Sports stats

ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades Battle Back to Thump Sea Wolves

December 16, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


BILOXI, MS - The Florida Everblades (16-5-2) got back on the winning track after battling back from a three-goal first period deficit to knock off the Mississippi Sea Wolves (13-11-2) on Tuesday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

In front of a noisy school day crowd of 4,271 the Everblades stormed back from the three goal deficit with four second period goals and four power play goals, improving their road record to 10-1-2 this season.

A wild first period saw the two teams combine for five goals in the opening frame. It was the Sea Wolves that struck first and fast, scoring three times in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Ryan Cruthers opened the scoring after a dump in by Mississippi for a line change on the right side, kicked off the boards and into the slot where Cruthers was able to find the open net at 4:25.

Mississippi opened a 2-0 lead at 7:24 off a left circle face-off. The puck was won back where Cruthers fed a pass to Chris Brooks then fired a one-time shot from the blue line. His shot was deflected home by Alexandre Parent for his eighth goal of the year.

Former Everblade Kyle Peto gave the Sea Wolves a 3-0 lead and chased Everblades starting goaltender Anton Khudobin from the net at 10:17 with a 5-on-3 power play goal after his slap shot from the blue line sailed inside the left post.

After David Leggio replaced Khudobin between the pipes the Everblades stopped the bleeding when Kevin Baker took a nice lead pass out of the defensive zone by Doug O'Brien and broke in on Mississippi goalie Jason Duchesne alone for a short-handed break. Baker deked nicely and fired a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net at 11:10. The goal was Florida's league-leading seventh and it was the ninth allowed by Mississippi this year.

The Blades ended off the first period by getting back to within a goal on Colin Nicholson's first of the game and third marker of the season after he jumped on a loose puck at the right side of the crease and tucked it under Duchesne at 12:53. Mathieu Roy and Matt Auffrey notched the assists on the goal.

The Everblades came out strong in the second period scoring three times to capture a 5-3 lead by the 12 minute mark of the frame. Danick Bouchard and Yannick Tifu got the four-goal barrage started with power play goals at 4:13 and 4:57. Bouchard's 11th goal of the year came off a nice set up by Tifu and Peter Melcalf. Tifu's tally, his sixth of the year came off a long up-ice pass from Melcalf to spring him on a breakaway.

After Mississippi cut the Everblades lead back to one on Cruthers' second goal of the game at 12:53, A.J. Thelen tallied what turned out to be the eventual game-winning goal at 15:47. With the Everblades on the power play, Thelen took a pass from Baker just inside the blue line at the middle of the ice and let fly a slap shot that found its way through traffic and past Duchesne, allowing Florida to carry a 6-4 lead into the locker room. Ryan Land collected the second assist on Thelen's first goal of the season.

The Everblades kept the pressure on in the third period widening their lead to three goals just 3:54 in. Lang connected on a good drop pass from Tifu in the high slot, rifling the one-time shot over the glove of Duchesne for a 7-4 advantage. Metcalf collected his third assist of the contest on Lang's seventh goal of the year.

The Sea Wolves again found the back of the net to keep within striking distance of Florida when Cruthers completed the hat-trick with his 17th goal of the season after a tic-tac-toe passing play that ended with Cruthers slipping the puck past a sprawling Leggio at 12:30.

The momentum however was short lived for Mississippi as Nicholson tallied his second goal of the day just 26 seconds later, taking a pass from Lang in the right circle and cutting across the front of the goal before lifting a shot over the blocker of Duchesne.

After contributing four assists, Metcalf got in on the scoring with a power play goal at 17:22 when his slap shot from the top of the right circle found the net. The tandem of Auffrey and Roy once again paired up to collected the assists.

In goal, Khudobin lasted only 10:17 allowing three goals on five shots before being relieved by Leggio, who finished off the game by stopping 12 of 14 shots over the final 49:43 to get the win. Duchesne, who earned Goaltender of the Week honors for last week's action, was torched for all nine goals on 44 shots in the losing effort.

On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 4-of-8, while Mississippi closed out the game 1-of-3.

BEWARE OF THE BITE! Action You Can Sink Your Teeth Into! Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Visit the Germain Arena Box Office M-F from 10-6 to purchase tickets, or order online at www.ticketmaster.com. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com or call 239-948-PUCK for more information on group ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

The Everblades return to action on Wednesday, December 17 when they travel to Mississippi to take on the Sea Wolves at 8:05 p.m. eastern.

3 Stars:

1 - A.J. Thelen - FLA

2 - Ryan Cruthers - MIS

3 - Colin Nicholson - FLA

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 16, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Florida Everblades Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central