Blades Down Checkers 7-2
March 24, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
CHARLOTTE, NC - The Florida Everblades (34-24-10) defeated the Charlotte Checkers (31-28-8) 7-2 in front of 3,947 at Cricket Arena on Wednesday night. Florida forward Brian McCullough picked up two goals and one assist and forwards Keith Anderson, Reggie Berg and Damian Surma notched one goal and one assist each in the Blades victory. The Everblades regained sole possession of second place in the Southern Division with the win.
In the first period, the Everblades grabbed a 1-0 lead on the penalty kill when forward Tom Buckley sent linemate Reggie Berg in on a breakaway and Berg slipped the puck under Charlotte netminder Gregg Naumenko at the 6:54 mark of the period. Florida then made it 2-0 on the power play when forward John Mcnabb tipped in a Ryan Brindley point shot at the 6:34 mark of the period. The Blades then continued the onslaught and made it 3-0 when Brian McCullough intercepted a Charlotte pass and found Brent McDonald in front of the net and McDonald fired the puck into the upper corner at the 11:53 mark. Florida then closed out the scoring in the first period after forward Damian Surma picked off a Charlotte pass and skated in on a breakaway. Surma backhanded the puck past Checkers netminder Gregg Naumenko at the 16:32 mark to make it 4-0 in favor of the Blades after one period.
In the second period, Florida continued to fill the net and made it 5-0 when forward Keith Anderson snapped a shot over the glove hand of Checkers netminder Gregg Naumenko. Naumenko was relieved by David St. Germian after the Blades made it 5-0 but Florida didn't let up and made it 6-0 when Brian McCullough picked up his 39th goal of the season. Charlotte got on the board and made it 6-1 when Konrad McKay slipped behind the Blades defense and flipped the puck off of Jeff Maund and it trickled over the goal line. The Blades then took a 7-1 lead into the second intermission when McCullough picked up his second goal of the period after he slipped a rebound into the net at the 12:58 mark.
In the third period, the Checkers picked up the only goal in the third period off the stick of Jeff State to make it 7-2.
Florida goaltender Jeff Maund (19-11-3) stopped 17 of 19 shots he faced while Charlotte netminder Gregg Naumenko (10-11-3) stopped 10 of 15 shots he faced and was relieved in the second period by David St. Germain who stopped 16 of 18 shots. The Everblades were 1 for 6 on the power play while the Checkers were 0 for 4.
The Blades remain on the road and take on the Roanoke Express on Friday night at 7:30 PM. Florida returns home to host the Augusta Lynx in a pair of games on Friday, April 2nd and Saturday, April 3rd at 7:30 PM. Blades games can be heard on 770 AM and via the Internet on www.floridaeverblades.com, www.nbc-2.com and www.abc-7.com and inside TECO Arena in 96.5 FM. For single game tickets call Ticketmaster at (239) 334-3309 or group and season tickets please call 239-948-7825. For more information on upcoming TECO Arena events log on to www.tecoarena.com.
3 Stars:
1 - McCullough - FLA
2 - Anderson - FLA
3 - Berg - FLA
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