Everblades win home finale 4-3
It was another come-from-behind win for the Florida Everblades, who had to come from two goals down early to beat the visiting Gwinnett Gladiators 4-3 Friday night at Germain Arena, extending their winning streak to seven games.
The same scenario that played out Wednesday night reoccurred Friday with the Everblades having to crawl out of an early deficit in the first period.
“We just made a couple of defensive mistakes that first period,” said Blades coach Greg Poss.
Trailing 2-0 with five minutes left in the first, the Blades started rolling with a power-play goal off the stick of Adam Brace.
Jeff Costello scored the lone goal of the second period for the Blades after taking a pass from Brant Harris while on a 4-on-4 situation, tying the game at 2-2. The Blades dominated the third period between the division rivals by scoring three times.
Artem Sergeev’s sixth goal at the 1:08 mark in the final period gave the Blades their first lead of the game. They never looked back from when Mitch Wahl added his seventh goal of the season just over four minutes later.
In net, Andy Iles made his home ice debut for the Everblades, turning away 23 of 26. Evan Bloodoff scored on the empty net in the final second to round out the scoring.
The win marks seen straight for the Blades (19-4).
“It’s really a good start,” said Poss. “But we have a lot of games left. We are only one-third of the way through the season. We have a lot of hockey left.”
Florida hits the road after Christmas with a pair of games at the Orlando Solar Bears.
They next return home on Jan. 9.