ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades open home stand with 5-2 loss t o Augusta

February 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (24-19-4) watched the Augusta Lynx (25-19-4) engineer a come-from-behind victory with three third period goals en-route to a 5-2 win on Friday night at Germain Arena in front of a standing room only crowd of 7,220.

The Everblades tallied the only goal in the first period, late in the frame. However both teams had opportunities with the game scoreless. Augusta failed to convert on a 5-on-3 power play midway through the opening period, and J.B. Bittner had his short-handed breakaway thwarted by Augusta goaltender Bobby Goepfert. The only time either team dented the twine in the first 20 minutes of play came on a delayed penalty to Augusta.

With goaltender David Shantz on the bench for the extra attacker Everblades forward Brad Zancanaro raced the puck into the zone on the left side. His back-hand shot from the bottom of the left circle was stopped by Goepfert, but the rebound went right back to Zancanaro who slipped a pass into the slot and onto the stick of defenseman Brad Brown, who pinched in and chipped the puck over the sprawling Goepfert for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 Florida lead at 18:40. Mathieu Melanson added the second assist to the tally.

The 1-0 Florida lead carried into the second period until the Lynx tied the game 7:41 into the period. Matt Auffrey began the play by tying to split the Everblades defenseman, in the process was hooked at and a penalty shot was awarded. On the 1-on-1 encounter with Shantz, Auffrey snapped off a wrist shot that found its way inside the right post for the forward's 18th goal of the season. The penalty shot was the third against the Everblades this season, and the first to be converted into a goal.

The Everblades rebounded and once again took the lead, this time with a power play marker. Preston Callander registered his 9th goal of the season after deflecting Brandon Roach's shot from the point into the upper left corner of the net. The goal came just after a 5-on-3 power play expired and Melanson began the play by setting up Roach with a one-timer that was deflected home at the top of the crease at 11:22.

The lead unfortunately didn't last long as Augusta responded with a power play goal of their own at 14:01. Chase Watson worked the puck from the left corner and slid a pass behind the net to Louis Goulet. The Lynx captain then slid a pass into the right circle onto the tape of Bobby Bolt's stick. Bolt cut across the top of the crease and slipped a shot between the pads and Shantz and into the net tying the score at two.

The third period opened with a big moment as Augusta began the period with 37 seconds of 5-on-3 power play time. The Everblades successfully killed off the opportunities and looked to build on the momentum. Unfortunately it was Augusta that rallied and notched three goals in a span of 3:33 midway through the period to earn their third win of the season over the Everblades.

The first of the trio of goals came at 7:32 when Ryan Dingle took a pass into the zone and split the defense to open a clear path to the goal, then wristed a shot between the pads of Shantz for his 9th goal of the season and a 3-2 Augusta lead. The Lynx then opened a two-goal advantage just a minute and a half later when an Everblades turn over in the neutral zone led to a breakaway opportunity for Bolt, who lifted a shot past Shantz with exactly 11 minutes remaining in the period for his second tally of the night and 11th of the year. The barrage was finished off at 11:05 on Matt Christie's 9th goal of the year to increase the lead to 5-2.

Goepfert took care of the rest, turning away all 12 shots he faced in the third period and stopping 34 of 36 overall to pick up the win and improve his record to 12-7-1. Shantz suffered the loss after allowing the five goals on 34 shots which dropped his record to 3-3-1.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 1-for-7, while the Lynx finished 1-for-8.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Friday, February 9 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.

Three Stars:

1) Bobby Bolt - AUG

2) Bobby Goepfert - AUG

3) Matt Christie - AUG

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 8, 2008


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