Florida Stumps Orlando 4-3

Orlando, Fla – The Florida Everblades crossed the 70-point threshold with a 4-3 victory over the Orlando Solar Bears on Tuesday night, and further built a lead in an ever-tightening South Division playoff race. 

The Blades jumped out to a hot start in the first period, peppering Solar Bears netminder Evan Fitzpatrick with 14 shots. Despite the dominant effort in the attacking zone, Florida could not find the back of the net in the opening 20. 

The game opened up in a big way late in the second period. The Everblades netted three quick goals in rapid succession when Joe Pendenza (14:07) Logan Lambin (15:04) and Pendenza again (19:43) lit up the score sheet in the blink of an eye. The triple-punch of goals silenced a rowdy home crowd at the Kia Center and sent Florida to the locker rooms happy. 

Entering the third down three goals, the Solar Bears turned up the heat by scoring two fast goals to narrow the lead to just one. Darik Angeli (3:21) converted the first while Aaron Luchuk (5:37) tallied the second for Orlando. Now only up by one, the Everblades needed an answer. In his own defensive zone, Oliver Chau hopped a loose puck near the blue line and took it down the ice. On an odd-man rush, Chau fired the puck himself and buried it for the Blades fourth goal of the game. 

Orlando would score again in the final minute of the third, but it wasn’t enough to mount the comeback. Florida won 4-3. 

Orlando goalie Fitzpatrick turned aside 29 of the 33 shots he saw, while Florida starter Cam Johnson stopped 17 of 20. 

The Everblades are back on the road to face the Jacksonville Icemen on Friday, Mar. 15 at 7:00 p.m.

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