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ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades drop 5-4 shootout decision to Pensacola

February 29, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


PENSACOLA, FL - The Florida Everblades (31-20-6) earned a point in the standings, but fell in a shootout for the second straight game losing 5-4 to the Pensacola Ice Pilots (15-33-7) on Friday night at the Pensacola Civic Center in front of a crowd of 4,319. The win gave Pensacola head coach John Marks his 481st victory, which makes him the ECHL's all-time winningest coach.

A back-and-forth first period saw the teams combine to score five goals with the Ice Pilots jumping to a quick 2-0 lead before the Everblades erased that with three quick goals late in the frame.

The scoring opened fast with the Ice Pilots scoring just 42 seconds into the game on a 2-on-1 rush when Patrick Bordeleau fed a pass from the left circle to Adam Hobson in the right circle, who fired a one-timer past Everblades goaltender David Shantz.

Pensacola then extended their lead to 2-0 at 3:06 when Tim Songin jumped up from the blue line and fired a shot by Shantz for his second goal of the year on assists from Bordeleau and Hobson.

The Everblades eventually worked their way back into the game when team captain Ernie Hartlieb notched his milestone 100th career professional goal by working the puck free behind the Ice Pilot net and swinging out at the right post and jamming it past Pensacola net-minder Cam Ellworth with exactly seven minutes remaining in the period. Ryan Van Buskirk and Brad Herauf assisted on Hartlieb's 19th goal of the season.

The Everblades then tied the game at 14:38 when Derek Damon tallied his 20th goal of the year with a shot from the right circle after accepting a pass from Preston Callander. Just 18 seconds after Damon's tally, the Everblades took the lead when Brad Herauf tipped a shot by Steve Czech past Ellsworth for his 12th goal of the year, and sending the teams to the first intermission with Florida holding a 3-2 lead.

A fiery second period that featured two fights in the first three minutes of the frame saw each team also post a goal. The period opened with the Ice Pilots enjoying a 5-on-3 power play, but the Everblades killed both penalties off, then went back to the offensive to increase their lead to 4-2 just under six minutes into the frame. After a clearing attempt by Pensacola kicked off one of the linesmen's skate, Brad Zancanaro turned in the right corner and fed a pass into the slot where Mike McLean fired a one-timer past Ellsworth for his eighth goal of the season.

Pensacola however didn't let up, eventually out-shooting the Everblades 17-6 in the second period, and trimming Florida's lead back to one just over 12 minutes into the period. While on their second 5-on-3 power play of the night, Hobson collected his second goal of the night with a hard slap shot from the right circle that sailed over the left shoulder of Shantz to make it a 4-3 game.

An entertaining third period watched the teams trade scoring chances, but it was the Ice Pilots that would score the period's only goal. At 12:12 of the frame, Bryan McGregor notched his 12th goal of the season after slipping a shot from the left circle past Shantz to tie the game at four and eventually send the contest to overtime.

For the third straight game the Everblades needed extra hockey to decide the game. After neither team scored in the five-minute overtime period, the game moved to a shootout where the Ice Pilots edged the Everblades 3-2 in seven rounds. Shantz stopped the first four shooters he faced while Ellworth kept the Blades silent over the first three rounds. Callander scored in round four for Florida, but the Ice Pilots tied the shootout in the fifth and final round on a shot by Adam Hobson. Each team scored in round six with Kirk MacDonald tallying for the Everblades and Michael Cohen scoring for Pensacola. In round seven Ellsworth stopped Zancanaro, then McGregor wristed a shot past Shantz for Pensacola, sending the Ice Pilots spilling off the bench in celebration.

The Everblades fell to 4-2 in shootouts this season, while the Ice Pilots won their first game in a shootout this season in their fifth try.

Shantz (7-3-2) picked up credit for a tie after stopping 33 of 37 shots, and Ellsworth improved to 10-22-2 after turning away 23 of 27 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 0-for-6, while the Ice Pilots finished 1-for-7.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, March 1 when they travel to Pensacola to take on the Ice Pilots at 8:05 p.m. from the Pensacola Civic Center. The Everblades next home game is on Friday, March 7 when they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena. Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Stop by the Germain Arena box office to reserve your seat for all the exciting action! Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

Three Stars:

1) Adam Hobson - PEN

2) Bryan McGregor - PEN

3) Patrick Bordeleau - PEN

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