ECHL Florida Everblades

Melanson's late goal sinks Charlotte as Blades win third straight, 2-1

February 15, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades (27-19-4) picked up a late third period goal from Mathieu Melanson, and used a strong 34 save effort from goaltender David Shantz to pick up a 2-1 victory over the Charlotte Checkers (23-20-5) on Friday night at Germain Arena. The win was Florida's third straight overall and second straight over the Checkers.

Melanson sent the crowd of 6,039 into a frenzy after scoring his team-leading 21st goal of the season with less than three minutes remaining in regulation. After winning a face off in their own end, the Everblades broke out of the zone as Brett Peterson fed the puck up the ice to Brad Herauf. Herauf then led the puck through the neutral zone to Melanson who raced into the offensive zone on the right side. As the defense of Charlotte sagged back, Melanson picked his spot and rifled a wrist shot from the right circle by Checkers net-minder Chris Holt at 17:03.

Although both teams began the game with power play goals, it was the penalty killers that both clubs had to rely on in the third period to keep the game tied 1-1. Both the Everblades and Checkers enjoyed time in the final period with a 5-on-3 power play, and both clubs tuned away each chance for the opposition.

The typical playoff match-up between the Everblades and Checkers began with the Everblades drawing first blood just past the midway point of the first period. While on their second power play of the game, Ernie Hartlieb registered his 16th goal of the season after working a loose puck across the goal line from the left post at 14:48 of the frame. The play began with Melanson letting a shot fly from the top of the right circle that Holt stopped. Holt then denied Hartlieb's first attempt at the rebound, but the Everblade captain stuck with the play and found the puck sitting between the pads of Holt before digging it free and sliding it home.

The game remained 1-0 for the Everblades until late in the second period when the Checkers cashed in on a power play opportunity. Just as a 4-on-4 situation came to an end, the Checkers, in similar fashion to Florida's goal, hacked away at a loose puck to tie the game at 18:29 of the second period. Chris Capraro followed his own initial shot from the high slot to the net. Shantz turned away that attempt, plus a rebound effort by Blake Bellefeuille, however he couldn't stop Capraro's second chance he jammed it past the Everblade net-minder and into the net to tie the game.

Charlotte followed Florida's eventual game-winning goal with strong pressure over the final minute and a half of the game, pulling Holt for the extra attacker and keeping the puck in the Everblade end of the ice, but Shantz saved two of his biggest stops of the night for the final minute to preserve the victory.

Shantz improved to 4-3-1 on the season with his effort, while Holt (7-6-1) suffered the tough-luck loss after stopping 32 of 34 shots.

On the power play, the Everblades closed out night 1-for-5, while the Checkers finished 1-for-7.

Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! The Everblades return to action on Saturday, February 16 when they host the Charlotte Checkers at 7:30 p.m. Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Stop by the Germain Arena box office to reserve your seat for all the exciting action! Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

Three Stars:

1) Mathieu Melanson - FLA

2) David Shantz - FLA

3) Chris Holt - CHR

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 15, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central