Blades win 7th straight at home, quiet ing Sea Wolves
March 8, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL -The Florida Everblades (34-20-7) extended their home winning streak to seven with a confident 5-2 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves (24-35-3) in front of a full house at Germain Arena Saturday night.
With the Everblades and Sea Wolves tallying 9 and 10 shots on goal respectively, back-and-forth play dominated the first period. The Everblades took the lead nearly halfway through the first period when Kenndal McArdle brought the crowd of 7,177 to their feet with his first goal as an Everblade in only his second game with the club. The power play marker came at 7:09 of the period with Derek Damon notching his 38th assist of the season, and Ernie Hartlieb chipping in with his 33rd to extend his point scoring streak to eight straight games.
Fresh on the ice after a two-minute penalty for hooking, Adam Taylor nabbed an assist as Mathieu Melanson scored his 26th goal of the season with only 39 seconds remaining in the first period after racing into the zone on the left side before lifting a shot over the glove of Sea Wolves net-minder Ryan Munce. The first period ended with the Everblades leading 2-0.
The back-and-forth battle continued into the second period. The Everblades upped their lead with a goal by Mike McLean, his 9th of the season, when he broke in alone on Munce and beat him with a quick deke to the backhand at 9:54. Brett Peterson and David Comacchia chipped in with the helpers.
Brandon Roach quickly added to the dominating lead when he fired a shot from the top of the right circle past Munce at 12:50 to open a 4-0 Florida lead. The goal, Roach's 12th of the season, chased Munce from the net in favor of back-up Morgan Cey. Preston Callander extended his points scoring streak to six straight games with an assist, and McLean added the second assist. The Everblades' aggressive play, heavy hitting, and concrete goaltending by Kevin Nastiuk allowed them to carry the 4-0 lead into the second intermission.
The Sea Wolves came out jumping in the third period scoring twice in the first 90 seconds. Ten seconds into the period, the Sea Wolves removed their zero from the board with a goal by Jason Tejchma after batting the puck from the air over the shoulder of Nastiuk. Tejchma's 20th goal of the season was assisted by Gio Flamminio. A determined Mississippi team added another goal just 1:19 later when Andy Contois tallied his17th goal of the year after banging home a rebound at the right post, cutting the Florida in half..
The Everblades settled in to slow the Mississippi momentum keeping the score 4-2 until the late stages of the third period. With less than a minute of play remaining, the Sea Wolves pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, and the Everblades took advantage of the open net with a goal by Derek Damon, his 22nd of the season.
Nastiuk improved to 2-0-2 in his last four games and to 4-2-2 overall after stopping 29 of 31 shots. Munce (17-14-0) took the loss allowing four goals in 33 minutes on 19 shots. Cey finished off the game by turning away all 15 shots he faced.
On the power play, the Everblades closed out the night 1-for-3, and Mississippi finished the game 0-for-1.
Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Tuesday, March 11 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
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