Blades Power Way to 4-3 OT Victory
Published on December 28, 2010 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
READING, PA - The Florida Everblades (20-12-1) used a pair of late third period power play goals and a timely deflection in overtime to overcome a two-goal third period deficit and collect a 4-3 overtime victory over the Reading Royals (19-9-1) on Tuesday night at the Sovereign Center.
Matt Pistilli's deflection of an Ethan Graham point shot at 3:47 of overtime sent the Everblades spilling off the bench in celebration of what didn't look like was going to be a victory with four minutes remaining in regulation.
Trailing 3-1 just over four minutes left in the third period, the Everblades went to the power play. With 41 seconds remaining in that power play the Royals were whistled for a delay of game penalty putting the Blades on a 5-on-3 advantage.
The Everblades had been peppering the Reading net to no avail throughout the third period, but couldn't break through until Mitch Fadden's shot from the bottom of the right circle lifted over the glove of Royals goalie Matt Dalton at 16:17. Pistilli and Alex Imbeault collected the assists on Fadden's 15th goal of the season.
On continuation of the power play, Mike McKenzie kept his hot streak going by lifting a nifty back-hand shot from the left side of the crease over the glove of Dalton and just across the goal line at 17:33, capping off the come-back effort. Phil Paquet and Matt Beca registered the helpers on McKenzie's 13th goal of the season.
Earlier in the third period the Royals grabbed what looked to be enough insurance when Yannick Riendeau gave the Royals a 3-1 lead after converting a breakaway at 6:54 after taking a long outlet pass from Louis Liotti.
Although the game ended well for the Everblades, it was the Royals who jumped on the them for a pair of first period goals to get the scoring started. Just 2:30 into the frame Robert Slaney scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone before racing into the offensive zone on the left side where he let a slap shot go from the top of the left circle that sailed past Everblades goaltender Bobby Goepfert.
The score remained a 1-0 advantage until the late stages of the period when a nice passing play by Reading led to their second goal at the 16:45 mark. The play began with Riendeau feeding a pass from the right point to Ryan Cruthers in the left circle. From there Cruthers fired a quick one-time pass to Ben Gordon at the right side of the crease where he was able to slammed home his 11th goal of the season.
The Everblades got back to within a goal in the second period with a short-handed tally late in the frame. Mitch Fadden added to his league-leading point total by bringing the puck up the ice on the right side before feeding a pass across to Lemieux at the bottom of the left circle where he one-timed a shot between the pads of Dalton. Phil Paquet also assisted on Lemieux's 13th goal of the season. The short-handed tally was the seventh scored by the Everblades this season and the fourth allowed by the Royals.
In goal Goepfert saw his record improve to 12-6-1 by stopping 30 of 33 shots in regulation and overtime, while Dalton (11-6-1) earned a tie for Reading after allowing the four goals on 41 shots.
On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 2-of-6, while Reading closed out the game 0-of-5.
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.comor calling 800-745-3000.
The Everblades return to action on Thursday, December 30 when they travel to Reading to take on the Royals at 7:05 p.m. from the Sovereign Center. The Everblades' next home game is Wednesday, January 5 when they host the defending Kelly Cup Champion Cincinnati Cyclones at 7:30 p.m. Visit www.floridaeverblades.comand www.germainarena.comfor more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.
Bud Light 3 Stars:
1 - Matthew Pistilli - FLA
2 - Yannick Riendeau - REA
3 - Francis Lemieux - FLA
ECHL Stories from December 28, 2010
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