'Blades suffer first loss, fall 3-1 to Checkers
October 18, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (1-1-0) suffered their loss of the 2008-09 season falling 3-1 to Charlotte Checkers (1-1-0) on Saturday night at Germain Arena in front of a crowd of 5,893.
The Checkers rebounded after losing 6-3 to the Everblades a night before and used solid goaltending by Jeff Jakaitis and sound defensive play to stymie the Everblades offensive attack. The Everblades had their chances, out shooting Charlotte 36-20, and hitting the goal post three times throughout the course of the night, but it wasn't enough to win their second straight game to open the season.
The game started off good for the Everblades as Ernie Hartlieb notched his second goal of the season just 2:06 into the first period. Hartlieb rifled a shot home from the slot after Jakaitis gave up a long rebound off a Mathieu Roy shot from the left circle.
The Checkers responded a little more than four minutes later when Matthew Ford scored the first of his two goals at 6:25 of the first period with Charlotte on the power play to tie the game at one. The teams went to the locker room tied at one despite the Everblades holding a 15-6 shot advantage.
Charlotte tallied the eventual game-winning goal just 32 seconds into the second period after Jared Nightingale's shot from the right point rang off the inside of the left post and dropped into the crease where Ryan Muphy swept the loose puck across the line for a 2-1 lead.
The Checkers added to the lead early in the third period when Ford notched his second goal of the night at 2:26. Off a left circle face off win Ford fanned on his initial shot, then recollected the puck to fire a shot from the top of the left circle over the shoulder of Everblades goaltender Anton Khudobin for a 3-1 advantage.
The Checkers held strong down the stretch blocking several Everblade passing attempts and shots, plus killing off a 5-on-3 Everblades power play to collect their first win of the season.
In net Khudobin suffered the loss allowing the three goals on 20 shots, while Jakaitis improved to 1-0-0 by stopping 35 of 36 shots.
On the power play, the Everblades were 0-for-6, while the Checkers finished the night 1-for-7.
BEWARE OF THE BITE! Action You Can Sink Your Teeth Into! 2008-09 Florida Everblades full and half season tickets are still available for as little as $252 per/seat! Be sure to reserve your piece of the action for next season! The Everblades' next game is on Saturday, October 18 when they host the Charlotte Checkers from Germain Arena at 7:30 p.m.! Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com or call 239-948-PUCK for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.
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