ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades Overcome Third Period Deficit to Pull off 4-3 Shootout Win Over Reading

Published on January 21, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (25-18-2) overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to notch their fourth consecutive victory after knocking off the Reading Royals (23-11-4) in a shootout 4-3 on Friday night at Germain Arena.

The Everblades fell behind early in the contest giving up the game's first goal 2:29 into the contest when Eric Castonguay collected a rebound the pads of Everblades goalie Bobby Goepfert at the right side of the crease and slipped home his seventh goal of the season.

Later in the period the Royals opened a 2-0 lead with the first of their two power play goals of the night after Casey Haines deflected a point shot from Rob Kwiet past Goepfert at 14:33.

The Everblades however started to get some offense going in the second period. After being out-shot 7-4 in the opening 20 minutes, the Everblades battled back with 10 shots in the second period and late in the frame cut the Reading lead to one.

Ross Carlson tallied the first of his two goals at 18:20 after taking Mike McKenzie's right corner pass at the side of the net and firing a quick shot into the upper corner of the net. Cedric McNicoll also picked up a helper on Carlson's seventh goal of the season by starting the play in the neutral zone with a dump-in to the corner.

The excitement gained by the Blades and their fans however was short-lived as Florida was whistled for a pair of penalties in the closing 90 seconds giving Reading a 5-on-3 power play. The Royals didn't take long to convert scoring their second power play marker of the night with 12 seconds left in the frame after Yannick Riendeau one-timed home a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

The Everblades, who lost forwards Mathieu Roy and Francis Lemieux in the second period, managed to engineer their seventh win of the season when trailing entering the third period with a strong third period that saw them out-shoot the Royals 20-7.

David Fischer got the come-back started with his second goal of the season at 7:38 of the period. Fischer took a nice pass from Jordan Staal in the right circle and roofed a shot over the glove of Royals net-minder Mike Hutchinson to trim the Reading lead to 3-2.

Carlson then completed the comeback in regulation with his second tally of the night at 14:59 of the third period. Off a right side face-off win by McNicoll to Ethan Graham at the right point, Carlson positioned himself to collect the puck and rifle a shot from the high slot on net. Hutchinson got a piece of the shot with his glove, but not enough as it dropped behind him and into the net, tying the score at three.

After neither team scored in the five-minute overtime period, the game moved to a shootout, where the goaltenders dominated. Neither team scored in the first three rounds, but in round four Everblades rookie Tony Mosey slipped a shot between the pads of Hutchinson for the lone shootout goal. Goepfert stopped Haines in the fifth round for Reading to seal the win for Florida.

For Goepfert the win was his fourth straight, which matched a season high, stopping 22 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime to improve his record to 17-8-2. Hutchinson picked up a tie in the standings after allowing making 33 saves in regulation and overtime, and saw his record go to 3-2-3.

The win improved the Everblades to 4-1-0 vs. Reading in the season series.

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.

The Everblades return to action on Saturday, January 22 when they host the Reading Royals at 7:00 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.

Bud Light 3 Stars:

1 - Ross Carlson - FLA

2 - Bobby Goepfert - FLA

3 - Yannick Riendeau - REA

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics

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ECHL Stories from January 21, 2011


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