Blades dump Royals in OT
Mark Nemec had a birthday he won’t forget any time soon. Nemec scored on a rebound shot 31 seconds into overtime Friday night to lift the Florida Everblades over the Reading Royals 3-2 at Germain Arena.
The Blades continue to lead the ECHL South Division with the best point total (36) in the Eastern Conference.
“Kinda awesome,” Nemec said of scoring the game-winner on his 27th birthday. “Getting the overtime winner there.”
It is the second goal of the season for the defenseman, who also assisted on Florida’s first two goals.
Friday’s game was almost a mirror image of Wednesday’s 3-2 Blades shootout win. This time it was Florida that grabbed a 2-0 first period lead, only to see Reading score two in the third to tie it.
“We lost our line a little bit there,” Blades coach Greg Poss said. “In the third period we were playing too offensive. Threw too many pucks blindly in the slot. It broke them out, and then we had a couple of turnovers on that second” Reading goal. But the good thing is we got back to get the two points.”
Matt Willows broke the mirror. He won the race to a loose puck near his blue line, raced down the ice and put a shot on Reading goalie Adam Morrison. Morrison made the save, but Nemec put in the rebound for the game-winner.
“Willows made a great play,” Nemec said. “Out-hustling the guy for the puck. He took it to the net like he always does. I was just trying to join the rush. Fortunately the puck was there, I whacked at it, and was happy to see it go in.”
“Smart of Nemec, whose birthday is today, to jump in and get the winning goal,” Poss said.
Florida’s power play came into play early in the game. The Blades took the lead just 2:44 in on Ryan Martindale’s power-play blast from near the blue line. It is Martindale’s’ first goal of the season, coming in his seventh game with the team.
Martindale, a former Edmonton Oilers draft pick, was out of hockey a few weeks ago when the Blades offered him a contract. He joined the team on its November road trip out West, impressing with his puck-handling skills.
“He played probably his best game so far for us tonight,” Poss said. “He’s really been a good addition to our team so far.”
A second score with the man advantage, this time by Matt Marquardt, put the Everblades up 2-0.
For Marquardt, it’s his eighth goal of the season and third in two games.
Reading came into the game with the ECHL’s third-best penalty killing unit on the road.
The Everblades dominated the ice for the first 30 minutes or so, but couldn’t get anything else past Morrison. As the second period wore on, the Royals began to gain some momentum. That momentum continued as the third period began, resulting in a Reading goal that cut Florida’s lead to 2-1.
Seconds after Logan Roe was sent to the penalty box, Reading got on the board. Robbie Czarnik scored 44 seconds into the third period. The Royals drew even with 9:39 left in the game as Cam Reid took advantage of some poor puck-handling by the Blades.
“It was tough in the third period giving up two goals,” Nemec said. “We would have liked to have kept the lead, but happy with the win, obviously.”
Matt Hatch missed a chance to give Reading the lead when he fired wide on a penalty shot with 8:10 remaining.
The two teams play again tonight, the third time in four nights and their last meeting of the season.
“It’s hard to beat a team three times in a row,” Poss said. “We have a chance” tonight.”
Saturday’s game features the annual Teddy Bear Toss, with fans throwing teddy bears and other stuffed toys onto the ice after the Everblades’ first goal. The toys are donated to hospitalized children and other children’s charities.