Everblades fall to Ice Pilots 6-4
December 22, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (15-12-1) saw their three-game winning streak snapped with a 6-4 loss to the Pensacola Ice Pilots (15-5-3) on Wednesday night at Germain Arena.
A quiet first period saw the Ice Pilots notch the only goal of the period when Ryan Vince beat Everblades goaltender Craig Kowalski 4:45 into the game for the early 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until Matt Pagnutti tied the game 2:04 into the second period when his slap shot beat Pensacola net-minder Todd Ford. The goal began a wild second period which saw each team score three times. Florida took a 2-1 lead on a power play goal by Brad Church at 10:05 and then extended their lead to 3-1 when Damian Surma notched his 13th goal of the season at 12:35. However, it didn't take Pensacola long to get back in the game with David Turon scoring just 11 seconds after Surma to bring the Everblades lead back to one goal. The Ice Pilots tied the game at three at 16:44 on Dwayne Hay's 12th goal of the year, then took the lead for good with 2:25 remaining in the second period on Cory Stillman's second goal of the season.
The Everblades began the third period with a goaltending change, sending Rob Zepp between the pipes, but the 'Blades fell down by two goals 7:14 into the third period when the Ice Pilots took advantage of a double-minor high sticking penalty by Brent McDonald. Nick Lindberg tallied the eventual game-winning goal on the power play to give Pensacola a 5-3 lead. Florida battled back to within one goal when Matt Hendricks notched his team leading 15th goal of the year by deflecting home a shot with 1:44 remaining in the game, but that was as close as the 'Blades would get. Pensacola sealed the win with an empty net goal by Tyler Beechey at 19:25.
Zepp took the loss for the Everblades in goal allowing one goal on nine shots faced, dropping his record to 5-7-0. Kowalski played the first 40 minutes, allowing four goals on 17 shots. Ford raised his record to 7-0-0 by stopping 39 of 43 Florida shots in net for the Ice Pilots. The Everblades finished the night 1-for-4 on the power play, while Pensacola closed out the night 1-for-3 on the man advantage.
Florida returns to action on Tuesday, December 28 when they travel to Pensacola to take on the Ice Pilots at 8:05 p.m. You can hear all of the Everblades action on SportsRadio 770 AM or via internet by visiting www.floridaeverblades.com, www.abc-7.com, and www.nbc-2.com with the "Voice of the Everblades" Kevin Reiter calling the play-by-play.
3 Stars:
1 - Ryan Vince - PEN
2 - Damian Surma - FLA
3 - Nick Lindberg - PEN
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