ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades upend Augusta 4-3

Published on February 1, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


AUGUSTA, GA -The Florida Everblades (26-13-2) used two goals from Jon Lehun and 26 saves by goaltender Craig Kowalski to snap the Augusta Lynx's (25-19-1) eight-game home winning streak with a 4-3 come-from-behind win on Thursday night at James Brown Arena in front of a crowd of 2,042.

A fast-paced first period saw the teams flow back-and-forth with chances, but no goals in the first 11 minutes of the frame. But midway through the first, the teams exploded for three goals in a 1:18 span. Jon Lehun opened the scoring for the Everblades ripping a power play goal past Augusta net minder Dave McKee at 11:27 of the period. Lehun's 13th goal of the year was unassisted. The Everblades had barely finished celebrating Lehun's goal when Ryan Brindley gave Florida a 2-0 lead when he tapped in a pass from rookie Jarret Lukin just 45 seconds later. Ernie Hartlieb picked up the other assist on Brindley's second goal of the season.

The Lynx however responded by scoring the next three goals. August trimmed Florida's lead to 2-1 just 32 seconds after Brindley's tally when Joe Pereira chipped a rebound past Kowalski. Leading 2-1 the Lynx tied the game with their 17th short-handed goal of the season when Ryan Lang banked a shot off Kowalski just 2:09 into the frame. After that, the Everblades had a huge chance to regain the lead as they held a power play for a consecutive total of 5:11, but Augusta killed off all the time, then took the lead shortly after on Pereira's second goal of the night at 9:51. Florida settled in and eventually battled back to tie the game on Derek Damon's seventh goal of the season with 1:15 remaining in the period. Adam Taylor and David Brine picked up the helpers on the tying goal.

Early in the third period the Everblades regained the lead when Lehun collected his second tally of the night when he wristed a shot into the upper left corner of the net from the right circle at 8:06 of frame. Dustin Johner and Damon collected the helpers that put the 'Blades up for good.

Kowalski held off a furious attack by Augusta to earn the win in goal, raising his record to 14-7-1 while McKee suffered the loss by allowing the four goals on 19 shots, which dropped his record to 19-9-0.

On the power play, the Everblades finished off the night 1-for-9, while the Lynx closed out the night 0-for-5.

The Florida Everblades, proud affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers, return to action on Friday, February 2 when they travel to Charlotte, NC to take on the Checkers at 7:30 p.m. from Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Florida Everblades group and individual game tickets & mini-plans are now available! Reserve your seat for all the exciting action today by calling (239) 948-7825. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on group ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

Three Stars:

1) Jon Lehun - FLA

2) Joe Pereira - AUG

3) Derek Damon - FLA

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ECHL Stories from February 1, 2007


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