ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades Grind Out 2-1 Win Over Wings

Published on April 5, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (1-0) rode 31 saves by goaltender Bobby Goepfert and a pair of second period goals to a big 2-1 win over the Kalamazoo Wings (0-1) in game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Germain Arena.

Although the teams skated to a scoreless first period, it was Kalamazoo that had the better of the chances, out-shooting Florida 13-5. As the opening 20 minutes moved along it was Goepfert that shined, making several spectacular saves, including stopping a breakaway to help keep the Wings off the board.

In the second period the Blades killed off a penalty to start the frame, then got on the board first midway through when Ross Carlson lit the lamp at 8:48 with a nifty back-hand shot from the slot. The play began in the neutral zone with Alex Hutchings bringing the puck across the line before dropping it off for Brad Snetsinger. From the right circle Snetsinger found Carlson in the slot where he lifted home the game's opening goal inside the left post.

Shortly after that, the Everblades penalty killers came up big again, this time killing off a 5-on-3 power play for Kalamazoo, and in the process collecting the eventual game-winning goal. With the Wings power play winding down, Matt Beca blocked a pass at center ice then raced after the loose puck and carried it into the right circle where his wrist shot beat Wings net-minder Ryan Nie on the short-side at 15:30 for the short-handed marker.

With the Blades up 2-0 entering the third period, they had a good chance to extend their lead with a 5-on-3 power play of their own but this time Kalamazoo's penalty killing unit came up big and kept Florida off the board.

The K-Wings then engineered their first goal of the game with good puck movement in the offensive zone eventually leading to Trent Daavettila's shot from the right point to get through traffic and past Goepfert at the 6:12 mark.

From there the Everblades held off the Wings thanks to more big saves by Goepfert, who stopped his second breakaway of the night late in the period, before ending the period with 10 saves.

For Kalamazoo, Nie suffered the loss allowing the two goals on 22 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out the game 0-of-4, while Kalamazoo closed out the night 1-of-6 on the man-advantage.

The Everblades return to action on Wednesday, April 6 when they host the Kalamazoo Wings in Game 2 of the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

Individual tickets to all 2010-11 Florida Everblades home games are on sale now! Tickets are available at the TIB Bank Box Office Monday - Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. Fans can also purchase tickets through TicketMaster by logging onto www.ticketmaster.com or calling 800-745-3000.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from April 5, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central