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ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades end road trip with 4-1 loss to Texas

February 2, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


BEAUMONT, TX - The Florida Everblades (24-18-4) suffered their third straight defeat as the Texas Wildcatters (35-4-7) engineered a come-from-behind 4-1 victory on Saturday night at Ford Arena in front of a crowd of 2,111. The win was the seventh straight for the Wildcatters.

A feisty first period between the South Division rivals featured a little bit of everything for the fans. Each team notched a goal in the opening frame and both teams met several times for pushing and shoving matches. The game opened not with a goal but a scrap between a pair of heavyweights as Florida's Brad Brown duked it out with Texas' Riley Emmerson just four seconds into the game.

Once play settled in the Everblades opened the scoring just 1:39 in, when Dan Collins flicked a shot from the bottom of the right circle past Wildcatters net-minder Jeff Pietrasiak. Derek Damon assisted on Collins' fourth goal of the season.

The Wildcatters answered the goal with a power play tally at 5:23 of the frame. Kevin Baker registered his 11th goal of the season while Texas held a 4-on-3 power play. Baker's one-time shot from the left circle came off a pass from Dan Welch and sailed past Everblades goaltender Justin Peters.

Overall the teams combined for 42 penalty minutes in the first 20 minutes of play.

The second period featured more fireworks, but no goals as the club went to the second intermission still tied 1-1. The scoring chances were there for Florida as the Everblades held a 33-18 shot advantage over two periods, but it was the goaltenders that were the focal point of the frame with Peters stopping all 10 shots he faced and Pietrasiak turning away all 16 shots on him.

The physical play continued in the period however as Florida's Ryan Van Buskirk dropped the gloves against Emmerson and the teams overall combining for another 32 penalty minutes.

The teams turned their attention to offense as the third period began and Texas eventually broke the 1-1 tie midway through the frame when Baker notched his second of the game and 12th of the season after one-timing a centering pass by Max Taylor by Peters at 7:19. The Wildcatters added insurance at 12:05 when a bouncing puck fortuitously found the stick of Taylor who lifted a shot from the right post into the net for a 3-1 lead.

Texas later sealed the win and a cleared puck from deep in the Wildcatter made its way out to the neutral zone where Scott Champagne skated into it and raced into the Everblades zone before beating Peters on the breakaway with 2:22 remaining in regulation.

Peters (16-10-2) stood strong in net for the Everblades, but suffered the loss after allowing the four goals on 32 Texas shots. Pietrasiak (5-5-1) won his third straight game by turning away 41 of 42 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 0-for-9, while the Wildcatters finished 1-for-7.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Friday, February 8 when they host the Augusta Lynx at 7:30 p.m. 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.

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