ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades survive Mississippi comeback to win 5-4 in shootout

December 28, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


BILOXI, MS - The Florida Everblades (16-10-2) used big night's by forward Brad Herauf and goaltender Justin Peters to survive a strong comeback effort by the Mississippi Sea Wolves (9-18-3) to earn a 5-4 shootout win in front of a crowd of 4,328 on Friday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Herauf turned in a pair of goals in regulation and a shootout goal, while Peters turned away a season high 49 shots to help the Blades win their second straight game and improve to 3-0-0 vs. the Sea Wolves this season.

The Everblades opened the game strong scoring a pair of first period power play goals. Herauf broke the scoreless tie with his fifth goal of the season just 3:57 into the contest by jamming home the loose puck at the right post. Steve Ward began the play with a shot from the blue line that Mississippi goaltender Morgan Cey stopped, then stopped J.B. Bittner's quick shot from the slot before Herauf corralled the puck and opened a 1-0 Florida lead.

Peters was the story throughout the mid part of the first period facing a total of 19 shots, many of quality nature with the Everblades short-handed, but kept the Sea Wolves off the board. That helped set up the Everblades grab a 2-0 lead late in the opening frame. Once again while on the man advantage the Everblades cashed in when Dan Collins one-timed a centering pass into the net with 55 seconds remaining in the period. Derek Damon and Preston Callander assisted on the goal, which was the first of the season for Collins.

The second period began in wild fashion with both teams scoring in the first 40 seconds. The Everblades tallied first, just 25 seconds into the frame. Preston Callander notched his first goal of the season by scooping up a rebound off Cey and chipping over top of the fallen Mississippi goaltender. Collins and Damon assisted on the tally that opened a three-goal Everblade lead. The jubilation however was short-lived as the Sea Wolves answered that goal just 12 seconds later. Former Everblade Kyle McAllister answered by banging home a centering pass at 37 seconds of the frame.

The 3-1 lead for the Everblades would stand going into the third period when the Sea Wolves would begin their comeback. Mississippi out scored the Everblades 3-1 in the final period to force the game to overtime. The Sea Wolves began their comeback effort 3:06 into the period when Stanislav Lascek notched his fourth goal of the season.

The Everblades regained their two-goal lead however on Herauf's second tally of the night, this time with the Everblades short-handed. Herauf raced down the right side of the ice on a 2-on-2 rush, however Lascek collided with his own goaltender taking Cey out of position and allowing Herauf to slip to the middle of the ice and fire home the puck into an empty Mississippi net at 10:28.

The Sea Wolves recovered to tally a pair of late third period goals, both by Jason Tejchma. His first came at 15:22 when he beat Peters on a deflection from the top of the crease. Tejchma's second came with 1:53 remaining in regulation when he broke in from the blue line and slipped a shot from the right side of the crease between the pads of Peters to even the score at four.

After neither team scored in the five-minute overtime period, the game moved to a shootout. The Everblades would out-score the Sea Wolves 3-0 in the shootout with goals coming from Collins, Callander and Herauf, while Peters kept all three Mississippi shooters he faced off the board.

Peters earned the win in his return from the AHL, improving his record to 11-4-1 by stopping 49 of 53 shots he faced, while Cey (5-15-3) earned a tie in the standing after turning away 34 of 38 shots he faced.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 2-for-8, while the Sea Wolves finished 0-for-10.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, December 29 when they travel to Pensacola to take on the Ice Pilots at 8:05 p.m. from the Pensacola Civic Center. The Everblades return home on Friday, January 4 to host the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:30 p.m. 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.

Three Stars:

1) Brad Herauf - FLA

2) Jason Tejchma - MIS

3) Ryan Menei - MIS

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 28, 2007


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