JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Everblades continued to roll to begin the month of March posting a 4-1 triumph over the Icemen to make it six straight wins. 

Both sides traded chances early in the opening frame, but nothing came to fruition until Oliver Chau broke through, banging home a loose puck off a Jordan Sambrook shot that generated a rebound off the far pad of the Jacksonville netminder. Chau’s 12th of the season, coming with 6:17 remaining in the first period, gave the visitors an early lead. Moments later, Reid Duke nearly doubled the advantage on a cross-ice feed from Hudson Elynuik, but Scott Ratzlaff dove across the crease to keep it a one-goal game. 

Late in the frame, the Icemen were awarded a power play on a slashing call against Duke but failed to convert, as Cam Johnson came up with a pair of timely stops to preserve the lead. As the penalty expired, Duke generated another opportunity when the puck found him coming out of the box to spring Florida on a breakaway, but the puck rolled on him, preventing a clean look on goal. The Everblades outshot Jacksonville 10–8 in the period and carried a one-goal advantage into the intermission.

Florida generated early pressure in the middle frame, firing the first three shots of the period but could not extend their lead. The Icemen found the equalizer at the 5:10 mark after a defensive turnover below the goal line led to Logan Cockerill snapping a shot over Johnson’s glove for his first of the season.

Midway through the period, the Everblades capitalized on a power play after Patrick Bajkov was penalized for boarding. Jordan Sambrook restored the lead just 45 seconds into the man advantage, blasting his fourth of the season through traffic over the blocker side of Ratzlaff. Moments later, Sambrook delivered a key defensive play, tracking down Jacques Bouquot on the backcheck to deny a potential breakaway bid after a turnover at the offensive blue line. Florida controlled much of the period, outshooting Jacksonville 12–5 in the middle stanza.

Reid Duke extended Florida’s lead halfway through the third period finishing off a chance set up by Hudson Elynuik for his 13^th of the season to give the Blades some insurance. The score would remain the same until just under two minutes remaining when Oliver Cooper nailed the empty net to make it 4-1. 

Cam Johnson earned the win in net stopping 23 of 24 Jacksonville shots including all 11 shots he faced in the final frame for his 18^th win of the season. 

Game Sheet

Blades Bites

Oliver Chau and Jordan Sambrook each recorded multi-point performances for the second consecutive game each recording a goal and an assist.

Oliver Chau has scored goals in four straight games while Jordan Sambrook has scored goals in three straight with each of his goals coming on special teams. 

Florida is now a perfect 6-0-0-0 on Sundays and 6-1-0-0 in day games. 

Brad Ralph’s group has held their opponent to two goals or fewer in 10 straight games with Cam Johnson in the crease for nine of the 10.