Everblades prepare to host Orlando
Coming off last week’s three-game sweep of the Brampton Beast at Germain Arena, the Florida Everblades have some time to reflect on what they have accomplished as the ECHL takes its All-Star break this week.
The Everblades (28-12), who don’t play again until the Orlando Solar Bears visit Germain Arena on Friday, are on an amazing run. They have won 10 of their last 13 games and 14 of 19 since the first of December. With 32 games left in the regular season, the Blades are seven points in front of Atlanta in the South Division standings. They have been in first place almost from Day 1 of the season.
The offense has scored the most goals (128) of any team in the league and only two teams have allowed fewer goals (83) than the Blades. Daniel Altshuller and Anthony Peters rank among the league’s top 10 goalkeepers statistically with Altshuller at No. 1.
Peters split time with Altshuller earlier in the season, but has had plenty of work since Altshuller was called up to Charlotte of the AHL in December. Peters has started all 10 games since, winning seven of them.
“It’s great. Anytime you’re out here you want to play hockey,” Peters said after beating the Beast 4-2. “When you’re not, you’re supportive of your teammate. If opportunities arise you are ready. It’s fun coming to the rink every day when you get a chance to play.”
Peters registered 36, 37 and 29 saves in the series with the Beast to improve to 16-8 overall. The Beast outshot the Blades in all three games, proving there’s nothing better in hockey than a hot goalkeeper.
“The more he plays the better he plays,” Blades coach Greg Poss said of Peters. “We need a good goaltender. We’re not winning because of how we’re playing. We’re winning because of our goaltender.”
Kevin Lynch scored the game-winning goal in the first 1:12 of overtime in Saturday’s 2-1 Blades win to complete the three-game sweep and the teams’ only meeting of the season.
“We obviously had some good goaltending from Peters again (Saturday), and some timely scoring,” Poss said.
The heat was on Peters late. A delayed penalty on Maxime St. Cyr let Brampton pull its keeper and put six skaters on the ice for nearly a minute. St. Cyr went to the penalty box with three minutes remaining, keeping Brampton with the man advantage. The Beast failed to break the 1-1 tie in regulation time.
A key player early in the game was the Germain Arena ice. Fans were allowed to paint on the ice after Friday night’s game. Players were grumbling after Saturday’s pregame warmups that all the graffiti on the ice made the puck harder to locate. At one point early in the game, the players couldn’t tell the difference between an actual stick on the ice and the paint surrounding it.
The result? A grand total of 11 first-period shots taken by the two teams combined, and several turnovers simply because the players couldn’t keep track of the puck.
“I don’t really mind the reds and the blues and things like that,” said Matt Marquardt said. “Someone drew pucks all over the ice. I don’t know what was going on there. Nobody expected pucks on the ice. I started to pick one up. At the same time, both teams had to deal with it.”
Ryan Martindale had a goal and two assists, Matt Willows added a goal and an assist, and Corey Syret had a pair of assists for the Blades in Friday’s 5-1 victory.
“(Martindale) is playing a lot better defensively so he’s getting more chances,” Poss said. “He can handle the puck more. He’s really creative when he gets chances.”
Freelance writer Pete Sisk contributed to this report.