ESTERO, Fla. – The Florida Everblades welcomed the Maine Mariners to Hertz Arena for the first time in front of 5,547 fans for a matchup where special teams made the difference as the Blades scored on two power plays en route to a 4-2 victory.

The first period featured the game’s only goal while on a man advantage as heavy traffic in front created a rebound chance that Oliver Chau capitalized on, catching Maine goaltender Brad Arvanitis off guard to open the scoring at 15:03.

Everblades goaltender Cam Johnson turned aside all four of Maine’s shots in the opening period, while Maine’s Brad Arvanitis stopped 13 of Florida’s 14 attempts heading into the first intermission.

“It’s business as usual, I enjoy playing a lot of games. It’s great being home in front of our fans and they give us a lot of energy,” said Johnson in his pre-game interview. 

The Mariners evened the game less than two minutes into the second period, as a wrist shot from the right circle beat Johnson on his glove side. Zach Jordan recorded the lone assist on the play.

Just over two minutes later, Tarun Fizer beat his defender along the boards and cut to the front of the crease, finishing with a backhand to restore the Blades’ lead at 2-1. Jordan Sambrook and Patrick Kyte were credited with the assists.

The Blades also outshot Maine in the period, pushing the shots-on-goal margin to 24–11 in favor of the home team.

The Blades extended their lead at 12:27 when Logan Lambdin finished off a power-play sequence with assists from Chau and Craig Needham. The goal gave both Lambdin and Chau multi-point nights and marked Florida’s second power-play tally, converting on both opportunities to remain perfect on the man advantage.

Despite having the momentum, the Mariners responded just 20 seconds later. Robert Cronin sent a cross-zone feed to Brooklyn Kalmikov who found Jordan in the slot to cut the deficit to one once again, also giving Jordan a multi-point night.

With 4:27 remaining in the third, Craig Needham beat Arvanitis glove side off a quick shot to extend the lead to 4-2 and put the nail in the coffin for the Mariners, giving the Blades their first of the three-game series. 

The final shots on goal favored the Blades 32-19. Johnson stopped 30 of 32, while Arvanitis allowed four goals and made 28 saves.

The Blades will face Maine again on Friday, February 13, with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at The Swamp as they look to carry their momentum through the series.

Wednesday’s Gamesheet

Blades Bits

• Patrick Kyte had two assists for his first points with Florida in his first home game with the Everblades.
• Lambdin had his third multi-point game in his last six games.

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