ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades fall short at Mississippi, 4-3

January 18, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


BILOXI, MS - The Florida Everblades (21-14-3) suffered a tough road defeat as former Everblade Kyle McAllister burned the Everblades for the eventual game-winning goal with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, giving the Mississippi Sea Wolves (16-20-3) a 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Friday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum front of a crowd of 6,283.

McAllister's eighth goal of the season came with Mississippi on the power play with 3:41 remaining in the third period, completing a come-back effort after the Everblades jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the late stages of the first period. The win was Mississippi's eighth in their last nine games, and their second straight over the Everblades.

A high-intensity first period saw the Everblades jump out quick, scoring the game's first two goals before the Sea Wolves rallied the send teams to the locker rooms with Florida leading 2-1. Kirk MacDonald opened the game's scoring after converting a rebound by Mississippi goaltender Ryan Munce into his ninth goal of the season. Preston Callander began the play at center ice feeding a pass to Derek Damon on the left wing. Damon then let a slap shot go from the top of the left circle that Munce saved, but the rebound slid out to the slot where MacDonald raced onto it and lifted into the net at 11:42.

The Everblades extended their lead to 2-0 at 16:20 when David Cornacchia's shot from between the circles deflected off Munce's pads and into the net. The play began with Ernie Hartlieb handling the puck in the right corner where he slid it behind the net to Mathieu Melanson who then fed a perfect pass out to Cornacchia for his seven goal of the season.

Mississippi answered with their lone goal of the period with 57 seconds remaining in the frame. Torry Gajda collected his sixth goal of the season after chipping a loose puck from a goal-mouth scramble into the net past Everblades net-minder David Shantz.

The Sea Wolves continued their rally into the second period, out-shooting Florida 17-11 and scoring twice in the first five minutes of the frame to carry a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. The first of the two Mississippi goals came just 1:38 into the period when Travis Lisabeth banked a shot from the bottom of the right circle off Shantz and across the goal line tying the score 2-2. The Sea Wolves then took their first lead of the night at 4:15 when Lance Monych tallied his team-leading 17th goal of the season by wristing a shot from just below the top of the right circle and past Shantz for a 3-2 advantage.

The third period opened well for the Everblades as they tied the game at three on a good shot by Brett Peterson from the left point that snuck its way through traffic in front of Munch and into the back of the net just 2:39 into the period. Peterson's first goal of the season came on an assist by Dan Collins.

The score remained tied a three until McAllister's tally late in the period. The Everblades, with the goaltender pulled, put together strong pressure in the closing moments, but Munce made a couple key saves to keep the Everblades from tying the contest.

In net, Shantz saw his record fall to 3-1-0 after allowing the four goals on 37 shots, while Munce improved to 11-2-0 after stopping 28 of 31 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 0-for-6, while the Sea Wolves finished 1-for-5.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, January 19 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, January 25 when they host the South Carolina Stingrays 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.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 18, 2008


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