Blades Skate Past Cottonmouths 7-4
February 21, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (30-15-10) defeated the Columbus Cottonmouths (18-28-8) 7-4 in front of 6,571 at TECO Arena on Friday night. Florida forward Keith Anderson netted two goals and center Don Smith tied an Everblades record with four assists in the victory.
The Cottonmouths got on the board first on a backhand shot off the stick of forward Mike Nelson at the 5:01 mark of the first period. The Everblades then came back and tied the contest at 6:47 of the first period on a quick slapshot goal from forward Don Smith at the 6:47 mark. Recently acquired defenseman Jon Insana picked up the lone helper on Smith's 11th goal of the season. Florida then grabbed a 2-1 lead on the power play after forward Kevin Brown stepped into the slot and blasted a slap shot past Columbus netminder Matus Koster. Defensemen Sean Curry and Brian Goudie registered the assists on Brown's 18th tally of the year. The Everblades then jumped out to a 3-1 lead after Keith Anderson tucked in a rebound off of a Don Smith shot at the 19:23 mark of the first period.
In the second period, Florida poured it on and made it 4-1 on a wrist shot from the point off the stick of defenseman Lee Ruff. Florida then took a commanding 5-1 lead after Tom Buckley jammed in a rebound at the 10:21 mark of the period. Forward Tom Nelson and defenseman Lee Ruff drew the assists on Buckley's eighth goal of the season. Everblades forward Keith Anderson then picked up his second goal of the night after he tapped in a Don Smith cross ice pass to make it 6-1 Florida. The Everblades then continued to pour it on and made it 7-1 after forward Ryan Stewart slipped home a rebound at the 17:52 mark of the period.
In the third period the Cottonmouths mounted a comeback and scored just over two minutes in to the period on a goal off the stick of forward John Morlang. The Cottonmouths then notched a shorthanded goal by forward JJ Hunter to make it 7-3. Columbus rounded out the scoring after forward Jeff Zehr deflected a Mitch Fritz point shot to make it 7-4.
Florida goaltender Randy Petruk (1-0-0) stopped 21 of 25 shots he faced while Columbus netminder Matus Koster (13-14-3) stopped 34 of 41 shots and was replaced at the beginning of the third period by Mike Morrison who stopped 10 of 10 shots he faced in the third period. The Everblades were 1 for 5 on the power play while the Cottonmouths were 0 for 1.
The Blades take on the Cottonmouths on Saturday night at TECO Arena. The puck drops at 7:38 PM. The game will be televised on WEVU UPN-8. All 72 regular season games can be heard on Sportsradio 770 AM and on the web at www.floridaeverblades.com.. For group or season tickets call (239) 948-7825, for single game tickets call Ticketmaster at (239) 334-3309.
3 Stars:
1 - Anderson - FLA
2 - Smith - FLA
3 - Insana - FLA
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