Baker lifts Blades 5-2
The Florida Everblades returned home in style Friday night, extending their winning streak to three games in a row with a 5-2 victory over the Mississippi Sea Wolves at Germain Arena.
“We played really good,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron. “Our penalty kill made a couple of mistakes, but for the most part it was a pretty solid effort and their goaltender made some pretty impressive saves that kept us from scoring even more.”
Kevin Baker led the way for the Everblades with a goal and four assists.
“That’s why I brought him to play here, once he gets cranked up and ready to go. You can’t expect five points every night from him, but it’s the other things he does like blocking shots and delivering hits that make him so good,” said Cameron.
Brad Herauf got the scoring started when he took a behind-the-back pass from Baker halfway through the first period and beat Mississippi goalie Ryan Munce (40 saves).
Just 24 seconds into the second period, Baker made it 2-0 thanks to a between-the-legs pass from Hartlieb.
It was 3-0 after Ryan Lang scored the eventual game winner on the power play with just over 12 minutes to go in the second.
Former Everblade Kyle McAllister answered for the Sea Wolves five minutes later on a power play, beating Anton Khudobin (20 saves) to get Mississippi into the contest.
McAllister got Mississippi within one goal in the third period with his second power-play goal of the night.
That was as close as the Sea Wolves would get as Florida’s defense clamped down for the remainder of the match, allowing Mississippi just four more shots.
“We’re looking for a championship here,” said Herauf. “These are the games where we need to create good habits It was 3-1 and a couple of mistakes could have let them right back in it, but it was about coming out and have a good responsible third period (on defense) and fortunately we did that.”
Florida and Mississippi skate again Saturday night for the fourth straight time this week.