Blades Edge Ice Pilots 5-4
December 21, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (14-6-7) edged the Pensacola Ice Pilots (14-10-4) 5-4 in front of a crowd of 6,347 at TECO Arena on Saturday night. With the win, Florida moved into sole possession of third place in the ECHL's Southeast Division. Florida forward Kevin Brown scored one goal and picked up two assists and forward Marty Johnston had the game winning goal and one assist in the win.
After a scoreless first period, the Everblades struck first on a power play goal off the stick of defenseman Duane Harmer at the :20 mark of the second period. Forward Kevin Brown and forward Tom Buckley picked up the helpers on Harmer's sixth tally of the season. The Ice Pilots came right back in the second period when recently acquired forward Martin Bartek notched his first goal in a Pensacola uniform at the 1:10 mark of the period. Pensacola then took a 2-1 lead after Josh Harrold slipped the puck past Florida netminder Rob Zepp. The Everblades then tied the game at 2-2 when forward Kevin Brown ripped a slapshot into the net on the power play. Forwards Marty Johnston and Tom Buckley drew the assists on Brown's seventh goal of the 2002-03 campaign. The Ice Pilots then took a 3-2 lead on the second goal of the night by forward Martin Bartek. However, the Everblades came right back and tied the game at 3-3 when forward Anthony Battaglia tapped home a loose puck at the 14:27 mark of the second period.
In the third period, the Everblades took a 4-3 lead after Ryan Murphy roofed a shot from a bad angle over the Ice Pilots goaltender Maxime Gingras at the 11:56 mark of the third period. However, the Ice Pilots stormed back to tie the game at 4-4 when Gregor Baumgartner took a nice pass from forward Greg Pankewicz and one timed it past Zepp. The Everblades would answer and take the lead for good at the 18:14 mark after forward Marty Johnston took a pass from forward Kevin Brown and tucked a backhand into the net to seal the Blades 5-4 win.
Florida goaltender Rob Zepp (10-3-4) stopped all 11 of 15 shots he faced while Pensacola netminder Maxime Gingras (11-8-4) stopped 31 of 36 shots. The Everblades were 2 for 5 on the power play while the Ice Pilots were 0 for 2.
Florida takes on the Ice Pilots on Sunday night in game two of the two game series between the two clubs. The puck drops at 7:30 PM.
3 Stars:
1 - Johnston - FLA
2 - Brown - FLA
3 - Bartek - PEN
ECHL Stories from December 21, 2002
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- Rivermen down Kingfish with late goal, 2-1 - Baton Rouge Kingfish
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- Chiefs Lose Third Straight - Johnstown Chiefs
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