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ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Special Teams Come Up Big Again In 6-2 Win

November 3, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


DULUTH, GA - The Florida Everblades (4-2-1) earned their second straight win with some excellent penalty killing and incredible goaltending to hand the Gwinnett Gladiators (2-2-2) a 6-2 loss in front of a crowd of 3,670 on Monday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.

The Everblades' penalty killers were their best on this night, killing off 9 of 10 Gwinnett power plays and goaltender David Leggio turned away 49 shots, including 21 in the third period, to collect his second win of the year. On the power play, the Everblades continued their surge as well, tallying three times with the man advantage.

Power plays dominated the opening period of play between these South Division rivals with both clubs notching a goal while on the man-advantage. Gwinnett opened the scoring at 5:32 when former Everblade Jeff Prough took a pass at the top of the crease from Scott Marchesi and slid it past Everblades goaltender David Leggio.

The Everblades didn't take long to tie the game however when Ernie Hartlieb notched his fourth goal of the season at 9:51 after taking a pass from newcomer Yannick Tifu at the left post where he tapped by former Everblades goalie Kevin Nastiuk. Kevin Baker collected the second assist on the tally.

Entering the second period the Everblades enjoyed a carry over 5-on-3 power play for 1:46. Florida cashed in quickly when Baker tallied his third power play goal in the last two games just 29 seconds into the frame to open a 2-1 Everblades lead. Tifu and Hartlieb notched the assists on Baker's fourth goal of the season.

The Everblades didn't take long to extend their lead to 3-1 when Ryan Lang tallied his second goal of the year at 4:44. Lang, who had just seen his penalty come to an end, stepped out of the penalty box and found the puck sliding through the neutral zone after Ross Carlson cleared the zone. Lang raced onto the loose puck and broke in alone on Nastiuk where he beat him with a back-hand shot inside the right post.

For the second time in the game, the Everblades took advantage of a penalty ending to score their fourth goal of the night. Prior to the tally, the Everblades penalty killers were called upon to step up which they did by killing off back-to-back 5-on-3 power play chances by Gwinnett. After the final penalty to Kyle Peto came to an end, he and Hartlieb raced in on a 2-on-1. The Everblades failed to convert on that chance, but Hartlieb recollected the puck and found Baker alone in the slot where he wristed home his fifth goal of the season at 10:34.

Gwinnett got one goal back a couple minutes later when defenseman Jeff Mason took a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle that found it's way past Leggio on the shot side at 12:06, but the Everblades countered that with their fourth goal of the period at 17:05 to re-open their three goal lead. Lang notched his second goal of the night on the effort by deflecting a shot by Aaron Brocklehurst past Nastiuk. Jonathan Paiement registered the second assist on the goal.

The Everblades penalty killers were once again called upon to come up big in the third period when Florida found themselves down at least one man for six straight minutes. The penalty killers and Leggio came up huge keeping Gwinnett off the scoreboard, despite the fact that the Gladiators fired 21 shots on net in the final 20 minutes. As salt in the wound, while killing off their final penalty in the game, Mathieu Roy tallied his first goal of the season short-handed at 16:25 after taking a good lead pass by Baker into the zone and beating Nastiuk with a beautiful back-hand goal inside the left post.

Nastiuk (2-2-2) suffered the loss for the Gladiators allowing the six goals on just 22 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 3-of-9.

BEWARE OF THE BITE! Action You Can Sink Your Teeth Into! 2008-09 Florida Everblades season tickets are still available! Be sure to reserve your piece of the action for next season! The Everblades' next game is on Monday, November 3 when they travel to Gwinnett to take on the Gladiators at 7:05 p.m. The 'Blades next home game is on Friday, November 7 when they host the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com or call 239-948-PUCK for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

3 Stars:

1 - Ryan Lang - FLA

2 - David Leggio - FLA

3 - Kevin Baker - FLA

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