ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades welcome two-millionth fan as team rolls to 5-1 win over Pensacola

Published on February 10, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - A historic night in Florida Everblades history saw the Everblades (29-14-2) win their third straight home game with a 5-1 decision over the Pensacola Ice Pilots (14-32-2) on Saturday night at Germain Arena in front of a crowd of 6,393, that included the two-millionth fan in team history.

The two-millionth fan in team history was Eric Christensen who walked through the gates to attend his first Everblades game just before the 7:30 p.m. start time. Christensen and the rest of the Everblades faithful however were silenced early in the game as Pensacola opened the scoring when Rene Gauthier jammed a loose puck past Everblades net minder Craig Kowalski 7:01 into the game to notch his first goal of the season.

The Everblades however responded in a big way by scoring the game's next five goals. Jon Lehun drew the Everblades even with his 16th goal of the year at 9:55 of the opening period. Derek Damon and Ernie Hartlieb collected the assists. The 'Blades then took the lead for good when Brad Zancanaro tallied the eventual game-winner by back-handing a shot from the left circle just inside the left post at 16:12. David Brine earned the lone assist on Zancanaro's eighth goal of the season.

Florida extended their lead by two early in the second period when they scored a pair of goals separated by 66 seconds. Brine notched his seventh goal of the season 4:35 into the middle period by wristing a short-handed goal through the pads of Pensacola goaltender Michael Mole. Zancanaro assisted on Brine's second short-handed tally of the year and the team's league-leading 18th of the year. Just 1:06 later Adam Taylor banged home a rebound from the doorstep to open a 4-1 Everblades lead. Brad Parsons and Vince Bellissimo assisted.

In the third period, the Everblades salted the game away on Bellissimo's slap shot from the left circle that powered through Mole at 9:40 of the frame. Taylor and Parsons collected the assists on Bellissimo's 13th goal of the season.

Kowalski did the rest, stopping 31 of 32 shots to post the win, his fifth in his last seven games, and increase his record to 16-7-1. Mole suffered the loss allowing the five goals on 29 shots to see his record drop to 8-13-1.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out the night 1-for-4, while the Ice Pilots failed to convert on any of their six chances.

The Florida Everblades, proud affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers, return to the ice on Wednesday, February 14 when they host the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. from Germain Arena. Florida Everblades full season 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.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from February 10, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central