Blades extend streak with shootout win
It took a shootout and a hat trick and late game heroics by Adam Brace for the Florida Everblades to extend their winning streak to five straight games Saturday night, defeating the Indy Fuel 5-4 at Germain Arena.
Typically of late, the Everblades got off to a fast start with a three-goal barrage in the first period, led by Brace, who scored the first and last of the three.
Brace’s first goal came just 3:45 into the contest, sending Teddy Bears flying onto the ice after he tipped in a shot by Mike Little.
Seconds later, Mike Aviani scored his fourth goal of the year. Brace added his second goal of the period later and the Blades looked to be rolling to another dominant performance. Their defense held the visiting Fuel to just five shots in the opening period.
As with Friday night though, the strong defensive effort by the Blades waned, this time the scond period was Florida’s downfall, where Indy took advantage of penalties and defensive breakdowns to score three times on starting netminder Allen York (28 saves), leading to a tie game heading into the final period.
“This Indy team doesn’t give up,” said Blades coach Greg Poss. “We’ve seen it all season, every game with them has been a one-goal game so far Fortunately enough we were able to get the win in a shootout.”
The Everblades got several quality chances early in the third to retake the lead, but Indy scored the tie-breaking goal with 3:28 to play in the game.
A late power play opportunity for the Blades gave them a chance to force overtime and guarantee at least a point for the ECHL’s second-best team. The Blades failed to convert, but the pressure eventually generated the lead on Brace’s hat trick goal with an assist from linemate John McInnis.
“I was pretty excited, it was a race for me and Aleardi to get it,” Brace said of the first period goal. “A lot of guys really wanted that goal, but it was nice to get the (hat trick) and get the win.”
McInnis and Mitch Wahl scored in the shootout for the Blades to get the win.
The Everblades (17-4) stay home this week with a pair of games against the Gwinnett Gladiators beginning on Wednesday and Friday.