Blades take two of three on road trip
GREENVILLE, S.C. Ryan Martindale scored two goals while Brendan O’Donnell added one and an assist to lead he Florida Everblades to a 5-2 victory over the Greenville Swamp Rabbits Saturday night.
Florida (38-2) finished the road trip grabbing four of a possible six points.
The Everblades took the lead 1-0 midway through the opening period. Kevin Lynch spotted O’Donnell open and hit him with a perfect pass where O’Donnell snapped a quick shot past the glove of Greenville goaltender Alain Valiquette into the net.
The Blades doubled their lead just under four minutes later. Getting the puck out in front, an initial shot by Martindale was stopped by Valiquette. Martindale took the rebound and wrapped around the back of the net before burying it in the net.
A fight between the Blades’ Matt Stanisz and Greenville’s Tyler Elbrecht began to give the Swamp Rabbits some momentum. Ryan Rashid fired an initial shot that was stopped by Everblades goaltender Anthony Peters. Jack Combs managed to get to the loose puck before firing it past Peters.
The Blades took control in the second period. O’Donnell found Gabriel Desjardins on the left wing sideand Desjardins fired a quick wrist shot that deflected off Valiquette’s pads and into the net.
The Blades again added to their lead three minutes later. Martindale executed an excellent give-and-go with Corey Cowick. Receiving the pass near the crease, Martindale slowed and wristed his shot between the net minder and the far side post.
Seconds later, the Blades offense struck again, extending the lead to 5-1. Stopping the initial shot by Jon DiSalvatore, Valiquette allowed the rebound to roll to the right wing side. Rob Florentino got to the puck at the low circle and smoked a shot past Valiquette, who was replaced in goal by Mackenzie Skapski.
With the Swamp Rabbits trailing by such an insurmountable lead entering the third period, Greenville attempted to make it respectable. A second goal by Jack Combs late in the final frame was all they could manage thanks to sensational saves by Peters.
Peters was superb, earning the win after stopping 26 of 28 shots.
The Everblades return to the ice on Friday at the South Carolina Stingrays in a matchup of the top two teams in the South Division.