Hats off to Pistilii, Blades in 6-2 Win Over Jackals
November 28, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
ELMIRA, NY - The Florida Everblades (12-9-0) rode the first career hat-trick for Matt Pistilli and a 32 save performance by goaltender Bobby Goepfert to a 6-2 win over the Elmira Jackals (11-4-4) on Sunday afternoon at First Arena.
In a tale of two different looking periods, the Everblades weathered a fierce storm by the Jackals in the opening minutes of the contest to eventually carry a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Elmira came out jumping and got on the board first with a power play goal by Andrew Sweetland at the 2:57 mark.
After being out-shot 8-0 over the first five minutes of the period, the Everblades began to gain some traction and get going offensively. Midway through the first period Matthew Pistilli tied the game at one with a wrist shot from the high slot that snuck past Jackals goaltender Marco Cousineau at 9:18. Francis Lemieux and David Fischer notched the assists on Pistilli's 10th goal of the season.
The Everblades kept the pressure on as the period progressed and took the lead late in the opening frame on Fischer's first professional goal. The play began with Mitch Fadden and Evgeny Timkin working the puck around the offensive zone before Fischer let a good hard shot fly from the middle of the ice at the blue line that made its way through the pads of Cousineau at 16:07.
As the second period began, the Everblades kept the pressure on coming out strong and eventually increasing their lead to 3-1 when Pistilli tallied his second goal of the night at the 2:30 mark. Fadden collected the lone assist on the tally centering a pass from the right side of the net that Pistilli was able to bang home for his 11th of the year.
The Everblades then opened up a three-goal advantage at the 11:19 mark when Mike McKenzie collected his fourth goal of the season to complete a good passing play. The play began with Matt Beca getting the puck down low to Jared Staal, who then fed a pass back to Beca. From the left circle, Beca slid the puck across to a wide open McKenzie who hammered home his fourth goal of the year from the inside part of the right circle.
In the third period the Everblades took advantage of a couple Elmira penalties to increase their lead. After failing to convert on a power play that started the period, Florida did cash in on a second chance in at 3:35. Again it was McKenzie who cashed in, this time racing the puck down the right side boards and cutting the to the side of the net where he lifted a quick shot over the left shoulder of Cousineau for his second tally of the game. Drew Larman and Mike Egener assisted on the goal that opened a 5-1 lead.
Midway through the period while on another power play, Pistilli completed the hat-trick after taking a nice cross-ice pass at the bottom of the left circle from Fadden before lifting it home for his 12th of the year at 9:46. Lemieux also added a helped on the second power play goal of the night for Florida.
From that point on, the Everblades faced strong pressure from Elmira, but Goepfert stood tall allowing only a tip-in goal by Brock McBride at 10:45 to get past him en-route to notching his second straight win and improving to 7-5-0 overall.
For the Jackals Cousineau fell to 7-3-4 after allowing five goals on 23 shots. Zane Kalemba finished off the game in goal for Elmira after replacing Cousineau at the 3:50 mark of the third period and allowed one goal on two shots.
On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 2-of-6, while Elmira closed out the game 1-of-6.
Individual tickets to all 2010-11 Florida Everblades home games are on sale now! Tickets are available at the TIB Bank Box Office Monday - Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 2 p.m. Fans can also purchase tickets through TicketMaster by logging onto www.ticketmaster.comor calling 800-745-3000.
The Everblades return to action on Wednesday, December 1 when they travel to Kalamazoo to take on the Wings at 7:05 p.m. from the Wings Stadium. Visit www.floridaeverblades.comand www.germainarena.comfor more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.
Bud Light 3 Stars:
1 - Matt Pistilli - FLA
2 - Mitch Fadden - FLA
3 - Bobby Goepfert - FLA
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