‘Blades host Royals for 3-game series
The Florida Everblades return home to Germain Arena Wednesday night to open a three-game series against the Reading Royals on the heels of a successful trip out west.
The Blades (16-8) finished the road trip 4-2 after beating the Idaho Steelheads 3-1 Saturday night. It marked the fourth time in five games that the Blades prevailed over the Steelheads (7-16).
Matt Willows scored twice while goaltender Anthony Peters stopped 33 shots to lead the Blades in the six-game finale. The latest victory came 24 hours after the Steelheads beat the Blades 5-1.
The Blades also took two of three games at Colorado the weekend before last.
Willows opened the scoring at the 4:44 mark of the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Kevin Lynch and beat Idaho goaltender Maxime Lagace.
The Blades went up 2-0 before the end of the first period on a goal by Mark Nemec. The Steelheads cut the margin to 2-1 in the opening minute of the second period, scoring on a two-man-advantage goal by Brandon Magee. That goal brought Teddy bears raining down onto the ice for Idaho’s annual Teddy Bear toss night.
Some tremendous saves by Peters kept the margin at one goal in favor of the Blades through the third period. As each minute ticked away, so did Idaho’s chances and pulled the goaltender in favor of an extra attacker. A turnover in the neutral zone led to an empty net goal by Willows in the final minute.
Orlando follows Reading into Germain Arena on Dec. 16 opening the door for three road games before the Blades turn the calendar over to 2016