Blades pull out 4-3 win
If the last month wasn’t proof enough for the Florida Everblades that nothing would come easy as they make their playoff run, then Wednesday night’s game against the Johnstown Chiefs solidified the thought.
The game went back and forth all night, but with just 1:29 left to play Everblades team captain Kevin Baker scored his second goal of the night to lift the Blades to a tough 4-3 victory over the Chiefs before 4,500 fans at Germain Arena.
“We tried to stay patient tonight,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron. “What happened out there tonight was what was happening to us on (that last) road trip: we outshot our opponent and generated more quality scoring chances, but this time we got the win.”
The Everblades (36-16-3) got the scoring started just 3:46 in as one of their newest members, Milan Gajic, scored the icebreaker.
Johnstown tied it up when Ryan Del Monte beat David Leggio (14 saves) midway through the period.
Less than three minutes later, Earnie Hartlieb notched his 15th tally of the year for a 2-1 Blades lead.
Johnstown scored in the final minutes of the period sending the teams into the first intermission tied 2-2.
Baker missed half of the first period of play after taking a stick to the face, requiring 11 stitches to close, but ended up scoring the Blades’ last two goals, including the game-winner.
“He may not look as pretty now as he did at the start of the night, but that is what Kevin is paid to do, score goals,” said Cameron.
The teams go after each other two more times this week, on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.