NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – It was a wild and Wednesday night in the Palmetto State. The Florida Everblades jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead, allowed three goals in a frantic second period, and eventually came away with a 7-3 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays in Game Three of the ECHL South Division Finals at North Charleston Coliseum. Florida leads the best-of-seven series three games to none, with a chance to close out the series in Game Four on Friday night.

Following a familiar script, the Everblades struck first for the seventh time in seven playoff games this season. Sam Stange took a feed from Zach Berzolla and buried it from the left circle at the 3:09 mark to give the Blades a 1-0 lead.

The Blades doubled their early lead as Anthony Romano poked home the puck from heavy traffic on the doorstep at 16:34. Romano’s team-leading seventh playoff goal gave the good guys a 2-0 advantage after 20 minutes. 

To call the second period wild would be a severe understatement, as each team would score three goals – Florida the first three and South Carolina the next three – turning the Everblades’ 2-0 lead at the start of the frame into a 5-3 lead 20 minutes later.

Craig Needham struck first with the Blades on the power play, lofting a rebound off the end wall past South Carolina netminder Garin Bjorklund for a 3-0 lead at the 6:09 mark.

Romano was not done, as his second goal of the night widened the Blades’ lead to 4-0 and chased Bjorklund at the 9:00 mark. 

After Jesse Lansdell trickled in a redirection past South Carolina backup goaltender Seth Eisele and seemingly blow the game open with the Everblades taking a 5-0 lead at 11:21, the Stingrays came to life in a big way.

Goals by South Carolina’s Stanley Cooley and Simon Pinard just eight seconds apart trimmed the Florida lead to 5-2 at the 12:12 mark, while Connor Moore tacked on a power-play marker for the Rays at 19:17, making it a 5-3 Blades’ lead heading to the third period.

Besides each side scoring three goals in the second period, the bitter rivals combined for 22 minutes in penalties on 11 infractions in the frame, including 10 PIM coming in the final 43 seconds.

As they did in the first period, Florida opened the scoring in the third period, as Cole Moberg potted his first playoff goal at 4:57 to restore the Blades’ three-goal lead at 6-3.

Jett Jones tacked on a empty-net goal at 17:35 to close out the scoring and seal the Everblades’ 7-3 victory.

In goal, Cam Johnson made 24 saves for the Everblades, including 14 in the second period, to improve to a perfect 7-0 in the playoffs. Florida outshot South Carolina 29-27 in the contest,

Game Four is slated for Friday night in North Charleston at 7:05 p.m. Should Game Five be necessary, it would be played Saturday evening at North Charleston Coliseum. If needed, Games Six and Seven would be played at Hertz Arena on Tuesday , May 19 and Wednesday, May 20 with both puck drops scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

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BLADES BITS

The seven-goal performance was the Everblades’ highest-scoring game of the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs. 

Sam Stange’s opening goal was his first professional playoff goal. Wednesday night’s contest was Stange’s eighth postseason game. In addition to taking the ice for the Blades six times this postseason, Stange also appeared in two Calder Cup playoff games this season with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL).

With a pair of goals, Anthony Romano’s became the first ECHL player to score eight goals in the 2026 Kelly Cup Playoffs, with seven of his eight goals coming in the last three games. The assists by Hudson Elynuik and Logan Lambdin on Romano’s first-period goal gave both players three-game point streaks.

Jesse Lansdell scored for the second-straight game, while Hudson Elynuik picked up two assists for his first multi-helper game and his third consecutive two-point performance in the playoffs. Carson Gicewicz also chalked up two helpers for his second two-point showing of the postseason. Zach Berzolla also turned in his first two-assist effort of the playoffs.

The Everblades have outscored their opponents 30-9 this postseason, including an 8-1 edge in the first period, a 10-5 advantage in the second frame, and a 12-3 margin in the third.

Wednesday Night’s Scoresheet 

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