Blades come-back cut short; fall in OT
Published on May 6, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades season came to a sudden end in Game 6 of the South Division Finals when South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Zach Tarkir's shot from the left point clanked off the right post and dropped into then net nine minutes into overtime on Tuesday night at Germain Arena.
Tarkir's fourth goal of the playoffs at 9:04 of overtime spoiled an incredible come-back effort by the Everblades and sent the Stingrays on to the American Conference Finals for the second consecutive season, winning the South Division Finals 4-games-to-2.
Before Tarkir could be a hero, the Everblades erased a two goal deficit with a pair of goals in the game's final 90 seconds to force the overtime period.
Trailing 3-1 with two minutes remaining in regulation, the Everblades took their timeout and pulled goalie David Leggio. After gaining control of an offensive left face-off, Everblades defenseman Peter Metcalf fed a pass from the left point across to Doug O'Brien at the right side. O'Brien let a slap shot fly that sailed through traffic and into the upper left corner of the net at 18:31 to trim South Carolina's lead to one.
Off the ensuing face-off, once the Everblades gained control, Leggio again raced to the bench for the extra attacker. Soon after, the Stingrays iced the puck giving Florida the offensive face-off. The Everblades gained control of the face-off and Milan Gajic worked the puck from behind the South Carolina net, sending a pass out to the blue line. Metcalf and O'Brien again teamed up with Metcalf's shot kicking off the right pad of Stingrays net-minder Jonathan Boutin and directly to Gajic at the right side of the crease where he stoked home his second goal of the night with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to even the score at three.
Overall Game 6 saw the Everblades dominate the puck possession and control the play, but the Stingrays capitalized on their chances despite being out-shot 52-14 by Florida.
It was South Carolina that opened the game's scoring at 11:21 of the first period when Pierre-Luc O'Brien broke in alone on Leggio after a bank pass off the left boards and caught him out of position as he swung behind the net from the left circle and stuffed the puck inside the right post.
The Everblades however answered quickly on Gajic's first goal of the night at 13:59 of the period. After serving a penalty, Gajic stepped out of the penalty box just in time to receive a pass from Ryan Lang and raced in on Boutin untouched before wristing a shot between the pads of the South Carolina goaltender.
With the game tied 1-1 entering the second period, the teams battled tightly through the middle frame with no scoring until the late stages. While on their second power play of the period, South Carolina capitalized when Nikita Kashirsky deflected Tarkir's point shot by Leggio with 1:27 remaining in the period.
Despite being out-shot 21-3 in the final period, South Carolina extended their lead to 3-1 midway through the frame when Trent Campbell pounced on a rebound in the left circle and fired a quick shot past Leggio at 13:11.
Although the Everblades came in waves with pressure during the following five minutes, the Stingrays held the Everblades at bay until the closing moments.
The series win marked the first time South Carolina has won a playoff series against Florida in four tries.
In goal Leggio fell to 6-5 in the playoffs after allowing the four goals on 14 shots, while Boutin improved to 7-2 after stopping 49 of 52 shots.
On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 0-of-7, while the Stingrays closed out the game 1-of-4.
3 Stars:
1 - Milan Gajic - FLA
2 - Zach Tarkir - SC
3 - Jonathan Boutin - SC
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