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ECHL Florida Everblades

Preview: Everblades Host Stingrays for Middle Game of Series

November 30, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


Tommy Thompson of the Florida Everblades
Tommy Thompson of the Florida Everblades
(Florida Everblades, Credit: Kevin Bires)

ESTERO, Fla. - The Florida Everblades (10-5-3-0, 23 pts.) host the South Carolina Stingrays (10-9-0-0, 20 pts.) for the middle game of a three-game series on Friday night at Hertz Arena, aiming to extend their season-high unbeaten streak to seven games.

VITALS:

Game 19: Everblades vs. South Carolina

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

Where: Hertz Arena

Tickets: Ticketmaster

Watch: ECHL.tv

Listen: WJBX

Social: Twitter | #SCvsFLA

Last Time Out

Coming off a season-high seven-game road trip, the Everblades started their current six-game homestand with a 4-1 win over South Carolina on Wednesday night. Four different players scored in the win as Tommy Thompson, Blake Winiecki, Derek Sheppard and Steven Lorentz all registered goals for Florida. Jamie Phillips earned his seventh win of the season in his 10th start, stopping all but one of the 26 shots fired his way.

Players to Watch

Tommy Thompson (FLA) - After going six games without a goal, the third-year pro has goals in three straight games to match his career-high goal streak. Thompson spent a bulk of last season in the AHL with the Texas Stars. He had an ECHL career-high 33 points (16g, 17a) in 58 games with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in the 2016-17 season.

Andrew Cherniwchan (SC) - In his seventh season with the 'Rays, Cherniwchan has averaged almost a point per game this year with 18 points (6g, 12a) in 19 games. He had a four-game goal streak from Oct. 27-Nov. 3 and a seven-game point streak from Oct. 20-Nov. 3 that saw him post 13 points (6g, 7a).

Key notes

Friday night is the third of the eight meetings this season between Florida and South Carolina and the second of three meetings at Hertz Arena. The two teams have faced off on 188 occasions, making South Carolina the Everblades' most-played opponent in team history. Florida holds a 100-67-21 all-time record against the Stingrays.

South Carolina had only 26 shots on goal on Wednesday, tied for its second-lowest shot total in a game this season. The Stingrays entered the series averaging the third-most shots on goal per game in the ECHL at 34.3 but were limited to less than 30 shots for just the fifth time this season.

The Stingrays, which have the seventh-lowest power-play success rate in the ECHL, went scoreless on seven power plays on Wednesday night and have converted on only 9.4 percent (6-for-64) of their man advantages on the road this season.

Florida's 7-for-7 night on the penalty kill on Wednesday improved its league-leading penalty kill on home ice to 96.3 percent (26-for-27). Entering Friday night, the Everblades have killed off 22 consecutive penalties at Hertz Arena dating back to the only power-play goal yielded at home this season, a second period marker on the man advantage for the Norfolk Admirals in a 6-1 Florida win on Oct. 20.

South Carolina and Florida combined for 76 penalty minutes on Wednesday, the most combined penalty minutes in a game involving the Everblades this season. Despite that, Florida had the game's only power-play goal among 15 combined chances. Derek Sheppard scored on the man advantage for his fourth power-play goal of the season, tying him for the league lead among ECHL defensemen.

Since being shut out on Nov. 16 against South Carolina, Florida has scored 33 goals in its last six games for an average of 5.5 goals per contest. Following the 1-0 loss to the Stingrays, the Everblades ranked 20th in the league in goals per game (2.75). Entering Friday, Florida is fourth in the league in that category, averaging 3.67 goals per tilt.

The Everblades have put together an impressive month of November, compiling a record of 8-2-2-0 to climb from fifth place at the start of the month into a tie for second place entering the final game of November on Friday.

Lorentz tabbed his team-leading sixth multi-point game of the season with a goal and two assists on Wednesday night in the series opener. With the three-point game, he has three multi-point games of three or more points this year. Additionally, Lorentz extended his point streak to six games (4g, 8a) to match the season-high for an Everblades player.

Florida is an ECHL-best +13 in the second period this season. The next closest team is Utah at a +11 in period two. Florida has been outscored in the second period just three times this season, two of which have come against South Carolina.

Jeremy Helvig, Friday's probable netminder, started against South Carolina on Nov. 16 and matched his season-low by yielding just one goal in a 27-save performance. He was busy in the second period of that contest and made 15 saves on 16 shots. At the time, that save total was a single-period high for an Everblades goaltender.

Just two days after that performance against South Carolina, Helvig made 18 saves on 19 shots in the first period of an 8-3 win over Atlanta. That save total is a single-period high for an Everblades goaltender this season. He finished with a career-high 37 saves in the game, another season-high for a Florida goaltender.

Next Up

The Everblades finish the series with South Carolina on Saturday at 7 p.m. with Harry Potter Night presented by Collier County Fairgrounds! The 'Blades are back at home next weekend, which includes Teddy Bear Toss Night on Saturday against Greenville.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics




Images from this story

Tommy Thompson of the Florida Everblades
Tommy Thompson of the Florida Everblades
(Kevin Bires)		   



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