Everblades take 2-0 series lead with 4-3 OT win
April 25, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades grabbed a 2-0 series lead over the Greenville Grrrowl with a 4-3 overtime victory at Germain Arena. Steve Saviano notched his first goal of the playoffs just 16 seconds into the extra session sending the crowd of over 5,400 into a frenzy.
Saviano took a feed in the neutral zone from David Lunbohm and skated into the offensive zone, where he let a wrist shot go that beat Greenville goaltender Mike Brodeur on the stick side. The goal for Saviano came after he and Lundbohm missed an opportunity on a 2-on-1 break in the final 12 seconds of regulation.
The Grrrowl forced the overtime after Sam Paolini tied the game at three just 51 seconds into the third period. The goal chased Everblades starting goalie Tyler MacKay for Craig Kowalski, who then proceeded to stop all nine shots he faced over the remaining 19:09 of regulation.
The Everblades twice notched late period goals during the game to take one-goal leads into the second and third periods. In the first period, the Everblades responded with a pair of goals just 21 seconds apart after allowing a shorthanded goal to Greenville midway through the frame.
Scott Balan tallied his first of the playoffs at 9:45 with Greenville's first shorthanded marker of the post-season. However, Kris Vernarsky and Brad Church scored at 17:03 and 17:24 respectively to give the Everblades a 2-1 lead going into the second period. The pair of goals sent Greenville starting goaltender Mike Morrison to the bench in favor of Brodeur.
In the middle stanza each team notched a goal with Greenville scoring first to tie the score at two. Richard Pitirri let a quick one-time shot go from the left circle beating MacKay into the upper right corner of the net. Again, the Everblades responded with a late goal, this time with Lundbohm notching his league leading 6th playoff goal with just nine seconds left in the period.
The Everblades improved to 2-0 in overtime games, while the Grrrowl fell to 2-2 in games decided in overtime.
Kowalski earned the win stopping all nine shots he faced to climb to 1-0 in the post-season, while Brodeur suffered the loss, allowing two goals on 23 shots faced, knocking his record to 2-2. MacKay finished the night with nine saves on 12 shots, and Morrison stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced.
Neither team converted on the power play with the Everblades going 0-for-2 and Greenville 0-for-3.
The Florida Everblades and Greenville Grrrowl play game three of the best-of-five series on Tuesday, April 26 at 7:05 p.m. from the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC. The Everblades have placed tickets for playoff game "E" on sale and fans may purchase them by stopping by the Germain Arena box office or over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309. In addition, tickets are available online by visiting www.ticketmaster.com.
Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events. Catch all the action with the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter on SportsRadio 770 AM, and tune in at 7:05 p.m. for the Florida Lottery pre-game show.
3 Stars:
1) Steve Saviano - FLA
2) David Lundbohm - FLA
3) Tim O'Connell - FLA
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