, with Nychuk scoring off an assist from Ryan Francis, followed by another goal at 17:17 by Joey Cipollone, assisted by Nolan Orzeck. Atlanta held a 14–10 shot advantage over the Everblades in the middle frame.

The Blades found the equalizer early in the third period with a backhand goal from Romano. A few minutes later, Romano struck again, tucking the puck into the net off assists from captain Oliver Chau and Kade Landry. The Gladiators responded to tie the game once more, with Nychuk scoring on assists from Walther and Francis.

After 60 minutes of regulation, the Gladiators earned the overtime win when Walther scored, with assists by Alex Young and Ryan Conroy.

The Everblades aim for a victory in tomorrow’s 7 p.m. game against the Gladiators.

BLADES BITS

• Anthony Romano had his team-leading tenth multi-point game of the season. 
• Oliver Chau got his 100^th ECHL assist. All of them have come with the Everblades.
• Lukas Sillinger got his first professional point with an assist.

Friday’s Gamesheet

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