ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Stop Steelheads 4-2

November 10, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


BOISE, ID –  The Florida Everblades (5-4-0) used a hat-trick from Matt Hendricks and several big saves from goaltender Craig Kowalski to pick up a 4-2 victory over the defending Kelly Cup champion Idaho Steelheads (5-3-0) on Wednesday night from the Bank of America Centre in Boise Idaho.  The hat-trick was Florida's third of the season. The Everblades started off the scoring midway though the opening period when Damian Surma notched his league-leading 8th goal of the season when he flipped a back-hand shot over the glove of Idaho goaltender Frank Doyle at 9:34 of the first period.  The lead stood until the Steelheads just snuck a shot across the goal line and past Kowalski at the 17:06 mark to tie the game. Each team notched a goal in the second period as well, with the Everblades taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play scoring 1:20 into the period on Matt Hendricks' 4th goal of the year.  However, the lead held only for three minutes before the Steelheads tied the game at two.  Peter Metcalf slipped a shot over the goal line at 4:21 of the middle stanza to even the score.  Florida had a chance to take a late lead in the final four seconds of the game when David Lundbohm was awarded a penalty shot after being pulled down on a breakaway, but Doyle stopped the attempt with a glove save to keep the score tied. In a wide open third period, both team had several chances, but it was Kowalski who came up with three big saves to keep the game tied.  The ‘Blades were rewarded at 16:22 of the third period when Hendricks fired the puck home off a goal-mouth scramble to give Florida a 3-2 lead late in the contest.  Hendricks collected his first professional hat-trick by picking up an empty net goal with just 1:12 remaining in the game. Kowalski earned the win for the Everblades, allowing two goals on 26 Idaho shots to raise his record to 2-2-0.  Doyle suffered the loss for Idaho allowing three goals on 37 Florida shots, and fell to 4-2-0 on the year.  The Everblades finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Steelheads finished 0-for-2 on the man advantage. Florida continues their six-game west coast swing on Friday, November 12 when the team plays the second of three straight contests at Idaho at 9:05 p.m. EST.  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 – Matt Hendricks - FLA 2 – Ben Keup - IDA 3 – David Cornaccio - IDA

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ECHL Stories from November 10, 2004


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