ESTERO, Fla. — Hudson Elynuik scored at 10:36 of overtime to give the Florida Everblades a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks in a back-and-forth Game Four of the 2026 Kelly Cup Finals presented by Lexus Dealers of Southwest Florida in front of 7,366 fans Friday night at Hertz Arena.  

Elynuik’s game-winner tied the best-of-seven series at two games apiece and gave the Everblades back-to-back overtime wins to knot the finals, with a critical Game Five coming up at Hertz Arena Saturday night.

The first two periods were a back-and-forth affair, with the Everblades jumping out to a 1-0 first-period lead before Kansas City used a pair of second-period goals to tie the game at 2-2.

Florida struck first, with Reid Duke registering his second goal of the playoffs on a snipe from the top of the left circle at 15:55 of the opening frame. Jordan Sambrook notched his first of two assists on the power-play goal that gave the Blades a 1-0 lead after one.

Kansas City’s Zach Uens, a former Everblade, knotted the game at 1-1 just 16 seconds into what would be a busy second period. Sam Stange regained the lead for Florida with his third goal of the postseason, bashing home a feed from Elynuik from the middle of the left circle at the 7:01 mark. The Everblades held onto their 2-1 lead until late in the middle frame, but Landon McCallum knotted the score at 2-2 for the Mavericks at 17:09, collecting the second equalizer for Kansas City on the night.

As things turned out, the McCallum goal would be the final tally of regulation, as neither side scored in the third period. Everblades goaltender Cam Johnson turned aside all 12 shots he faced in a brilliant third stanza to run his save total to 25 after 60 minutes. 

Overtime saw the Everblades dominate the shot tally 7-4, but the good guys were unable to beat Mavericks netminder Dylan Wells until Elynuik redirected a blast by Jordan Sambrook from the right circle past Wells to seal the 3-2 Florida victory and tie the series at two games apiece. Jesse Lansdell also earned an assist on Elynuik’s game-winner.

Both teams ended the night with 31 shots on goal. Johnson stopped 29 of 31 shots en route to his 14^th victory of the postseason, while Wells logged 28 saves and suffered the loss for Kansas City.

The 2026 Kelly Cup Finals presented by Lexus Dealers of Southwest Florida resume at Hertz Arena with Game Five Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. Game Six will be played at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Mo., Monday, June 15 at 8:05 p.m. EDT, with Game Seven slated for Wednesday, June 17 at 8:05 p.m. EDT in Missouri, if necessary. Visit floridaeverblades.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

BLADES BITS

Hudson Elynuik and Jordan Sambrook both turned in two-point efforts in the Everblades’ big Game Four victory. Elynuik leads all Blades skaters with six multi-point games in the postseason, while Sambrook registered his first.

Cam Johnson’s second 29-save performance of the playoffs trailed only his 33-save effort in the Everblades’ Round One clincher over Savannah.

The Everblades limited Kansas City to no power-play opportunities in Game Four. Florida was whistled for just two minor penalties in the first period, as the two teams had four combined roughing minors at the 8:12 mark. On the power play, the Blades were 1-for-2, with Reid Duke capitalizing on the man advantage to open the scoring. 

Friday Night’s Scoresheet

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