ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades suffer deja vu as Wildcatters win 4-3 in OT

December 14, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - For the second straight game the Florida Everblades (14-8-2) saw Ross Carlson of the Texas Wildcatters (19-2-4) tally an overtime winning goal to give Texas a 4-3 decision.

Carlson's second straight overtime game winner and 10th goal of the year quieted the crowd of 5,207 after finishing a rush up the right side of the ice. After accepting a pass from Cleve Kinley, Carlson raced through the right circle and on the back-hand flipped up a puck up over the left should of Everblades net-minder Tyler Plante 1:11 into the extra session.

The only difference in this game from Tuesday night's 4-3 win by Texas in overtime, was that it was the Wildcatters that had to fight from behind to force overtime, scoring with 20 seconds remaining in regulation. With the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker the Wildcatters worked the puck in the offensive zone. David Schulz threw the puck to the front of the net from the right boards where Marc Fulton deflected it past Plante, completing the come-back for the Wildcatters and sending the game into overtime.

Earlier in the third period, the Everblades seemed to grab control of the game when Brad Zancanaro notched his seventh goal of the season with Florida on the power play. Zancanaro took a pass from Dan Collins at the bottom the left circle, then stepped out to the front of the net where he caught Texas goaltender Anton Khudobin moving and slipped a shot between his pads at 5:05 opening a 3-1 Everblades lead. However just 39 seconds later the Wildcatters found the back of the net when Scott Champagne deflected a pass from Kevin Baker by Plante, trimming the Florida lead to 3-2.

A high-paced, and hard-hitting start to the game saw the Everblades open the game's scoring late in the first period. Brad Herauf and Jarret Lukin teamed up on a nice give-and-go to get Florida on the board at 16:51 of the opening period. Herauf fed a pass to Lukin at the bottom of the right circle. Lukin then slipped a nice pass back to Herauf who skated into the slot and unleashed a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net for his third goal of the season.

The 1-0 lead stood into the second period until Texas tied the score at one early in the middle frame. Baker tapped home a loose puck that snuck between the pads of Plante at 6:08 of the period. The Everblades battled back however to re-gain the lead late in the period. While on the power play, J.B. Bitter let a shot fly from his knees in the left circle that soared up over the glove of Khudobin and into the back of the net at 17:53. Brandon Roach and Ernie Hartlieb assisted on Bittner's first goal of the season and his first as an Everblade.

In goal, Plante, who stopped 34 of 38 shots, earned a tie in the standings and saw his record go to 4-4-1, while Khudobin improved to 9-0-3 on the season after turning away 26 of 29 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 2-for-5, while the Wildcatters finished 0-for-2.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, December 15 when they host the Texas Wildcatters at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena. 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.

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ECHL Stories from December 14, 2007


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