Blades win fourth straight over Bears
The Florida Everblades made it four straight wins Saturday night by defeating the Orlando Solar Bears 3-0 at Germain Arena. All four wins have come at the expense of the Bears.
“The key to tonight was that it was a really good team effort. We didn’t play as well offensively as we have lately, but as a team we played really well,” said Blades coach Greg Poss.
Florida got the scoring started with a highlight goal by Evan Bloodoff in the first period. While trailing Kevin Lynch to the net, Bloodoff was waiting for the perfectly timed dump pass that he fired home for his fourth goal of the season 13:46 into the contest.
“I was just trying to drag to get the puck back to me,” said Lynch. “But Evan was there behind me to pick up the puck and make a play.”
The second period was marred by three penalties on the Blades, giving Orlando plenty of opportunities to tie the score, but their penalty kill was up to the challenge each and every time. Those kills eventually led to a late period momentum burst by the Blades, who capitalized with just 20.1 seconds left in the frame on a goal by Gabriel Desjarkins to go up 2-0.
“That was a big goal,” said Poss. “And (Allen) York played an excellent game for us in net.”
York turned in the best performance by a Blades net minder this season, turning away all of the 24 shots he faced to earn the shut out.
Lynch rounded out the scoring for Florida, getting an empty net goal with just two seconds left to play.
Florida (5-1-0-1) takes to the road for a five-game trip before returning to Germain Arena on Nov. 21.