Blades have no tomorrow
The Florida Everblades returned to Germain Arena to face the South Carolina Stingrays in Game 6 of their South Division Championship series in a do-or-die situation.
Trailing 3-2 in the best-of-0seven series, the Blades needed a win to force a Game 7 here Wednesday night. Even though the Blades dominated, it wasn’t meant to be as they lost to the Stingrays 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night.
“We threw everything but the kitchen sink at them,” said Blades coach Malcolm Cameron dejectedly. “It was just a phenomenal effort by the guys. We deserved to win this hockey game, but unfortunately in life you don’t always get what you deserve.”
South Carolina scored first when Pierre Luc O’Brien beat Blades netminder David Leggio (10 saves), wrapping the puck around the back side of the net and stuffing it home.
Florida tied it up on the ensuing faceoff as Milan Gajic raced up the ice to beat Stingrays goalie Jonathon Boutin (49 saves).
For nearly the rest of regulation, it was all about Boutin. Time and time again the Blades fired away, only to be turned away 43 times in regulation, as the Stingrays built a 3-1 lead.
“We just didn’t get any breaks,” said Cameron, “but, not staying consistent throughout the series is what really cost us.”
It wasn’t until the Blades pulled their goalie in the final two minutes that they figured out Boutin.
Doug O’Brien brought the Blades within 3-2, scoring with just 90 seconds to play in the period.
After a fight between Kevin Baker and Spencer Carbery that sent both players to the penalty box, the Blades kept Leggio out of the net and capitalized again. Gajic scored his second and most important goal of the night in the final 20 seconds to force overtime.
The Stingrays withstood an Everblades onslaught for nine minutes in OT until defenseman Zach Tarkir scored the game winner, eliminating the Blades from the playoffs.