Khudobin records second straight shutout; Blades win streak at nine
November 25, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release
DULUTH, GA - The Florida Everblades (11-2-1) and goaltender Anton Khudobin both continued their winning streaks on Tuesday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. As a team the Everblades pushed their overall winning streak to nine in a row, while the young net-minder recorded his seventh straight win and second straight shutout after stopping all 23 shots by the Gwinnett Gladiators (6-6-3) in a 5-0 victory in front of a crowd of 3,816.
With the win the Everblades improved to 5-0-1 on the road and remained perfect in the month of November. They also improved their record to 4-0-0 vs. Gwinnett this season.
After a bit of a cautious start, the Everblades eventually got their offense rolling late in the frame. Playing to a scoreless tie with just a total of seven shot between the clubs over the first 13 minutes, the Everblades found the back of the net at 15:38 to open a 1-0 lead. With a delayed penalty coming against Gwinnett and Everblades goaltender Anton Khudobin on the bench for the extra attacker, Yannick Tifu fed a perfect pass to the slot where Jacob Micflikier raced from the bench on to the puck before one-timing a shot into the upper left corner of the net.
The Everblades increased the lead to two minutes later when Kevin Baker cashed in his 11th goal of the season at 17:54. A nice passing play began with Micflikier handling the puck on the right boards, before on the right boards. Micflikier then found Aaron Brocklehurst across the ice in left circle where the rookie hit Baker with a quick pass that he one-timed by Gwinnett net-minder Josh Johnson for the 2-0 lead.
The second period opened with the Everblades continuing their pressure scoring twice more in the first two minutes of the frame. The first goal came with the Everblades on the power play as Baker notched his second goal of the night just 47 seconds into the period. Baker's 12th tally of the year came after taking a nice pass down low from Tifu in the left circle before hammering a shot home over the stick of Johnson. Peter Metcalf added the second assist on the tally.
Just over a minute later the Everblades increased their lead to four when newcomer Harrison Reed gathered the puck along the left half wall, then skated through open space to the slot where his wrist shot sailed past Johnson at 1:57. Ross Carlson collected the lone assist on the tally that opened a four-goal advantage.
The first real good chances of the game for Gwinnett came late in the second period when they enjoyed back-to-back power plays. Khudobin made a handful of big saves down the stretch in the period to keep the Gladiators off the board.
The Everblades eventually put the final nail in the coffin early in the third period with Micflikier notching his second goal of the night at 6:33 of the period. With the Everblades at the end of a shift, Baker flipped the puck into the offensive zone where Micfliker took over working the puck along the right boards then beat two Gwinnett defenders before skating to the front of the net where he jammed the puck past Johnson for his fourth goal of the season.
The Gladiators peppered the Florida net late in the contest to try and spoil the shutout with a couple late power play opportunities, but the Blades penalty killers and Khudobin stood tall to keep the Gladiators off the board.
Johnson suffered the loss allowing the five goals on 31 Florida shots to see his record fall to 4-4-1.
On the power play, the Everblades finished the night 2-of-7, while the Gladiators finished the night 0-of-8.
BEWARE OF THE BITE! Action You Can Sink Your Teeth Into! Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Visit the Germain Arena Box Office M-F from 10-6 to purchase tickets, or order online at www.ticketmaster.com. Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com or call 239-948-PUCK for more information on group ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.
The Everblades return to action on Friday, November 28 when they travel to Reading to take on the Royals from The Sovereign Center at 7:05 p.m.! The Everblades' next home game is Friday, December 12 when they host the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:30 p.m.
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