ECHL Florida Everblades

'Blades win 30th, beat Lynx 4-2

Published on February 22, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


AUGUSTA, GA - The Florida Everblades (30-20-4) brought an end to their four-game road losing skid and picked up two big points in the standings behind the strong goaltending of David Shantz who won his third straight, helping the Everblades to a 4-2 win over the Augusta Lynx (25-22-4) on Saturday night at James Brown Arena in front of a crowd of 3,282. The win was Florida's third straight over the Lynx and allowed them to end the season series with a 4-3-0 record vs. Augusta.

A wild first period saw scoring a-plenty as the teams combined to score four goals in the first nine minutes of the game, but the key was the Everblades who jumped on the Lynx and their goaltender Bobby Goepfert scoring three goals in the game's first five minutes. The scoring opened quickly on a shot from the right boards by defenseman Steve Czech just 1:31 into the contest. Brad Herauf and Ryan Van Buskirk assisted on Czech's third goal of the season.

The scoring frenzy continued for the Everblades at 3:25 of the frame while the Blades enjoyed their first power play opportunity of the game. With the puck in the right corner, Preston Callander worked a pass back to Brandon Roach who was alone at the top of the left circle. Roach had time to set and wind up a good hard shot that sailed under the glove of Goepfert and into the net. Mathieu Melanson added the second assist on Roach's 11th goal of the season.

Kirk MacDonald got in on the scoring fun tallying the eventual game winning goal at 5:03. A play that began as a 2-on-1 rush up ice for the Everblades saw MacDonald carry the puck into the left circle. After seeing his pass option was cut off, MacDonald let a shot fly that Goepfert stopped, but the Lynx net-minder juggled the rebound and MacDonald was able to chase onto to loose puck and bang it into the open net. The unassisted goal chased Goepfert from the cage in favor of backup goaltender Gerald Coleman.

Augusta did get recover to get one of the three goals back at 8:11 of the period when Adrian Veideman snapped a shot from between the circles by Everblades goaltender David Shantz. Louis Goulet and Matt Auffrey assisted on Veideman's 7th goal of the season that trimmed Florida's lead to 3-1.

The fast-paced action continued in the second period as both teams raced end-to-end during the middle stanza and both teams notching a goal. The scoring picked up with the Everblades adding to their 3-1 lead just over five minutes into the frame. Jarret Lukin collected his 7th goal of the year when he let a wrist shot fly from the top of the right circle that snuck past Coleman and into the net. The unassisted goal came at 5:15 of the frame to open a three-goal lead.

Once again however the Lynx cut the Everblade lead down to two, this time with a power play goal. Bobby Bolt notched his 12th goal of the season while Augusta enjoyed a 5-on-3 power play. After Shantz stopped a shot from the high slot by Eric Lundberg, Bolt scooped up the rebound at the top of the crease and banged it past the Everblades net-minder at 10:26.

The Everblades did a strong job choking the Lynx offense in the third period limiting them to just four shots on goal while the Everblades managed seven shots toward Coleman.

When the dust settled the Everblades earned their 30th win of the season thanks in part to Shantz, who improved to 6-3-1 on the season by stopping 27 of 29 shots. Goepfert (12-8-1) suffered the loss allowing the first three Everblades goals on five shots in the 5:03 he played. Coleman finished off the game stopping 18 of 19 shots in the 54 minutes he played.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 1-for-3, while the Lynx finished 1-for-4.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, February 23 when they travel to Charlotte to take on the Checkers at 7:30 p.m. from Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Everblades next home game is on Friday, March 7 when they host the Mississippi Sea Wolves 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.

Three Stars:

1) Kirk MacDonald - FLA

2) Steve Czech - FLA

3) Gerald Coleman - AUG

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics

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