ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades finish perfect road trip after 4-1 win

February 18, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - The Florida Everblades (32-15-2) finished a perfect 3-for-3 on their road trip with the help of two goals each by Vince Bellissimo and Derek Damon and 29 saves by goaltender Craig Kowalski to earn a 4-1 win over the South Carolina Stingrays (26-19-5) on Sunday afternoon at the North Charleston Coliseum in front of a crowd of a crowd of 5,006.

The Everblades came out of the gate quickly scoring three first period goals to help set the tone. The scoring opened when Bellissimo tallied a 5-on-3 power play goal just 1:45 into the game by taking a rebound off the end boards and stoking it into the open net. Frank Mac Donald and Ryan Brindley assisted on Bellissimo's 17th goal of the year. Six minutes later Derek Damon completed a 2-on-1 rush for the Everblaes by taking a pass from Dustin Johner and slipping it past Stingrays net minder Daren Machesney at 7:48. Bellissimo collected his second goal of the game in the final two minutes of the period when he took a pass from Brad Parsons and walked in and deked Machesney to the ice and beat him inside the right post for his sixth goal vs. South Carolina this season.

The Everblades added to their lead early in the second period on Damon's second goal of the game when he fired a slap shot from the left circle over Machesney's glove and off the inside of the right goal post. Damon's 10th goal of the season was unassisted and chased Machesney from the net in favor of Davis Parley. The score remained 4-0 in favor of Florida until the mid point of the third period when the Stingrays finally broke through Kowalski. Cam McCaffrey collected his 10th goal of the season after a Kowalski save on Jarrett Konkel's shot from the slot and slipped in through the pads of the Everblades goaltender at 9:39 of the final period.

Kowalski held off the rest of the South Carolina attack to earn his third straight win and improve his record to 19-8-1. Machesney suffered the loss for South Carolina after allowing four goals on 11 shots in the 24:08 he played, which dropped his record to 2-6-1. Parley turned away all 18 shots he faced in relief.

On the power play, the Everblades finished off the night 1-for-9, while the Stingrays closed out the night 0-for-6.

The Florida Everblades, proud affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers, return to action on Wednesday, February 21 when they host the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena. Florida Everblades group and individual game tickets & mini-plans are now available! Reserve your seat for all the exciting action today by calling (239) 948-7825. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on group ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

Three Stars:

1) Derek Damon - FLA

2) Vince Bellissimo - FLA

3) Craig Kowaski - FLA

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 18, 2007


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